Re: New and anxious

[Guest guest]

Hi, you have every reason to be concerned and it could get right

on its own. The only thing with that theroy is you are too late for

treatment if you find it doesent round out on its own. The optium

treatment time in a helmet is when the babys head grows the most, 6

to 12 mths. You can treat later with the wait and see approach but

you loose valuble correction time .

I dident want to put my child in a helmet either but after she

was 12 mths and getting worse not better I made a decision that I

would do it.Unfortunatly for her it was latish and we never got full

correction like we may have done if I'd started sooner like the Dr

repeatdly told me too.

Well thats my situation but every babies head differant and alot

do round out on their own. I would concentrate on repositioning all

night and tummy time all day yo keep baby off the flat spot.

Good Luck, Lorraine.

> HI, everyone, I'm new to this group, just signed up because I have

a

> 5 and 1/2 mo. old who has a lopsided head! I've been mentioning it

to

> my family prac. doc. for as long as I've been noticing it, and she

> keeps saying not to worry about it. People keep noticing it and I'm

> getting worried, but don't want to be too overanxious since she is

so

> laid back about it, she says it will go away when he is sitting up

> more and moving around more. We've always laid him on his back to

> sleep like good parents, and he's always wanted to turn his head to

> one side, we tried alot of things, like blanket rolls, etc, but he

> always managed to scootch the way he wanted to. He turns his head

the

> other way without any trouble that I've noticed anyway, just

prefers

> to turn it the one way. Should I press my Dr. for a referral, or is

> there a chance it will reverse itself. I don't want him to wear a

> helmet unless he really needs it, I guess, and am afraid if I go to

a

> specialist that's automatic. Any advise?

[Guest guest]

Hi & welcome to our group:

Unfortunately soooo many pediatricians these days are very laid back

with plagiocephaly. Most of our group members have gotten the same

response from their ped as you have. It is possible that your son's

head could correct itself, especially with aggressive repositioning.

BUT, like said the previous reply to your post, helmets/bands are

most effective when began at a younger age.

I would suggest asking your pediatrician for a referral to a

pediatric neurosurgeon for an evaluation. Ped. neuros are familiar

with plagio, they won't prescribe a helmet for your son unless it is

necessary. Most ped. neuros schedules are very busy, so if you were

to make an appt now, it could be a month before you could get in.

The ultimate decision whether or not to get a helmet for your son is

entirely up to you & your family.

Also, has your son had xrays or a CTscan to rule out craniosynostosis

(premature fusing of the skull bones)? That might be a good idea

just to be on the safe side. From your description it is plagio

though. My daughter was the same way. She did not have torticollis,

we tried using blankets to keep her head from rolling, but nothing

worked.

The idea of putting my daughter in a helmet was crazy to me. It was

something I thought was just plain cruel. My daughter had severe

plagio & we too were stared at & even rec'd some rude comments from

people like " oh my gosh, look how flat her head is " . I couldn't

beleive it! But trust me when I say, most babies couldn't care less

that they are in a helmet. They truely don't even realize it's on

their head. It's amazing how well they adapt.

Check out www.plagiocephaly.org for more plagio information. There's

some good repositioniing tips in the site to help you.

Again, welcome. I look forward to hearing more from you - good luck

with all of this.

Debbie Abby's mom DOCGrad 6/22/01

MI

> HI, everyone, I'm new to this group, just signed up because I have

a

> 5 and 1/2 mo. old who has a lopsided head! I've been mentioning it

to

> my family prac. doc. for as long as I've been noticing it, and she

> keeps saying not to worry about it. People keep noticing it and I'm

> getting worried, but don't want to be too overanxious since she is

so

> laid back about it, she says it will go away when he is sitting up

> more and moving around more. We've always laid him on his back to

> sleep like good parents, and he's always wanted to turn his head to

> one side, we tried alot of things, like blanket rolls, etc, but he

> always managed to scootch the way he wanted to. He turns his head

the

> other way without any trouble that I've noticed anyway, just

prefers

> to turn it the one way. Should I press my Dr. for a referral, or is

> there a chance it will reverse itself. I don't want him to wear a

> helmet unless he really needs it, I guess, and am afraid if I go to

a

> specialist that's automatic. Any advise?

[Guest guest]

Just thought I would share my story as well with you. I noticed my

daughter's head being flat on one side at about 3 1/2 months. I also

noticed at this time that she preferred to look to one side as well,

making the flat spot worse. She, like your baby could look to the

other side, but preferred not too. When I mentioned it to the

pediatrician, she agreed and made a diagnosis of plagio and

torticollis. We have been seeing a physical therapist for about a 1

1/2 months and have seen great improvement on the torticollis. Even

though I didn't realize it at first, she didn't turn her head

completely to the other side, and had a slight tilt. Your baby could

be doing this too, without you really noticing, unless you really

look very carefully. Not that I am saying you haven't been careful,

just that it was hard for me to see, not being a trained

professional, and our case being mild.

At the same time, we have been monitoring her flat spot and looking

for improvement. Again her case of plagio is mild, so we have been

trying repositioning, fighting a hard battle because of the tort.

After almost 2 months of monitoring, we made the decision to band.

Our STARBand has been ordered and we should get it next week. We have

had some recommend against the band, becuse she was mild, but I felt,

along with her pediatrician (which is rare) that we should go forward

and get it corrected. I really think Mom & Dad know best in most

cases, so go with your gut feeling.

I think maybe since you are noticing the flatness significantly and

the possible torticollis that you should really push to go to a ped.

neurosurgeon. As others have said they can help you to make the final

decision and to give you a recommendation. That way you can be more

assured of what you are or are not dealing with in your case.

Good luck. It sounds like you are doing the right thing by noticing

and being proactive.

Mom to Naomi (STARBand - next week)

Georgia

> HI, everyone, I'm new to this group, just signed up because I have

a

> 5 and 1/2 mo. old who has a lopsided head! I've been mentioning it

to

> my family prac. doc. for as long as I've been noticing it, and she

> keeps saying not to worry about it. People keep noticing it and I'm

> getting worried, but don't want to be too overanxious since she is

so

> laid back about it, she says it will go away when he is sitting up

> more and moving around more. We've always laid him on his back to

> sleep like good parents, and he's always wanted to turn his head to

> one side, we tried alot of things, like blanket rolls, etc, but he

> always managed to scootch the way he wanted to. He turns his head

the

> other way without any trouble that I've noticed anyway, just

prefers

> to turn it the one way. Should I press my Dr. for a referral, or is

> there a chance it will reverse itself. I don't want him to wear a

> helmet unless he really needs it, I guess, and am afraid if I go to

a

> specialist that's automatic. Any advise?