Plagiocephaly (Flat Head) and Helmets

Hi K.. I have a 3 month old and am going through the same thing. We have an appointment tomorrow at St. Joes with a Dr. Ricalde. My son has always leaned his head to the left. No matter what we do that has been his preference since birth. His head is flat on that side and is mishapened. Definitely rounder on the right. I brought it up to our ped at his 2 month visit and now at 3 months she's finally concerned. I have looked for anything I could find about this. The helmets seem to help the kids I've looked at on the internet. They seem to wear them anywhere from 3 to 9 months in length. We've done alot more tummy time and keeping him off his head and it's helped with his movement. Sorry no real advice for you, just know how you feel. I'll let you know what they have to say tomorrow.

My son (now 2 yr. old) had both plagiocephaly and torticollis (tight muscles in neck causing head to tilt). He was in PT fot the tort and we saw a specialist for the head. Unfortunately, our pedi. didn't think the head was bad enough to seek a specialist early on. And by the time we saw the craniofacial specialist (at almost age 1) they said that a helmet probably would do any good. His head did resolve, pretty much, on its own. It's still a little wide over his ears, especially over his right ear. In retrospect, I wish we would have seen the specialist sooner and had him put in a helmet. I would recommend you go. Depending on how severe the plagio is it can cause other problems down the line, especially vision problems, too. Helmets are tricky though because they are expensive and most insurances don't cover them. I have heard many stories of people fighting the ins. co and winning. Good luck with everything and please feel free to email me with any other questions.

Glad to hear your pediatrician made the recommendation and didn't wait any longer. It's certainly best to get this situation addressed as soon as possible, while bone is still relatively soft.

A company in Arizona, called Cranial Technolgies has what I understand to be the only FDA approved device for correcting plagiocephaly. Their website has a lot of info that can help you prepare for the appointment. If I were in your shoes, I would do as much research on plagiocephaly as possible before seeing the specialist:

http://www.cranialtech.com/index.html

My little girl had that problem. She insisted on sleeping with her head to one side. I would prop her head with a rolled up towel under the sheet to turn her head to the other side. Then when she started spending more time sitting it started to go away. It is still there slightly but now that she is moving more, it is going away. She had positional plagiocephaly. There are other reasons for the head flattening that you can look into, but if you suspect that it is because of the way she lays, then try to correct it the best you can and eventually it will fade. Good luck!

I know someone who went through this. The mother was very worried about her daughter being made fun of as she got older. She was also very worried about her beung stared at as a baby. She wore the helmet for almost 2 years. She did not have to wear it all the time. They would schedule outings during the time she did not have to wear the helmet. They have a little more money than the average person, and had a nanny who came to there house during the day, and she did not have to go to day care either. I think that you have to do your research and trust your own judgement. Don't be affraid to do what is best for your child because of what others might think or say.

Hi,
Our son was also diagnosed with Plagiocephaly at around 3 months and it was pretty bad but the doctor didn't refer us to a specialist and said it would eventually get better. It was really bad so we just tried to keep him off the flat part whenever he was awake. We let it be and he is just fine. That being said, if you look you would still see that his head is a bit flat but that is what hair is for! We also have a friend who did the helmet and she says it was the best thing to do. Her son's head is perfect! I am not sure if this helped or not but we just felt it was better to have a little bit of a flat head than make him suffer with a helmet for months. We are happy with our decision but you need to do what makes you feel most comfortable.

Best of luck.