Re: What do you think of Gavin's head shape??

[Guest guest]

Hi Amber,

I don't have a good internet connection at the moment, so I haven't

checked the pics. I wondered if your doctor mentioned torticollis

(tort) at all? Tort is when the muscles in one side of the neck are

tighter than the other, so the baby is more comfy sleeping/looking in

one direction. Sometimes they just like the flat spot they are used to

sleeping on, but if the muscles are involved you may need physical

therapy to resolve this. you can often see tort yourself by looking at

pictures and seeing if your child always tilts his head to the same

side. Or put an object of interest on one side then the next and see if

his neck has a full range of motion. Tort and plagio often go hand in

hand, and if the tort isn't severe it can be hard to miss.

Hopefully you'll some some replies about your pics too but i wanted to

mention tort just in case you weren't familiar with it.

take care. -christine

sydney 2 yrs starband grad

>

> At my son's 2 month well check the dr. noticed his head was flat on

one

> side, she didn't seemed to concerned and just suggested laying him at

> the opposite end of the bed and holding him differently. He has

> improved a little from doing that. He just had his 4 month check up

> (with a different dr) he also wasn't to concerned (yet) but suggested

a

> sleep positioner. My son doesn't seem to stay in the same position in

> it, he's to strong and just wiggles his way on to his back and turns

> his head towards the already flat side. I am starting to worry that

it

> will get worse. I posted some pictures of his head labeled Gavin H.

> Please tell me your opinions about it. Thank you!!

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Amber-

I took a look at your pictures and I do see the flat spot and slight

forehead bulge. I assume that the right ear might be more foreward

than his left, but I can't see the left in the photo. If I compared it

to my son's head, I would say Gavin's is much less severe, especially

at 4 months old, but definitely visible. My Jake is now 17 months and

his forehead is still bulging more than Gavin's, though his flat spot

is probably similar. Jake had tort though, so it was even harder to

reposition, and by the time he was done with physical therapy, he was

too old for repo. Jake was 4 months old when I started using a sleep

positioner, but I didn't use the whole thing. I borrowed one from my

sister-in-law that had removable wedges that velcroed to the pad. I

took one of the head wedges off and would wedge it under Jake's head

on the flat side so that he was looking straight on (rather than

trying to keep his whole body on his side). It stuck right to one of

those sheet saver pads that are tied to the crib posts. By the

morning, he had wiggled down from it a little bit, but at least it

held it for a while and didn't restrict his movement overall.

In any case, Jake's plagio was at it's worst at 4 months old, and did

gradually (and I mean very gradually) improve, but not that much. The

good news is that it didn't get worse, and being aware of it now

should work out the same on Gavin. The bad news is that it didn't

improve on its own and Jake just got his DOCBand on Monday. So I can

attest to the fact that a year doesn't do a whole lot with regards to

natural correction, though you are still early enough in the game that

you can try repo for another month or two before having to make your

decision (some parents do have luck with it). Maybe give it until his

6-month checkup if you feel you can wait. Just take pictures every

week to document your progress. If you have a Cranial Tech nearby, you

can go for a free evaluation and at least get some measurements and

their take on it.

Good luck!

Jake-17m (tort resolved/rt plagio/DOCBand)

Jordan-4

P.S. I must say that nobody told me to repo for his flat spot, I was

mainly told to repo for his tort and assumed that if we corrected the

tort, the plagio (another word I never heard a year ago) would work

itself out. I just always tried to get him to look to his weak side,

for diaper changes, bottles, in the carseat, etc. So I'm not sure if I

would call what I did " aggressive " or not, I didn't go in to check on

him during the night to keep his head off the flat spot, I just always

tried to have him looking straight on and gave him as much tummy time

as possible. He was too big for the front carrier so he would be in

his carseat a lot but I used one of those Boppy Noggin Nests and that

seemed to help. Anyway, I just wanted to give you an idea of what I

did, some other moms might have more suggestions for more aggressive

techniques.

>

> At my son's 2 month well check the dr. noticed his head was flat on

one

> side, she didn't seemed to concerned and just suggested laying him

at

> the opposite end of the bed and holding him differently. He has

> improved a little from doing that. He just had his 4 month check up

> (with a different dr) he also wasn't to concerned (yet) but

suggested a

> sleep positioner. My son doesn't seem to stay in the same position

in

> it, he's to strong and just wiggles his way on to his back and turns

> his head towards the already flat side. I am starting to worry that

it

> will get worse. I posted some pictures of his head labeled Gavin H.

> Please tell me your opinions about it. Thank you!!

>

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

The dr mentioned torticollis at the last check up, but said Gavin

didn't have it. He just said to watch out for it. Thanks for your

response!

> >

> > At my son's 2 month well check the dr. noticed his head was flat

on

> one

> > side, she didn't seemed to concerned and just suggested laying

him at

> > the opposite end of the bed and holding him differently. He has

> > improved a little from doing that. He just had his 4 month check

up

> > (with a different dr) he also wasn't to concerned (yet) but

suggested

> a

> > sleep positioner. My son doesn't seem to stay in the same

position in

> > it, he's to strong and just wiggles his way on to his back and

turns

> > his head towards the already flat side. I am starting to worry

that

> it

> > will get worse. I posted some pictures of his head labeled Gavin

H.

> > Please tell me your opinions about it. Thank you!!

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks! I think I will keep trying to reposition until his 6 month

check up(next month)and if it's not improving by then I think I will

have to talk to the Dr. more firmly about it!! :]

> At my son's 2 month well check the dr. noticed his head

was flat on one

> side, she didn't seemed to concerned and just suggested laying him

at

> the opposite end of the bed and holding him differently. He has

> improved a little from doing that. He just had his 4 month check up

> (with a different dr) he also wasn't to concerned (yet) but

suggested a

> sleep positioner. My son doesn't seem to stay in the same position

in

> it, he's to strong and just wiggles his way on to his back and

turns

> his head towards the already flat side. I am starting to worry that

it

> will get worse. I posted some pictures of his head labeled Gavin H.

> Please tell me your opinions about it. Thank you!!

>

>

>

>

>

>

> " Other things may change us, but we start and end with the

family. " ~ Brandt

>

>

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