What Can I Do to Round Out My 4 Month Old's Head?

Hi A.! A sleep positioner might work better for you. My son started developing a flat spot on one side too. I did some research and found some sites that mentioned massaging the head would help some as well as changing positions more often. He is 2-1/2 months and it has pretty much evened out now.

Hope this helps!

I had a friend who went thru this with her daughter, and they actually ended up wearing a specialized helmet on her to help make her head not so flat (her's was in the back).

You can't do too much when he's sleeping and you're not with him. Just do all you can when you are there. My 9mth old had a strong preference for one side until he was about 3 months and then luckily seem to quit caring. When you hold him, giving him a bottle, or breastfeeding try encouraging him to turn his head to the non-preferred side. If you're breastfeeding switching from a traditional cradle position to a football hold will switch which way he has to turn his head. When he's sleeping in his crib and you catch him laying on the preferred side, cautiously turn his head the other way. (only works when they are deep asleep though.) With him that active at night I wouldn't put anything in his crib to prop him. They do have crib wedges/inclines to put under the crib sheet. These are mostly used for elevating the baby's head, but you could try one and put him across the width of the bed instead of longways. It may give enough angle to encourage him to keep his head turned one way. I got a basic model at Babies r'us for $12-14 several months ago.

Babies frequently turn their heads in the direction of the door when they're in their cribs. See if laying him down the opposite direction helps. Also, when my baby boy had this problem, I gave him lots of tummy time during the day. When he was on his back I would lay next to him on the side that he didn't like turning to, and talk, sing, read, etc., while gently moving his head toward me. Eventually his head was beautifully round! Hope this helps!

Hi A.!

From what I read your child needs a cranial remolding orthosis (helmet) If you do not address this issue now @ 4 months, the clock is ticking. Once the baby's head is "hard" ( fully developed) it is TOO LATE to fix. In NC,SC there is a WONDERFUL company called Level 4 Orthotics & Prosthetics. They make amazing helmets and their practitioners are SO caring and well trained in deformaties ( I send patients to them all the time) Their website is www.levelfour.us.com DON'T go to cranial tech..they are uncaring and not nearly as well educated as Level Four.
They do not charge for the initial visit which includes a scan and their recommendation.Their insurance department is also very skilled in getting insurance co.'s to pay for the helmets, many times 80-100 % !!!
I for one am very excited that other Dr.s are finally paying attention to this under-diagnosed condition!!!
Good luck,
A. ! ( Married Mother of 12 yr old girl and twin 4 yr old boys !! Oneof which could have benefited from a helmet, but we didn't do it! Shame on us! Now we are better informed)

My son had this issue and it was diagnosed at 2 months. He also had a condition called torticollis (his head tilted to one side). That is what caused the flatening. Be consistent when he is laying on his back and keep turning his head towards the rounded side. My son has eventually learned to sleep that way and prefers to be on the rounded side. Anything you can do to keep pressure off the flat side and it will eventually round out. We have been working with a physical therapist for the torticollis and she has suggested all these things. Don't forget when he's awake to do as much tummy time as he can stand and use the rolled up towel or sleep positioners to turn him to the other side. My son is now 61/2 months and his head is almost perfectly round (from the doctor that diagnosed him to begin with).

Hi A..

When my son was 12 weeks old, I noticed his head was starting to get misshapen. I mentioned it to his pediatrician and his response was not to worry about it! AAUGH....Big mistake. 8 weeks later it was worse. I finally changed pediatricians and they immediately sent him for a helmet. Fortunately he didn;t have torticollis also. By the time we finally got the appt and had him fitted and then waited on the helmet, his head was getting pretty bad. The 2nd pediatrician told me that he should have had the helmet on by 6 months. If they don't get it on by a certain age, the results aren't as good. My son't head is not perfectly round but is sooooo much better than what it started out being. Now that his hair has thickened up, you can't even tell it.

Without the helmet, their facial features can get distorted, they can have eye problems. So it's not just about the "looks", it is something that you need to read up on and be on top of.

Some tips to help them get off that flat side.

Of course one of those wedges but what helped for me was moving his crib away from his wall. When they sleep next to a wall, they tend to turn toward it.
Or you could out his head down where his feet usually are (in the bed)
A mobile helps. I like the ones that were battery operated with a remote that way you can turn it on without going into the room.
The main helping tip....Tummy time. My son loathed tummy time. As yours get a little older, he will like tummy time more and more. Put him on his tummy and put some toy in front of him. Get him more interested in being upright than laying down (when not asleep)
Good luck and don't be upset if yours does have to wear a helmet, it isn't really that bad. I think it was definately worse on us than it was on our son.

