Re: New to Board, please advise

[Guest guest]

Hi, Yes I think the premie head is softer. The other issue is that the

brain/head is growing very fast. If there is pressure on the head from a

mattress etc the growth will go where there is less pressure. As babies get

older (after 6 months) the brain growth slows, and also the skull gets harder

over time.

As for your daughter holding her head on one side it sounds like torticollis.

When the neck muscles are tighter on one side babies have a preference for that

side. This is a huge contributor to plagio. It can happen because of the

position in the womb or some trauma at birth that pulls/weakens the muscles and

probably some other reasons. With tort the muscles should be stretched using

physical therapy to help restore full movement. This can also help correct some

asymmetry in the face etc. If your daughter is walking with a tilt she should be

evaluated for torticollis by an experienced PT. Sometimes the plagio is

diagnosed, but the tort is missed.

-christine

sydney, 5 yrs, starband grad

> >>

> >> Hi,

> >>

> >> My son is 10 wks. His pediatrician pointed out a possible problem

> >> with his headshape a couple of weeks ago. I keep looking at it,

> >> and I feel it's getting worse. She recommended having him turn to

> >> the opposite side when sleeping/playing. (it appears that his

> >> occipital lobe is indented, and the temporal lobe protrudes over

> >> it more on his left side than his right when looking at him from

> >> behind or above. But, I also notice that he's got these two bumps

> >> developing on either side of his head. If you look at him from the

> >> back, they look uneven in height. I've been feeling that I'm a bad

> >> mom. First of all, he was in a bassinet that we borrowed for the

> >> first couple of weeks. We received it from a friend, and I didn't

> >> realize how terribly flimsy the mattress was, then I was putting

> >> him in the natural arch of the bassinet, and his head was on a

> >> support rod that i ended up feeling through the mattress. we've

> >> moved him to his crib - i would have done this from the start, had

> >> i known this problem could develop. also, we've been using the

> >> britax chaperone, and i fear that maybe that is contributing to

> >> the problem. it's extremely confining. there are so many things i

> >> would have done differently...had i known... (even reducing swing/

> >> bouncy seat/activity mat time) (PS, why don't the doctors/

> >> hospitals give you information about preventing this at the

> >> outset? I'm a new parent - it makes sense that the skull bones

> >> would be malleable, what-with the fontanel, but why didn't they

> >> say anything?). at this point, it sounds like they don't want to

> >> see him until he's 4 mos. nearly everyday this week, i've been

> >> tempted to call and see if he can go in earlier for another

> >> checkup of his headshape. if other people look at him, they would

> >> consider it mild, if they saw anything. but, i'm his mom, and i'm

> >> seeing it all the time. plus, when i breastfeed, he's at the right

> >> angle for me to see these points forming on either side of his

> >> head. what should i do? wait till 4 mos? will this get better?

> >> everybody tells me that, but i just don't trust them (they haven't

> >> dealt with this before). ps, he was born via c-section & had the

> >> most beautifully round head (my friend called it a 'Charlie Brown'

> >> head). :-(

> >> he's not too fond of tummy time & has been rolling out of it for a

> >> couple of weeks. i read something about putting a towel underneath

> >> his chest so he continues tummy time, and that has been helping.

> >> Thanks in advance!

> >>

> >

> >

> >

> >

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> >

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