Re: Question about Plagiocephaly

[Guest guest]

I would definitely bring it up at his 4 month appt. and if the doctor "blows you off," ask to see a specialist. Our doctor ignored our repeated questions and constantly told us not to worry about anything. We didn't ask to see a specialist because we trusted him and didn't know enough to be assertive about it. Our daughter is now 8 months old and just beginning treatment for Plagio.

If you see a specialist, they should be able to tell you if you need to seek treatment, how severe any problem may be, etc.

After our experience, (can you guess this is our first child?) I would trust my gut instinct more....if you think something may be wrong, there is no harm in questioning it and having it checked out.

Good luck!

Kerri and Baby in Chicago

(3 days in band so far!)

[Guest guest]

Depending on the severity of plagiocephaly, it can lead to greater incidence

of ear infections in childhood, and optical or jaw problems in adulthood.

Unfortuneately, the research on these potential complications is very sparce

and the medical community is all over the board as to their concern for /

approach to babies with plagio.

It's definitely worth bringing up at your baby's 4 months appointment.

Including the head rolling thing. (I'm not familar with that.)

In the meantime, during the day you should do as much tummy time as possible

and at night position him off the flat spot. You might want to check out

some other resources that can give you ideas for repositioning:

http://www.cappskids.org/CAPPSRepositioning.htm

http://www.plagiocephaly.org/support/repotech.htm

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

-

Question about Plagiocephaly

> Hello, I just happened across an article at Babycenter.com regarding

> this, and am wondering if my son has it. He will be 4 mos. old on the

> 7th, and I have been noticing more and more over the past few weeks

> that he has a definite flat spot on the back of his head. Its

> probably about 3 inches in diameter and he's pretty much lost all of

> the hair there as well. Of course, he sleeps on his back, and he

> loves to lay on my Boppy pillow or in his carseat. We've just in the

> past month really started making a concerted effort to put him on his

> tummy, I guess I didn't realize how important it was at first. He

> also has a big habit of moving his head back and forth from side to

> side, kind of like he's rubbing/scratching the back of his head or

> something. He does that a LOT. So I guess I'm wondering if this is

> something I need to be bringing up at his 4 mo. check up, and does it

> cause any physical harm? Or is it just basically an appearance

> problem? Not that I want my son to have a flat head, but I won't be

> as panicked about it if it doesn't do any damage! Any information

> would be great! Thanks!

>

>

> For more plagio info

[Guest guest]

Hello and welcome to the group. You should definitely bring up your concerns to

your ped at his check-up. We brought up my daughter's flat head at her 4 month

check and the ped basically blew off our concerns saying, " It will round out on

its own " . Those words STILL echo in my mind. At her 7 month check up her head

was worse, not better. We brought up our concern AGAIN and this time ped

referred us to a neurosurgeon, but he still maintained that it was fine and that

it would round out on its own. We saw the neuro and he said she needs a helmet

to correct the plagio. She was moderate to severe. By the time we saw the neuro,

got a CT scan to rule out cranio, got casted and received the helmet was 9

months old!!!!! To this day I still hold a grudge against that ped because if

the process had started at the 4 month check up I am convinced that would

have gotten more correction then she did.

There are LOTS of differing opinions about plagio amongst the " experts " . Some

firmly believe that other medical conditions and complications could arise from

untreated plagio. Some believe that it is a cosmetic issue only. My nuero was of

the opinion that plagio COULD (not necessarily would) lead to things such as

TMJ, vision problems, speech and language delays, developmental delays, chronic

ear infections, migraines, etc. Even though there were differing opinions I just

could not take a chance, especially since was borderline severe. The

helmet she used was passive in design and she never cared for one moment that it

was on her head! I was so shocked that she didn't care since she was a " high

maintenance " baby! :-) The results were very good. She is less flat and her

facial assymetry is not as severe. Had we started earlier I believe we would

have had a higher degree of correction.

That being said I would strongly encourage you to reposition like crazy and

increase tummy time as much as your son will tolerate. There are some tips about

that at www.plagiocephaly.org/support. Best wishes and please let us know what

you decide to do and if you have any more questions!

Marci (Mom to )

Oklahoma