Need Advice on Dealing with My 6 Month-old's Flat Head

Get a couple of opinions. My pediatrician also said it would "even out" and my son ended up with asymmetry in his facial features. You will need to act quickly if you want to try a helmet, so don't wait.

I wanted to add after seeing Naomi's post, that it isn't necessarily anything you did so although yes, watch the sleep position but don't waste time feeling guilty about it. My son's head deformity came in the womb (breech position for many months) and he was born with the flat spot/facial asymmetry. It just got worse over time. He was rarely in a car seat, he rolled over by himself early, and had plenty of tummy time.

It's not a test of your character or something silly like that - just get the medical advice and as I said before time is of the essence - better to have a specialist tell you not to worry about it than ignore it until it's too late.

I have no idea if the helmets help, but I do know that we've been told our son's future probably is going to involve expensive orthodonture to correct jaw unevenness - my kid is a cutie, so it's not about cosmetics, it's about his comfort, his dental bite, etc. Anyone who says otherwise just doesn't know what they're talking about - don't pay attention.

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Just an observation, but I think more than sleeping, car seats are responsible for flat heads these days. Parents put their kid into a carseat. They move the carseat into a stroller to push, into the shopping cart to push, etc. Kid never leaves the carseat and her head gets flat. Much better is to put the baby in a carrier if you're walking, or onto the floor to roll around, or in a bumbo chair if she can't sit on her own yet. This minimizes the amount of non-sleeping time her head is resting against a hard surface.

Unless your girl's head is REALLY flat, it will correct itself so long as you do what you can to minimize her laying on her back or sitting in the carseat.

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I think this whole hype of putting babies on their backs is causing way too many babies who otherwise would be fine to have major developmental issues long term and short term. Yes, helmets can help but not always. I would highly suggest that you place your infant on his or her tummy to sleep and never on the back. There are MANY reasons of which I am sure you can read about online or discuss with a WELL-INFORMED pediatrician. There is always a risk with everything and lying babies on their backs clearly has great risks too. If you are concerned about your child's head DO NOT PUT HIM OR HER ON THEIR BACK. Get them out of the car seat, out of the stroller, out of the crib and pack and play. Carry him or her around in a bjorn or sling, get her on the floor slithering and fending for herself. Its ok for her to get frustrated and want to be picked up -- don't run to do it. Once she does it she will build the muscles all babies should be building at her age. I never kept my babies on their backs and always let them fend a bit for themselves on the floor, and as luck had it they were up and walking by 10 months. I apologize if I am coming on strongly but it is really simple to fix the problem and people refuse to let babies grow on their own these days -- we run to do everything for them and we only hurt them in the long run. I am not saying to not nurture (I breastfeed my babies very long and cosleep even with my toddler) but their is a balance we all have a very hard time with. I am sure you will find the answers and come to peace with your personal decisions. In the meanwhile, enjoy enjoy enjoy -- this is the BEST time of our lives, watching our babies grow. Good luck and be well, you and baby.

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My son also had a flat spot on his head, we were going to do the helmet but someone suggested the noggle nest from boppy pillow brand, you can find them online at babyrus and it worked real good, we used it everytime he was on his back, his head is still a little flat but due to him slipping off the noggle nest since he's such a wiggleworm, here's the link, Good Luck!!
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2507966

My son had to wear a helmet for 5 months to reshape his head. I've heard horror stories about it but he was wonderful with it. The time went by so fast and he has a normal shaped head now. Please contact me if you'd like more information.

A friend of mine had the same situation. The little boy wore a helmet for all of about 4 or 5 months. He doesn't have to wear it anymore and they make them cute. Good luck.

When she is awake, make sure she is on her tummy.

My son wore a helmet for almost 3 months until his little head stopped growing (there's a significant slowing in head growth at around 10 months where the helmet can't be as effective anymore). It made a huge difference for us. He didn't mind it at all beyond the first 2 days. He was really flat partially because he didn't start rolling until late and partially because of genetics. My dad and I both have big flat spots in our heads. Certain ethnic groups are more prone to it.
Our ped was a little anti helmet so we waited until my son was almost 8 months to do it. By that point, the flatness was more on one side and if you looked down from the top of his head, you could see that the left side of his face stuck out further than the right. I know, purely cosmetic but that freaked me out. He still has a good sized flat spot because we started too late but it's even on both sides and is a significant improvement from before the helmet.
I first mentioned it to my doctor when my son was around 4 months and instead of outgrowing it, it got worse. When we stopped the helmet around 10 months I hoped he would correct himself the rest of the way but it hasn't changed and he's 18 months now.
At around 10 months, my son learned to take it off as many kids do and coupled with a slow head growth, it seems like you can't use one much beyond that time or it doesn't make as much sense for the amount of effort involved. However, my husband has a coworker who's kid just started wearing one at 12 months.
If I were you, I would get a consultation (we used Dr. Vicari) and decide from there. He uses a small scanner that takes less than 10 seconds to do and it provides an objective assessment of how far from average the shape is and he can tell you if the helmet will help. Just don't wait as long as we did. The sooner you start it, the less time she'll have to wear it.
One more thing, I also have a daughter who never had even the slightest flat spot so it wasn't what I was or wasn't doing. Also, both my kids are city kids. Rarely in the car seat and couldn't stand the stoller as babies. They were both carried around a ton. I felt guilty forever first for not giving my kid enough tummy time (which wasn't true) for putting him on his back too much (also not true) and for having him wear a helmet for cosmetic reasons. If I knew then what I know now, I wouldn't have wasted a minute of stress on it!

