Flathead

where is it flat? back or one of the sides? if it's the back that's flat try to make him sleep on the sides, alternate between the sides if you can. If it's one of the sides that's flat, put him to sleep on the other side and on his back. the head will fix itself, you still have plenty of time.

K.

Try more tummy time. Thats putting the baby down on his tummy when he's awake NOT sleeping. Tummy sleeping is not recommended, even supervised.

You can also alternate his head being on the left and right when he's sleeping on his back.

Good luck,
R.

You can try repositioning techniques so that you can give him ample time on his tummy (tummy time is very important too for his gross motor development), and on various sides of his head. He is still young for helmet treatment and in most not so serious cases, flatness can improve just with some simple tummy time techniques. Ask your pediatrician or a pediatric Physical therapist can always give you some techniques to try. If you're still concerned, there is new technology out there that can determine how many millimeters your baby is off. In most cases, if your baby's measurements are 6-8mm or higher off, they can be a canidate for helmet therapy (age is also taken into account as well because the ideal age for helmet therapy is 5-8 months. After a year, the helmet doesn't do much because the baby's growth has slowed and the baby's soft spot is gone). This technology is called a Star Scanner (there is no casting involved) and you can call a provider in your area to see if they will do a free evaluation. Even if your baby is not a canidate at this time, the scanner can help you track your baby's development and see if repositioning has helmet get your baby's measurements back on track. You can find a provider by going to www.starbandkids.com . Hope I could help :D

E. R
Monroe O & P
www.monroeoandp.com

Have tummy time with him, he probably is laying on his back too much. It will help him strengthen his arms and neck muscles and will be a new adventure for him. you can lay down next to him or lay down and let him lay on your chest and talk to him .... get him off his back. K.

My son had torticollis and was born with severe plagio. we were doing physical therapy for the tort and tons of tummy time and by the time he was 4 mo. old we started looking into a helmet for reshaping. if you arn't getting any where with the repositioning i would start now looking into wether or not you want to try a helmet. It is a pain to get aproved by insurance and can take some time to get started on the process. Star bands are not local. I think the closest one is in Brooklyn. In ct there is Cranial tech in Clinton they have the Doc band, same thing really and also use the computer imaging now instead of the head casting so it's not so invasive for the baby anymore. Helmets are super expensive 3,600. My son needed 2 and insurance didn't cover the second because there had been some inprovement with the first. I guess they felt my sons head was round enough. Definatly talk to your pedi and see what the suggest. Quite honestly for wearing 2 helmets and spending a ton of money i feel my son's head should be rounder. I also found the staff at cranial tech to be cold, useless when it came to help navigating threw the insurance process, and over all extreamly unplesant to deal with. I think if i had to do it with another child i rather take a weekly trip to brooklyn for a star band just so i wouldn't have to deal with cranial tech again. I know a few other mommy's who have been through the ordeal with cranial tech and feel the same way. They couldn't even be bothered to give me a recipt after a wrote them a check for over 3 grand and looked at me like i was crazy for asking! I don't know if that helped at all but good luck!

The more you can keep your son in a position where his head is not in one position or even against anything the better. Turn his head from side to side when he's sleeping. If you can keep your son in a carrier (Ergo, sling, Becco, etc) for several hours then his head will not have any constant pressure so it won't have the flat shape. Round pillows are also good for when he's in a carseat/sleeping.

You should have your pediatrician check it out to see what is causing it. My daughter had positional plagiocephaly (a flat head caused by laying in one position for too long). She also had something called torticollis, which is basically a stiff neck. So she could only turn her head one way, which made one side of her head flat. Your child may have it on the back of his head, which is common with the "back to sleep" campaign. If it is really bad, then you would have to see a pediatric neurologist to see if he would need a helmet. But the best advice is to make sure he gets lots of tummy time and get the weight of his head from laying down on it too much.

My daughter had this same thing. she still has a flat head (will be 3 november 29th) but her hair covers it now, when i touch her head i still feel it, but you can't notice it now. I know my friend had a boy w/ similar flatness and he had to wear a helmet, but only b/c she was worried about it, it actually did help w/ flatness,but all in all hard for him to stand wearing it. Only in some severe cases is it worth doing anything about, ask your dr.

Make sure that he gets lots of tummy time and it will work out. My daughter had the same problem cause I wasn't giving her enough tummy time. The more she stayed off the back of her head the more it began to take shape again. Don't let it get too far cause then the doctor will have to put a helmet on. They asked us to think about it but I worked on it and her head went back to normal and the doctor said that she didn't need it. Good Luck!

Depending on how flat it is and where it is located you can try all that tummy time and keeping off that spot. My doctor said because a baby has a flat spot he tends to keep going to that side because he is comfortable there just like us when we find a comfortable spot on the pillow. I would talk to your doctor my son has had the DOC Band on since the middle of September (he was 3 months) and has just got his second one because it is working so well. Within the first week of having the band you could notice a dramatic difference and I highly recommend it if the flat spot is bad.

First, it's great that you address it now, while there's hopefully plenty of time to handle it without a helmet. My son had the same thing....
- we banned the use of any pre-formed chairs, bouncers, swings....
- do lots of tummy time.
- Also, after my son would fall asleep on his back, I would lean him more sideways, and use a rolled up blanket to help keep him positioned that way.
- The Bumbo chair up in front of some type of activity center is also a good trick to keep him off his head when he's awake.
Once your son is sitting up and crawling, it works itself out... so you just have to get thru the next couple of months..... In my case, I started to notice a difference within a week...

Check it out with your doc as anotehr poster noted. Be sure that you are not leaving baby in carseat all the time (leaving it in the car or just that use will encourage more tummy time and one on one time - less time flat on back on his head. Try using a good baby carrier or sling during hte day to hold baby and give his head a reat. This has become much more common due to infants being in hte resting position a good amount of the time.

I heard a while back, that you ccan basically mold a babies head, by rubbing it constantly to the way that is best suited. Maybe try that? Just don't press to hard, wouldn't want to hurt the baby with his soft spot. :)

Babies usually develop flathead from sleeping on one spot with great frequency. Try laying him down but alternating the area he lays on. For his morning nap, turn his head to the left and turn it to the right for the next. Hopefully this helps!