flat head

[nada87]

my ds developed a flat head as a baby, the dr told me it would correct itself. no so much. he's just about to be 2 and he still has a slightly flat head. it did get a little bette but not as much as i hoped it would. drs don't know everything so it pays to do your own research.

 

[sunbeam]

i noticed my sons head was getting flat on one side wen he was about 8 weeks old, the health visitor and doctor told me it would correct it self but i new it wudnt as my grandaughter had the same thing and hers is still flat to this day and shes 3yr old..good job shes a girl and can grow her hair to cover it..i started to put my son to sleep on the opposite side of the flat bit, i alternated which side of cot and mosses basket he slept in every other day, i did buy a love nest pillow but to be honest i didnt like it as he looked very un comfy on it..well to cut a long story straight hes now 7 months old and his head is near on perfect now i just kept him off the flat side as much as poss and its worked....good luck xx

 

[jamiemyboy]

Hi Sunbeam,

I am trying my hardest with my lo to keep her off the flat bit. I put her down and turn her head to the other side but she always always ends up back to the flat side, I also rolled up a blanket and put that by the flat bit so she would lean on to it, she just quished the blanket and layed half on the blanket and half off. I will keep perservering, i think it will help when she can sit up on her own and be a bit more active

Thanks for you post, gives us hope
x

 

[WW1]

just to make you all aware, the NHS does treat a very small percentage of babies, there is only one consultant in the UK and he is based in Bristol, but he will only treat very severe babies. The method they use to obtain the mould for the helmet is pretty horrible IMO, they sedate the babies and the parent then has to physically restrain the baby so that it doesnt move at all for ten minutes whilst the mould is made.
The private companies use hand held scanners and the baby doesnt need sedating, and can sit on parents lap for the few seconds it takes.
The £2000 privately may be pricey, but I would sooner pay that than have the memories of pinning my child down whilst it was upset!
Anyway, good luck to all of you who are worrying about babies heads, I hope they improve on their own soon!
x

Is that still the case for the NHS? I thought scans were now used to make the helmets?

 

[BabyJayne]

My daughter has a slight flat head on one side - but every baby does simply due to the fact their skull bones are soft.

I know this can be a problem in some cases - but I think this is quite rare.

I was thinking about all the people I know, and I can honestly say that I do not know of one adult I would say had a flat head. Of all the adults I meet in the streets, shops, passing by etc etc, I would say it was an extremely rare, to the point of it never happening, that you would point someone out and say "ooh - look at his/her flat head". This goes for people of all ages. It leads me to believe that while many parents worry about the shape of their baby's head, it is rarely, if ever, noticed by anyone in adulthood.

Also, going private only means you can get seen for whatever you want, and get seen quicker. Many of the surgeons/consultants/registrars/doctors you see by paying for private treatment, also do the same job for the NHS.

 

[Eve]

My daughters head is going flat on both sides, as she only will sleep with her head turned one way or another. My doctor said it was fine and will correct itself too and I'm in Canada... Grrr I think I'll get a second opinion!

 

[Kim T]

My son had 'torticullis' which is where one of the neck muscles is tighter than the other forcing him to look to the right. This then led to 'playgeocephaly' (flat head). You could tell from the front that his head wasnt quite right as on his right side, his forehead stuck out, his ears werent even and the right side of his head was indented by 1.2cm.

He has had a helmet (star band) since May. He got it when he was 9 months old, which is really late as they like babys to have it by the time they are 6 months old. He also had a larger than average head as he was in the 97th percentile. So these two factors meant that the chances of the hemet correcting his head was slim to none.

It costs $2850 in Canada... But totally worth it and we have seen a major improvement.

His forehead no long sticks out on one side. His ears are now even. And he had his head measured in July and it had improved by 6mm. He will have to wear the helmet 23 hours a day for 6 months. But he doesnt care less, he gets sad when we take it off!!!

I would say that if you are worried, then at least speak to someone about a helmet. Im so happy that we did it.

