Baby Sleeps with Head in One Direction

I would strongly suggest that you take son to a chiropractor. They can work to get the muscles realigned and give you exercises to keep them loose. Keeping the body in alignment will also help with infections, especially those that settle in the neck. Look for a chiropractor that works with children and babies. Good Luck. B. E.

K., I don't think I really had a problem with this, however, I would think the ear infections would be a problem only if she is still sleeping that way. I like the advice the other mom gave about chiropractic care. If you are concerned, talk to your pediatrician. They don't always have the answers but if they've experienced it with another patient they'll certainly have good advice. Good luck

Hi K.,

It sounds like your little one may have torticollis, which causes a baby's head to turn to one side. I am a speech therapist and I used to work in a pediatric clinic at a hospital. The pediatric physical therapist there worked with a newborn with torticollis. I believe everything was fine after a month or so of therapy. You may want to speak to your pediatrician about getting a referral for a physical therapy evaluation. Look up pediatric torticollis on-line and compare your baby's symptoms with the description.

Good luck!
-K.

Have you tried a sleep positioner? It allows you to prop the baby up a little on his side. You can then direct which side his head is on.

When my daughter was born they pulled her out with suction and this pulled a muscle in her neck. I wasn't aware of it until she was 3 months old. The doctor found a knot on her neck and we proceeded to go to therapy 3 times a week and exercises everyday at home for a year. She would only crawl on one side and not use her arm on that side. It took a long time to get the muscle loosened up but eventually it did. You need to try to stretch the muscle on the affected side at home. I know it's difficult and he will cry but it's the best thing for him. Ask your doctor and he may need physical therapy. My daughter is now 13 and still has trouble with her neck on that side but you can't tell by looking at her. Good luck

rotate which end of the bed you lay your baby's head. Baby's tend to turn their head to the door.

Has your pediatrician checked your baby for a torticollus? My daughter was born with one which was caused from her birthing process and had similar symptoms, with the addition of a huge knot in her neck muscle which didn't show up immediately after birth, it seems like it took a couple of weeks to show up. It took months to go away completely and we were encouraged to massage it and to put things in her bassinett to stimulate her to look the other direction to help stretch the muscle back out.

Place him on his back to sleep. That will straighten the back out and help with the neck alignment. Do the massages on him as you did your oldest one to loosen up the muscles.

this condition should be corrected by a chiropractor that has extra training with newborns.
M.

I wonder if you put him on his side and used a wedge to keep him from rolling front ways or backwards. I did this with my kids, switched them each week so they did not get the flat head. You can rub his back and sssshhhh him while he cries and maybe he will calm down and go to sleep. Or, you can rock him and when he is asleep, lay him down on his side. Try this at nap time during the day so it is easier on you and him.

W.

We had the same issues with our daughter. I noticed the back of her head on the right side (the side she favored when sleeping) had more of a flattened curve than the left side. We showed it to our pediatrician, and he said she had Plagiocephaly. He referred us to a therapy clinic that specializes in the treatment of Plagiocephaly called Cranial Technologies. They made a molded head band for her to wear, which has a foam inner layer that they shaved away every couple of weeks as her head grew and the skull plates realigned. They also taught us stretching exercises to do with her several times a day to eliminate the neck muscle tightness and head tilt. She did outgrow her first head band before her correction was complete, so we had to have a second one made. I believe it took six months total treatment time.

The younger you start, the easier it is (and the shorter time required for treatment) as the skull sutures are still soft and more pliable. You'll probably have a fight on your hands to get your insurance company to pay for it. They like to claim that it is a "cosmetic" procedure for appearances only versus being a medical necessity. The fact is that uncorrected the condition can lead to ear and vision problems, jaw / bite / chewing / TMJ problems, sinus problems, etc. Many insurance companies will deny paying it at first, and through appeals (including with the state insurance commission), MAY later pay for it. We didn't have any success, and ended up paying for it out of pocket. The fees for everything including all office visits came to $3,000 per head band. They offered a prepaid discount of 10% off if we paid up front, which we took advantage of.

She is three months shy of four years old now. To look at her today, you'd never know that her head was ever anything but the shape it is today. She has had no health problems related to Plagiocephaly. Believe it or not, she just had her first and only ear infection three weeks ago. It was expensive at the time, but if I had to do it again I wouldn't hesitate a moment to treat the condition in the same manner.

Google Pagiocephaly when you have time. There's a lot of information and personal stories out there on the web about it. Talk to your pediatrician, and look to see if you yourself can observe a mis-shaped area on the head. My pediatrician missed it in our first office visits, but when I pointed it out to him (I believe at the eight week visit), and we talked about the sleeping issues / head tilt / tight neck muscles, etc., he concurred that it was a problem, observed the incorrect shape, and wrote us a referral. I believe she was about twelve weeks old by the time her head band came in from Arizona and we started using it.

Best of luck to you. I hope this helps. God bless your family.

The same thing happened to my daughter. I took her to a good friend of mine who is a chiropractor and after one visit it was 85% fixed...100% fixed after the second. It probably hurts your baby to turn the other way. I held my baby at the chiropractor and he used a very light vibrating tool that he put on my daughter's back. It was so light that I questioned whether or not it would even work (I think my daughter actually slept through it). Anyways, I know everyones first impression of a chiropractor is bones cracking, etc. this is as far from that as it could be. This guy is great and has a lot of experience with babies (and I don't think he charges for babies??). Germantown Chiropractic, Dr. Terry Hanson ###-###-####

It sounds to me like this baby might benefit from an adjustment by chiropractor who has special training to work with infants.
That kind of adjustment is much gentler than what one generally associates with chiropractic adjustments, it is basically a manipulation with their fingertips.

Many babies have some slight head and neck trauma from birth, from just passing through the birth canal, especially if the head was not in the most optimal position at the time; but especially also when there is some pulling and twisting by the care provider when delivering the baby, e.g. to loosen a loop of cord from around the baby's neck.

I would seek chiropractic care- if you have no experience with chiropractic, look for friends or family who do, and try to get recommendations on someone in your area. Meanwhile, massage will help.