Hi. Trying wearing your son in a sling or carrier so that he's not laying down for a few hours throughout the day. This may really help to give his head time to gain its shape.

Good luck!

From one A. to another A....I have also been working on this with my 4 month old son. At his 2 month appt. his pediatrician mentioned it and we have been very conscious of trying to address the issue before it needed 'helmet' or other intervention.
Good news is, that in only 2 months, we've had a lot of success and improvement. The first thing I did was bought one of those foam sleep positioners and he sleeps on his side now at night and at daycare. I did have to have a note from the pediatrician for the daycare to let him sleep on his side with a positioner and not on his back since that is their policy. I think the sleeping positioning has made the biggest impact on rounding out his head since there is not pressure on the back side for hours at a time. The other thing it tummy time. Even though my son still doesn't like it much...it's really important to try to get them used to it and off the back of their head. Also the bumbo seats or other positions that help alleviate full weight/pressure on the back of the head (or flattened side) are good ideas. My son also loves his highchair that reclines back a bit and he'll happily sit in that for quite awhile and play and it keeps the full pressure off his head since he's in a more upright position.

Good luck...you can definitley make some progress and hopefully address it with positional changes like we have. I'd definitley recommend starting with a sleep positioner so he can't squirm back onto his back/flat side during the night!

My son had to wear a helmet because he had a flat spot and his head was starting to misshapen. He wore the helmet for about 4 months. Now his head is fine. The helmet fixed the flat spot and rounded out his head. I recommend getting it. It usually costs around $3000 but if you do not get it your child's head will just get worse. My friend's daughter needed one and they opted not to get her one. Now her head is misshaped and one cheek is shifted our further than the other as well as her ears are misaligned.

A little about me:
a 36-year-old SAHM, work from home part time MT, and mother of son, daughter, and another daughter on the way.

Try using a sleep positioner. you can find these at Target or Babies R Us. Make sure to get one that actually has padding for the head. This stuff is kind of like memory foam.

I got a thin large blanket and swaddled my son, then I positioned him in his sleep positioner. You can basically block him in with the sides (most are movable). To prevent my son from getting to hot I would turn a fan on in his room an point it at the ceiling above his head.

This worked for my son... Good Luck!!

You have gotten great advice, but just to reiterate one more tip (again from another A.)

Tummy Time! Really just let him (or make him) have way more time on his stomach during the day. :)

Also, other Dr.'s I know of say they will just outgrow it, and not give you a heart attack.

Blessings,
A.

They sell wedges that you can use to prop up behind him and then take a small rolled up blanket and put it in front of him so he can't move that way either. Put it down towards his mid section and legs, not near his face. There are also wedges where the baby actually lays in the middle and does not move front or backward. During nap time when you can check on him more often, start using this as a time to make sure he is on a certain side or on his back. You can also try letting him nap in a bouncy type seat that is more of a sling, some vibrate and the kids enjoy it anyway. Just put it in his room or wherever he naps. Keep him sitting up while awake, off of his head entirely. They have seats for this too. Take turns each night which side he lays on. If he continues rolling to the other side, switch ends of which his head lays on so if he always rolls one way, put his head at the other end of the crib so he is on the opposite side of his head.

Good luck, W.

Good luck with this! My son was a micro-preemie and so we dealt with trying to keep his from flattening. Most of what we did was preventative and just for little adjustments. Definitely make sure that when you are feeding him that you are making him turn his head away from the flat side. This will help him adjust his neck and body too! Also think about how you hold him and make him look at you by turning his head the way ou want.

When you lay him down at night, position him to look at the door, with his head facing the way you want it to, and maybe even put a mobile, light or something for him to focus on. He may continue to move around, but this might help.

I would also sugest having him not sleep in his crib becuase he can move around and you can't control that. I would either try having him sleep with you, or sleep in his car seat, with a head positioner that will force him to keep his head turned.

hope this helps!

One of my children had a rough delivery and his head was not round. My pediatrician suggested that we rub his head. We did it and it worked. Just gently rub his head. Good luck! I hope he does not need a helmet.

This may not apply in your case but for what it is worth - thought I would suggest it. My son did not have this but my pediatrcian noticed that he looked towards one side a lot because he had torticolis (not sure if I spelled it right). His muscles were really stiff and I had to do some very simple physical therapy exercises with him every time I changed his diaper. It not take long before he had full range of motion again. good luck!

My nephew had a helmet too, and my sons head was shaped funny at first as well. My inlaws said to rub his head to round it out....thats what their generation did for funny baby heads. it doesnt happen overnight, but rubbing his head "out" (it sounds funny i know) a few hours a day while your holding him during his nap maybe, might help. he is older so it might be a little late, but we started with my son when he was a few days old and his head looked fine in a month. good luck!!