I would not wait to get an evaluation. The sooner the better it is going to work. I waited and my son has his head shaped like that now and he will be three. You only have until the baby is 18 months I believe.

My daughter is almost 7mos and also has a flat spot. Our pediatrician said as long as her face is even, it will correct itself and there's no need for the helmet. Plus, once she gets more mobile it will correct itself.

J.
you have lots of advice (I read most of it) I would have to agree with the one who say tummy time and her hold more babies are little for a short time then they flee are grips to quickly. I would hold her more and put on her tummy more with some toys just out of reach. As far as night time goes I would adjust her in her sleep move just before you go to bed . I know it sounds crazy let the sleeping baby lie and all that but give it a try. good luck!
J.

My son was on the back of his head a lot when he was younger, too. We just made sure that he had a TON of tummy time during the day. We also found that putting him in activity centers or walkers was helpful as well. That way the amount of time he was on his back at night was offset by his time off of his back during the day. This is what our ped had suggested to us at the time and it worked well. The flat spot went away. Hope this helps.

My 4 month old daughter just got her helmet on Monday 1/5/09. The best advice I can give you is to get an appointment for a consultation. The people there will do an evaluation and tell you if she is a candidate. The people at Cranial Technologies are great. Also, keep in mind the sooner they go into the helmet the sooner they will be out of it. The younger they are the more "shapable" there skulls are. Good Luck.

I assume your pediatrician has ruled out cranial stenosis (early closure of the sutures of the skull) and belives this flattening is a positional plagiocephaly? If not, seek a referral to a craniofacial specialist. The time is now if you are going to use a DOC band or other form of shaping helmet to shape the skull. Children's Memorial Hospital has a great program for this. I'd recommend Dr. Frank Vicari. UIC also has a doctor who specializes in this, Dr. Polli. The window for cranial remodeling is short, in the first 12 months. And as other posters have noted, jaw alignment, facial symmetry and ear position can be affected. The DOC band is worn 23 hours a day, typically for 8-12 weeks, with appointments every week to have the specialist tweek the inside of the helmet. Good luck and keep us posted.

Dear J.,

I have written about this before, so maybe you can search back. The most important thing to know is that a baby's head grows to 90% of its adult size by age 1 so if you need the helmet you should get it soon to make sure that you are catching the most growth/shaping opportunity possible. Good luck!

my friend's baby had this issue. She was told to make sure he was on his tummy or upright all the time when awake. She got an exersaucer and other toys that keep baby upright and he learnt tummy time eventually very well. As a result, he was crawling in no time and the flat head went away.

My daughter's head was VERY flat as well. She is now 11 months old and the problem corrected itself. The more she started staying upright during the day and moving around...the pressure was off of the back of her head. I never used a helmet, or even considered it. If my daughter does have a little flatness left, you would never know it. Her hair has grown in so that she looks as if she has a prefectly round head. I wouldn't worry too much about your daughter's flat head...it will pop back out by the time she is 8 months old. I know it's an eye-sore but it will go away in time.

Hi. My son had the same problem but didn't use the wedge, but our pediatrician wasn't concerned. He said that once they start rolling the flatness usually corrects itself. He also had us doing exercises in the morning: I would turn my son's head to the non-flat side (so his chin was in line with the shoulder)and hold it there for about 30 secs. to stretch the neck muscles. I usually did this after changing his diaper and would do it another 1- 2x/day during diaper changes. We also would draw his attention to the non-flat side with interesting toys, or reading, etc. whether he was lying down, seated, or on his tummy. We were also told that a helmut might be needed if the flatness wasn't corrected by 9 months. My son's 7 1/2 months old now and doesn't have the flatness anymore. I don't know the severity of your child's situation but, hopefully, it will be corrected on its own.

If your doctor is suggesting a helmet, then I would go with that. My nephew never had a helmet and the back of his head is still flat, it did not correct itself and he is 7 now. He has really thick hair, so you cannot tell. One of the mom's at my daughter's preschool had a baby girl in a helmet and I don't think it was worn all day. They did decorate it with stickers and stuff so it really was cute. Good luck!