 

[Kim T]

just to make you all aware, the NHS does treat a very small percentage of babies, there is only one consultant in the UK and he is based in Bristol, but he will only treat very severe babies. The method they use to obtain the mould for the helmet is pretty horrible IMO, they sedate the babies and the parent then has to physically restrain the baby so that it doesnt move at all for ten minutes whilst the mould is made.
The private companies use hand held scanners and the baby doesnt need sedating, and can sit on parents lap for the few seconds it takes.
The £2000 privately may be pricey, but I would sooner pay that than have the memories of pinning my child down whilst it was upset!
Anyway, good luck to all of you who are worrying about babies heads, I hope they improve on their own soon!
x

Is that still the case for the NHS? I thought scans were now used to make the helmets?

Im unsure as to what they do in the UK. But here in Canada, your baby lies flat on a scanner which scans all sides of your babys head. They will do lots of scans to make sure they get what they need. But my boy didnt care, he was fascinated with the lights and all the toys that the company had!

 

[Kim T]

My daughters head is going flat on both sides, as she only will sleep with her head turned one way or another. My doctor said it was fine and will correct itself too and I'm in Canada... Grrr I think I'll get a second opinion!

My pedeatrician told me NOT to get the helmet.
I went to see a physiotherapist to help with his 'torticullis' and she referred me to BC Childrens Hospital to see a specialist that deals with 'playgeocephaly'.
Both of these people thought that his head was severe enough to get a helmet. Yet my pedeatrician told me not to bother and that it was mean on the child to do it.

I ended up getting a grant from Variety's so that i didnt actually end up paying for the helmet, since MSP consider it cosmetic and will not pay for it.

 

[sunbeam]

i forgot to put before that i used to put a rolled up blanket under the matress on the side he favoured and that usually encouraged him to sleep on opposite side...

 

[bathbabe]

my cousins child is 7, he still has a flat head! X

 

[doolittle]

the reason you wont see many adults or older children with flathead is because the back to sleep campaign has only very recently been really pushed by doctors, and its the constant lying on their backs instead of tummies that causes a majority of cases of plagiocephally.
most adults and teens heads are about 75-80% length to width ratio, whereas babies now are about 85%, and some are even as high as over 100%, meaning there heads are much wider than they are deep.
The NHS I am told does still use this method to obtain the measurments for making the helmets, and the benefits of going private are that you are seen faster to dont miss the optimum growth window, and dont have to subject LO to the traumatic measuring practice. Also the NHS only treat a tiny percentage of babies due to funding.

I'm really glad we treated Owen, if the helmet had to come off now only half way through treatment his head shape is nowhere near as bad as it was. I couldnt live with myself if he wasnt confident as a teen/adult because we had left it untreated.
IMO it is no different than the huge percentage of parents who have braces fitted to straighten their childrens teeth.

 

[RJsMum]

I just wanted to say that I think it's a bit unfair to assume that just because someone as an individual hasn't come across this issue in their own lives and with people they've seen that it's not that big of a problem.

I know someone who has it mainly because she was left to lie on her back in front of the tv for long periods of time in the same position -- so only one side of her head is flat. Sure, her hair will disguise it cosmetically...but there may be issue down the line where she notices because her head cannot fit into a bike helmet or when she goes swimming and her hair is wet and flat against her head. We struggled with whether or not to say something to the parents (our own family) but decided it would be taken as an insult despite only being out of concern.

But as a PP said, it's only with the "Back to Sleep" campaign that it is becoming more and more prevalent.

 

[BabyJayne]

I just wanted to say that I think it's a bit unfair to assume that just because someone as an individual hasn't come across this issue in their own lives and with people they've seen that it's not that big of a problem.

I know someone who has it mainly because she was left to lie on her back in front of the tv for long periods of time in the same position -- so only one side of her head is flat. Sure, her hair will disguise it cosmetically...but there may be issue down the line where she notices because her head cannot fit into a bike helmet or when she goes swimming and her hair is wet and flat against her head. We struggled with whether or not to say something to the parents (our own family) but decided it would be taken as an insult despite only being out of concern.