The advise I was given was to allow the baby time on his/her stomach as much as possible, generally during the daytime. This encourages him to rotate his head more often easing the need to stay on one side. Also try swapping which end of crib that he sleeps on. This will make him face the other direction to watch what is going on around him. This works well with his carrier / car seat too. (If everything interesting is always to his right, that is the way he is going to lay facing. Turn it around and he will too.) He's at about the right age to encourage a more upright sitting position too, such as in a bouncy seat or swing. That should relieve pressure from his head and build strength in his neck and back and encourage development in his balance too. Start out at short intervals for the sitting up and increase it as his strength increases.
This advise came from my grandmother, a mom of 10 children, and has been given to all her children for their babies, then to her grandchildren and is now being used with the great-grandchildren. (She usually went to the parents if she saw the baby getting a flat head. Believe me, she inspected her babies - and with pride too!)
It's been proven to work and doesn't require a whole lot of effort, just some simple changes in the daily routines.
Good luck and God Bless!
L. C.
Happily married (21ys) mom of 4 ages 20,20,16 & 14 - soon to be a mother in law in the fall... The second born twin is going to be the first to "fly the nest" this September.

A.,

My sister-in-law had this (called Positional plagiocephaly) happen with both of her children and they both ended up in helmets for 1-3 years. Her son’s condition was diagnosed when he was almost two, and so not only did he have to wear the helmet longer, but he has recently been undergoing physical therapy for fine motor skill/vision issues that the doctors think may have resulted from the plagiocephaly. His little sister was diagnosed much earlier, at about seven months, and she only had to wear the helmet for about 15 months and is now just fine.

I say this not to scare or worry you, just to get you to do your homework and then take action (which, of course, you are already doing)! I’m sure if you put an inquiry out on Mamasource, you have also been doing online searches, as well. When I typed “child helmet flat head” into Google, there were over 100,000 hits! One that would be especially useful to you might be a pillow that allows you to reposition the baby’s head: http://www.infantheadbed.com/?gclid=CIymxvDhj5UCFRdinAodL.... My sister used this or something similar and, although it was helpful, it was too late to avoid the helmet.

Best of luck!

A.,

I had the exact same problem with my son, now 16 months. His head was considerably flatter on one side because he preferred to sleep on that side. When I noticed and mentioned it to the doctor his advice was to move his positions from side to side. His Dr. did not seem worried at this point. The bones in their head are still seperated and there is plenty of time for correction. The babies with SEVERE Plagiocephaly at an older age are the ones that have to wear the helmets. Your baby will be fine as you have caught it at an early age.

I too had a very active sleeper so he would move all night. I would roll up a hand towel and wedge it under one side of his body (from his head down to about his waiste) so that he would stay on one side. Sometime he would wiggle out and I would have to correct it but it definitely helped. Now this is what you really want to hear. The best thing to do is give him a LOT of belly time. My son hated it at that age but it wasn't long after four months that he rolled over. Once he could roll over, he preferred to be on his belly. And not long after that, the flat spot on his head began to correct itself. I'm telling you he had a noticably flat spot on his head - strangers would ask if he got stuck in the birth canal! Now, he has a beautifully round head.

Also, another way to keep him off his head would be to buy a Bumbo seat or Bebe Pod. My son loved this because he could be upright and see everything. I began using it quite a bit at that age.

Good Luck!
P.

Hi A., I don't have experience with this exactly, but I had an idea. I don't know how you feel about co sleeping, but I have done it with both my boys primarily because it made it easier for me to get any sleep and breastfeed. Anyway, when my boys were about your son's age, they would fall asleep in my arms after I fed them at bedtime. I could just lay down in the bed with the baby to one side of me (with the baby toward the inside of the bed)with his head and shoulders nestled and supported by the nook of my underarm area. They both slept well this way and it made waking to breastfeed a snap. It takes a little practice to be able to be comfortable yourself but pillows help. Anyway, I was just thinking that in your case, this might be the only way to actually have some control over what position he stays in through the night, since he moves so much. Wedges and all that won't help if he just squirms them out of the way. It is totally doable for a couple of months, then you could get him use to sleeping on his own again if you like. My boys started sleeping alone at about 9/10 months and had no ill effects from co sleeping, it is just a matter of personal choice. Maybe you could do nap time in a swing which would give you control of his position then too. If his head went to one side, you could just prop it with a blanket after he goes go sleep. I guess you could do the swing at night too if he likes it. I have been known to put the swing next to the bed. As long as he is dressed warm enough and strapped in, it should be fine. I hope this helps, I'm sure you are stressed about this as I would be, good luck!