10 Wk Old Develping a Flat Spot?

I am new here but would like to tell you what i am doing. My son is 12 weeks and does the same thing . I switched the way he lays in his crib, the side i feed him on,and am putting him on his side he favors less several times a day. He is trying to pull himself from a laying down position. He has the strengh in his neck to pull his head off of the pillow he lays on. I am also trying to do more tummy time . He fusses thru it after about2-4 min.i just try to keep him occupied. And try tummy time when he is the happiest.I am going to try my chiropracter next. Good Luck

My thoughts on this will be unpopular. But I think you could buy one of those baby monitors that sounds an alarm if they stop breathing or moving for 10 seconds and let him lay on his stomach. Most babies sleep much better on their stomach.

It's an interesting idea about having the baby see a chiropractor. I never would have thought of such a thing.

Suzi

I would let him take naps on my chest during the day, or in a bouncy or swing. I also might put him on his tummy, but that's up to you.

Dear S. S.
I have never responded before but could not pass this one. I am a 73 yr old grand and great grandmother. When I was born, I cried for the first 24 hours. My parents called our family chiropractor, he came to my house( they did things like that at that time!!!). He laid me on his lap and adjusted my back very gently, and I stopped crying immediately.
Needless to say, All of the children born in our family since, have had an early visit to the chiropractor. Birth is very hard on some of our joints etc.
I also have a grandson that was not moving as he should. I finally convinced his parents to call our chiropractor who adjusted him very gently and he began moving. Today he is active and loves playing basketball and football.
So, my advice to you would be to locate a good chiropractor if you do not already have one and give that a try for your wonderful little baby. Something is evidently hurting him when he tries to move certain ways.

Best of luck to you and yours!

S. Mc.

Hi,

My oldest wanted to keep her head to one side she never developed a flat spot however I took her to a chiopractor who helped her with her problem. Seems that she was in that position in utero and I guess it was from that. I would consider a chiropractor or massage to see if you can help him that way it most likely hurts you know how it is when you sleep wrong....so he doesn't want to turn that way I bet cause it hurts. I'd also do what the Dr said & do what you can but I know you can't make them but if you relieve the problem of why he doesn't want to turn that way then things should get better. Some chiropractor can work on infants and are trained to do so. You need to ask & find one that is able to work with infants they do not pop or do manipulations on them like adults it's more like massage therapy.

Hope this helps.

L.

S.:

My nephew did the exact same thing but her pediatrician made her do some sort of stretching exercises with him. Talk to your pediatrician about what kind of stretching exercises you can do with him. My sister had to pull down gently for a few seconds on his shoulder that was not being used every time she changed his diaper so quite a few times a day. I hope this helps but first ask your pediatrician if that's a good idea.

M.

I had the same problem with my daughter. She preferred to turn her head in one direction and developed a slight flat spot. When she was sitting in her infant seat I would place a rolled blanket under her shoulder so it would force her to turn the other direction. Also I would turn her seat so there was nothing interesting to look at on her favored side. This also forced her to turn her head the other direction. Give him more tummy time too. This also helps. Good Luck.

My son had severe torticollis and he did end up having to wear a molding helmet for about 9 months. There are many things you can do to ease the torticollis and hopefully be able to prevent having to get a helmet. There are stretches you can do as well as things you can construct to aid while he is sleeping. It is important to use these aids while you can because once he begins turning over it is almost impossible to keep them in it. We actually constructed a mold for his head to fit down in out of memory foam so that he could only sleep with it to one side. This only works if you are also doing the stretch exercises as well. I think I still have the instructions for the stretches if you would like a copy let me know and I will look for them. You are catching it very early so you should be able to prevent it from getting worse. The helmets are great but cost $1500 each and not all insurance companies cover them and then my son grew so much with his that we had to purchase a second one. His head and face are completely normal now! We didn't catch his until he was older and mobile so the head molds were not that successful for us. Good Luck!

S., your baby needs Chiropractic treatments. This is a very common seen in a Chiropractor's office and it is easy to treat. In the meantime, when you are holding the baby approach everything from the other side that you normally would so that the baby will start turning his head the other direction. It is possible that there was a small injury during birth- to the neck muschles or nerves. Have it corrected now while the tissues are elastic. The flat spot on the head may indicate a need for cranial therapy. Some Osteopaths and some Chiroptactors do this. Its harder to find a practioner but again, very very safe.