But as a PP said, it's only with the "Back to Sleep" campaign that it is becoming more and more prevalent.

I don't think I was being unfair - I simply said that in day-to-day life, with people that you meet, whether you know them or not, it is not something that strikes me as being a major cosmetic problem as a rule. That is why I said it obviously can be in some cases, but these must be rare. My point was that in the vast majority of cases, flat head must correct itself. There are obviously cases where this doesn't happen, and I am certainly not belittling the problem in this situation.

As a side note, the back to sleep campaign began in 1994 - so it is relevant to all those under 17, and therefore to older children.

 

[sophd]

My daughter ended up with plagiocephaly as well. She was seen by specialists and was graded moderate to severe. We ended up doing the helmet therapy and he head is now almost perfect. We weren't sure if the treatment would be effective since we started it at 9 months. She was 6 months when we consulted our GP and ended up being 9 months old when we finally saw the specialists. She wore the helmet for 8 months. We are SO glad we went ahead with the helmet because her head was pretty bad, she had a cone head because the whole back of her head was pushed up. She would never sleep with her head on her sides and we found out later that it was all because she had a torticolli. Her condition was never picked up by our GP and she should of seen an osteopath to correct the torticolli.

I live in Canada and I find most doctors aren't educated about plagiocephaly and most of them tell you it will correct itself on its own. sometimes it does, but sometimes the condition is too severe to correct itself and the child is left with a flat head.

If you're concerned, I would get it checked. And if the doctor tells you it's fine and you're not comfortable with that, get a second opinion!

Good luck xx

 

[sophd]

the reason you wont see many adults or older children with flathead is because the back to sleep campaign has only very recently been really pushed by doctors, and its the constant lying on their backs instead of tummies that causes a majority of cases of plagiocephally.
most adults and teens heads are about 75-80% length to width ratio, whereas babies now are about 85%, and some are even as high as over 100%, meaning there heads are much wider than they are deep.
The NHS I am told does still use this method to obtain the measurments for making the helmets, and the benefits of going private are that you are seen faster to dont miss the optimum growth window, and dont have to subject LO to the traumatic measuring practice. Also the NHS only treat a tiny percentage of babies due to funding.

I'm really glad we treated Owen, if the helmet had to come off now only half way through treatment his head shape is nowhere near as bad as it was. I couldnt live with myself if he wasnt confident as a teen/adult because we had left it untreated.
IMO it is no different than the huge percentage of parents who have braces fitted to straighten their childrens teeth.

Totally agree!

 

[wubba]

My first son had low muscle tone and torticollus (wry neck) and had a badly shaped head like this (he could not turn his head well). I was told he would grow out of it, but it was still as bad as ever at 9 months - 18mm asymmetrical . He got a helmet privately (£2000), which sorted it out. I would not trust health visitors and GPs who say babies will grow out of this. They do not know enough about it. Mild cases can resolve, but, if it is severe, they will not correct and the child will have to live with a strange shaped head for the rest of their lives.

 

[Freya27]

Hi, my lo doesn't have a flat head. She's just over 10 weeks old. She always sleeps on her back with her head to the side (she does alternate which way), but when would I start to notice a flat head if she was going to get one? Is there a rough age when it might become obvious?

X

 

[doolittle]

I first noticed Owens head being flat as 3 months old, then gradually it appeared to worsen until by 5 months I was really concerned.
Certainly at birth and for the first few weeks his head was a perfect shape, shame it didnt stay like that!!

 

[doolittle]

Oops and yes back to sleep was introduced about 15 years ago, but to begin with most parents would still listen to their elders or friends who would all tell them they left their babies to sleep on their tummies for years and they all survived, and probably if they tried it their babies slept longer and better, so they may have continued.
It really is only very recently that the SIDS risk for tummy sleeping has been so publicised, and back to sleep really encouraged.
I certainly think that if we ever decide to have another LO I would consider tummy sleeping to avoid flathead. Not that Owen having to wear the helmet is a huge problem, but if I had known it could have been avoided by tummy sleeping I would have tried