If you need the helmet, use it...I have friends that their kids needed the helmet and now the kids head is still flat....they are going to have to deal with this for the rest of their lives

My son had a flat head too, on one side. We found that he had torticollis which is a shortening of the neck muscles. He could not turn his head to one side, which is why his head flatened.

I pushed my ped. she said it would fix it self. Yeah, I don't think so! Yes some do, but some don't. I finally pushed her for a referral, so we did get started late. Like others have said early is SO much better for results.

My son did not even know it was there, it was harder on me than anyone. Yes, it is hard to see the helmet on your little baby but it is so worth fixing a problem that "could" last their whole life. You can decorate the helmet with fun little stickers and paint.

Because we got started late there is a little spot that is still flat, he is 2 so I don't anticipate that it is going to get much better. As others said it also effected his face and forehead. All of this was corrected with the helmet.

I was a hard decision but I can't imagine what his head would be like if we did not do it. It was months out of a lifetime....so worth it!

We went to Cranial Techs. http://www.cranialtech.com/ That is all they do there. They were SO nice and were the ones to find the torticollis and get him in PT.

Do your research and go with you gut. My head did not want to do it but my gut knew it was the right thing to do and we regret nothing except that we did not do it sooner.

Good Luck....look at Cafe Mom too there are some support groups.

-N.

My son saw specialists because of his macrocephaly (big head) and plagiocephaly (flattening of the head). My son got the plagiocephaly because of his macrocephaly. His head was just too darn big to hold up so it took him longer to learn to lift it, sit up, crawl, etc. His stubborn little butt would also only turn his head one way: in his crib, his bouncer, car seat, etc. his head was always looking to the left... so he got a flat spot on the left side of his head. During tummy times he would just sit there and cry hysterically because he couldn't lift his big ol noggin.

Anyway... the craniofacial specialist we saw told us to keep him off his head, however we can. We ended up putting him in the exersaucer with blankets to prop him up. By the time we got to her he was 10 months old. She said the helmet would have to be worn everyday for at least 23 hours of each day. She suggested at his age we just keep him off the head and hope it starts to form back. At his age he would have constantly been pulling the darn thing off and it wouldn't have done any good. He would have been miserable, we would be miserable, and the helmet would be useless with how often it would be yanked off.

He's 17 months now and his head is perfectly round (but still big). ;) I would have to say, from my experience, we were better off without the helmet. I would keep trying tummy time and just keep her off that spot no matter what you have to do. Of course at bed time your priority is to make sure she is safe... but the rest of the day keep her off of her noggin and I think it will round out on its own. Good luck hon and let us know how it goes! :)

Hi J.,

My children didn't have that issue but my friend's daughter had to wear a helmet. I asked my chiropractor (who specializes in treating children)about the possible side effects of wearing a helmet and, very generally, he said that it may have some adverse effects in the future development of the nervous system. He mentioned a possibility of scoliosis or pressure on the nervous system that would be a result of a mechanical pressure put on the brain by the helmet. The size or shape of the scull depends on a variety of aspects. If my children had flat head, I would first look into craniosacral therapy and chiropractic in addition to pediatrician's opinion. (I've found they often differ). And then follow your gut feeling what's best for your child. Good luck and hope it helps.

J. K.

Tummy time, tummy time, TUMMY TIME!!! Make sure you don't have container syndrome- putting your baby in carseat, swing, and other 'containers' for most of the day. Although they are convenient, they do tend to keep babies from developing their muscles and motor skills and their exploration. Don't be put off if she hates tummy time at first- keep trying!
Good luck!

All of my boys had flat heads, attempt to place child on belly for 15-30 mins increments and laying the infant on the opposite time for naps. That is what the peds doc told me to eventually it will even out. I was never told about the helmet. I hope this info helps.
Best Wishes

C.

I think most "flat head" babies get that way from lying on that spot, but has your pediatrician first ruled out a serious medical condition called craniosynostosis? (Google it to find out more.)

Craniosynostosis is usually caught and treated earlier than 6 months, I think, but in my daughter's case it wasn't "diagnosed" until she was 9 months. Fortunately, it turned out to be an incorrect diagnosis caused by misread x-rays, which is a whole other story, but at least we were ultimately able to rule it out and just deal with her head being a little flat from lying on it too much. We didn't do anything about it since it didn't seem bad enough for her to wear a helmet, and we expected that it would improve somewhat over time and her hair would get thicker and make it less noticeable, all of which happened. She is 5 now, and if any part of her head is flat, it's no longer noticeable.

Good luck as you decide what to do, if anything, about your little girl's head.