One of my sons had this problem with the flat spot and my pediatrician taught me how to do this neck stretching exercises to turn his head to the other side. Basically you slowly turn his head and hold it there for a few seconds and then let them calm down and you do it like three times on a daily basis a few times a day. Also, she suggested that you put the music toys or bright color toys on the side that you want them to look to force them to turn their head to look that look the other way. It helped with my son. I hope this helps you.

Did she mention anything about torticollis? My 4 month old son had torticollis and it was discovered around your son's age. It's a condition where in utero he had his head positioned in a way that tightened one side of his neck muscles. This causes babies to prefer one side. Have you noticed in pictures that he tilts his head? You said it's a fight to get him to turn the other way, so this is what made me think of this. Torticollis is easy to correct if caught early on so you may want to mention this to your doctor. The pediatrician should give you exercises to work on to stretch out that muscle and ideas of how to help encourage him to turn his head the other way (placing toys/mobile on the side he needs to work, using the end of the changing table that he needs to turn to encourage him to look at you, etc.). Also, for my son going to a chiropractor has made all the difference. He is now able to turn his head both sides just fine and hold his head straight. If you chose to go to a chiro, try to find one that is pediatric certified. As far as helping with sleeping and his flat head, try to position him at the other end of the crib/bassinet. But, if his neck muscle is stiff, you can't force it too much without exercise and a chiro to help release the tension. My son has a flat area on the favorite site of his head but my pediatrician said she wasn't worried about it and it will correct itself. Don't be concerned about it, though, it is easily correctable and it's good to work on at this age!!

Was he possibly a C-section or vacuum baby? If so, it is possible his neck was pulled out of alignment during the procedure. Consider taking him to a chiropractor that is experienced with infants to have him checked out.

You could prevent a lifelong problem by taking care of this now!

Good luck,

M.

I am only a grandmother whose wonder great-granddaughter had the same problem. The baby sitter came up with is idea that might help you. She attached one of her favorite small toys on the left side of her baby crib so that she would have to look that way. It took about a month but now my great granddaughter turns her head both ways without any problems. Just be patience. Your son will eventually will turn his head. If for some reason he doesn't have some testing done to see if some of his muscle in his neck might need physical therapy.

L.

My middle son had this same problem at six weeks. We noticed that he would not turn his head to the left and his head was flatter on that side from lying on his back. The doctors told us to try the side propping, and he disliked it as well. Although it might seem scary with all the statistics they give you nowadays, this is what we did. We prayed a lot that Jesus would heal him and make his neck stronger on that side. Then we started to put him to sleep on his tummy for naps in my sight and then all the time after that, making sure that his head was looking in the direction that was weak for him. He did fuss some this way, too, but it was mostly because babies fuss and have to learn to get themselves to sleep. By the next appointment, his neck was strong and the problem was healed. My son is now almost five and has always been our best sleeper. When our daughter was born we just started on the tummy to skip this problem. This is an extremely personal decision because of the "risks", but I know that God loves us and wants to help with every decision we make. I have 3 children ages 6, 4, and 3.

I have two thoughts on this...
Use of a baby swing could help minimize the weight off his head compared to lying down. I'm not sure this would be considered an approved position for nighttime sleeping, so you may want to consult with the MD before doing so.

My second thought...
From your description, I'm understanding that your son is UNABLE to move his head to the left. What were your MD's thoughts about this? I'd want to know more about the cause of this, and determining the cause could subsequently eliminate the issue of a flat spot. ;.)

Good luck!

R. W

Ask your pediatrician to check for Torticollus - a condition where the neck muscles don't develop as well on one side as they do on the other. My son had it and went through a few months of physial therapy (mostly stretching) and is fine now.

The reason he might not like turing his head to the left might be b/c his neck hurts. It is not uncommon for a baby to suffer a mild neck injury during labor. You might want to consider a chiropractor. My Chiropractor does work on babies and children. It isn't "popping" like they do on adults. It is more message therapy and acupressure. She told me that she gets a lot of babies in w/ the same problem and it is b/c the neck is out, and it makes it painful. I was really skeptic about using a Chiro on my baby. But when she was 6mo, she had a HORRIBLE ear infection. 2 rounds of antibiotics didn't clear it up. My Chiro took a look at her, did some accupressure, and it cleared right up!!!! It was amazing!!!! She just did some stuff w/ her ear cananl, and it was fixed. She also helped her blocked tear duct, and other moms have told me that she has helped their babies w/ colic by stimulating the digestive tract.
This might not be your thing, but it might not hurt to talk to her. Her name is Dr. Eller and she is in Arnold off of Jeffco Blvd (by Family Video). Her number is: ###-###-####

My son had the same problem. I have a friend, who's a physical therapist, who suggested the following things. We started laying him in his crib the opposite direction than we normally did, holding him in our opposite arm, when we gave him a bottle, we held him in the opposite direction as usual, changing him-the same thing. This forced him to turn his head to the weaker side when he wanted to look at us. It seemed to help. We also did a lot of gentle stretching of his head away from the tight side (the tight muscle is called torticollis-I'm not sure of the spelling). It can create some bigger issues later with motor skills, so by just repositioning him throughout the day and stretching, it typically will resolve itself on its own. Also, make sure that you don't let him sleep in his car seat (unless he's actually in the car) If he has to sleep in it in the house, tilt the seat back, so that his head isn't flopping to the side. Typically, by repositioning, it can get better on its own, if not, usually you'll end up doing some physical therapy-worst cases can end up with a helmet. He's really young still, and his head is very easy to reshape. It's good you caught it early!

The same thing happend to my daughter. She had a preference for laying on her left side so her head began to get flat on that side. My pediatrician recommended moving her on the other side but like your son, she would turn it back and sometimes even got mad when I changed her position. Not to scare you but I wouldn't prop anything - it is a big hazard as the baby could turn and suffocate. In my case, I just rotated her head every time I saw her on her left side and as she got older she bagan to lay on both sides. She is now 17 months and her beautiful little face is perfect - no flat spots. So just keep with it but don't worry too much - your son will gradually grow out of it!

My daughter had the same problem of keeping her head to one side. I took her to an upper cervical chiro and he helped her a lot. He also recommended some stretches that helped as well.

The doctor just kept telling me that she would outgrow it, but if you think it is serious enough, you might want to see a chiro or a physical therapist.

Hi S.,

My 3rd child was this way. She would always lay her head to the right side. So to keep her from doing that I would change her sleeping position. So I would first start with sleeping him side, back, side or back, tummy, back and then lay them at the opposite end of where you are sleeping him, like his crib or a pack and play. So one time he lay him on his back or on his left side and on the left side of the crib or pack and play. The next time lay him on his tummy in the middle of his crib or pack and play, this way he has plenty of room to turn his head from side to side. The next time I would lay him on his back or right side and on the right side of his crib or pack and play. Start putting things on the opposite side for him to look at also. I hope this helped you, W.

My daughter went through this at that age she just a year old on Friday. But the doctor told us it was called torticolis and she had to do physical therapy to strengthen her neck and lossen the muscle on that one side. It was very upseting for me at first then it was fun cause I was getting more bonding time with her during our sessions. Good luck S.

I was told when I laid my son down for a nap to change his sleeping postion each time you lay him down so the head would form correctly avoiding flat spots, lay him on his left side then right side then on his back. If he wont stay laying on either side take some rolled up towels and put them behind him.

Good Luck
G.

My daughter had the same problem...wouldn't sleep on left side of head. I had to get one of those lil mats w/velcro sides & pillow. It is like a lil foam pillow that their head sinks into. It really helped the flat head go back into normal shape...you can get at babies r us i think. Worth a try. Otherwise your child might have to wear a helmet to reshape the head!
Here is what i had (you can find on amazon.com)
Basic Comfort Head 'n Back Sleep Positioner
by Basic Comfort

Price: $14.99
Availability: In Stock. Ships from and sold by eToys.
Only 1 left in stock






ere is what i got- you can get online at amazon.

When he is awake try putting him in a bouncy seat or use a boppy to prop him up and just try keep him upright more. I also go against the whole back to sleep thing with my kids during the day. When I was awake I always put them on their belly to sleep and then he will have to lay on the sides of his head instead of the back. Also the older he gets the less risk of SIDS you have so sleeping on his belly won't be as risky. I had a bad experience with my first baby sleeping on his back. I went to check on him while he was sleeping and he was spitting up and it was going back into his mouth and choking him. If I hadn't walked in the room at that exact time he may have choked to death.

I would ask your pediatrician for a referral to see a Physical Therapist, there is a very common condition called Torticalis (spelling?) .... anyway there are some exercises and stretches they can give you. There should be a program for young kids - ex: First STeps where you can get the therapy or evaluation for free. Your pediatricians office should be able to give you thr information. It is really very common.