Flat Spot

Go to the specialist. My neice has the same problem. First the ped Dr. said it was from when she was born...then they said it was normal. It was off so much it changed the symetry of her face...even her ears. They told her it would get better.. It didnt. They did go to the specialist at Dornbeckers.. they wanted to helmet her. The parents were scared and went the physical thereapy route. They didnt want people to stare at their daughter... Well, she is now two and when you pull her hair up in pony or pig tails it is very noticable. Hats will always be a problem due to her head shape. When they went to the specialist, they said at her age she wouldnt have had to wear the helment but 4-6 months... This was before the skull had hardened and was easier to mold.. If they did it now it could take years.

For piece of mind, at least go for a second opinion. Not too many pediatric doctors have experience in this. (It has a name, but I can't think of it right now..)

Hi L.,

My niece has a very mis shaped head as well. My sister took her to a doctor for some head fixing helmet thing. It was wonderful. My sister made it fun for her to wear too. Pulled her ponytail through the top of it, bought her stickers to decorate it by herself. And mom and dad even wore bicycle helmets at home to make her feel more secure about it. Harper wore that helmet for almost a year. Her flat spot was the whole left side of her head because she would only lay on that side. And like you, they tried the blankets, positioners, rocking her to sleep to lay her the way they wanted. Yet that little girl would still move herself to her left side and still does to this day. Harper is a beautiful 3 year old little girl with a new brother on the way. It is not nearly as noticable as it was. Family and close friends still notice, but everyone else hasn't a clue. I hope this puts you at ease. If you have any more questions, please feel free to drop me a line.
x. C., Mother of 5 boys

I have three kids of my own and if you don't like what that doctor is telling you go to another doctor and see what he says. If it was one of my kids I would take them because id rather be safe than sorry.

If your son is always wanting to lay on one side, then he may the toricollis that another mom mentioned. This is a condition where one side of their neck muscles is tighter than the other so it is uncomfortable for the baby to move that way. My son also had this to the point that he wouldn't even nurse on one side. As he was always on one side, his entire head started to misshape - his top plates were trying to cross at one point. I went to the doctor multiple times for it to get information and finally had to go to another doctor to get a referral for physical therapy. With some simple exercises his head has pretty much rounded back out all over. I know it is off and feel terrible but was learning as well. The PT taught me how to stretch his neck by simply playing to one side and having toys on that side for him to have to look that way. Another was with a sheet folded just so under his head that we would play a game with rolling him side to side and a certain way to roll his body with him legs from side to side. I got appointments at Children's with the Cranial-Facial Clinic for plagiocephaly (flat spot syndrome) just to make myself feel better so that if a helmet might be needed but the physical therapy did the trick. That would be what I recommend. It should be someone trained in dealing with infants and with this situation though. Good Luck.

I had this problem too with my son, to the point where he almost had to wear a helmet. He had torticollis (stiff neck muscles) when he was born we went and got Dex Secure Sleeper http://www.dexproducts.com/sleeping.htm#hbss-01 and the memory foam pillow helped round out his head again. There is a small amount of flattening to one side of his head but you have to be looking for it to see it now.

If there was a reason to be concerned your doctor and the specialist would do something. If you are not confident in your doctors ability to treat your child you need to find another pediatrician.
After working in child care for many, many years I have seen this a lot. It can take a long time to round out and even if it doesn't completely go away, it won't be the end of the world. The helmet is used for extreme circumstances and can be (although not always) painful for the child if it is needed when doing the reshaping.
The most important thing to keep in mind is that your child is healthy and hopefully happy to have such wonderful and concerned parents!

You know, my nephew had a really severe flat spot and they were told it would go away on its own, well he is 6 now and its still pretty noticeable, to the point where if they cut his hair really short he gets teased at school... His younger brother also had a flat spot, but not as severe and it seems to have gone away. I know the make special helmets and stuff to correct the problem if needed but it has to be done before the head is completely formed at around a year of age. If you are worried about it I would go see that specialist, they would know if it is severe enough to need some outside correction.

It's not okay. My older son got a flat spot on the back of his head from sleeping in his swing so much. Shame on me. It never went away completely, he's 3 now. It's not noticeable because of his hair, but we (his father & I) know it's there and feel bad.
But... the main reason I'm posting a response. My younger son, 3 months, has developed a sort of slope to his head because he always lays on the same side. Our pediatrician noticed and referred us to a cranio-facial specialist. There IS something they can do for babies with mis-shapen heads, they make these baby helmet things that help re-shape their heads. I don't have very much info on this yet because our first appointment isn't until tomorrow. The doctor's name is Monica Wehby she works at Emanual, I guess she is one of two doctors in the NW that does this sort of thing. Anyway, send me a message if you are interested in finding out more.

I never had to worry about this, because my son was a tummy sleeper from the time we brought him home from the hospital. However, both my friend and my sister-in-law had problems with this. One has a girl, the other a boy. From what I remember with both of them, it took about 4-6 months before the head rounded out and everything, so I think your son wll still be fine...it'll just take some time. I think if there were a cause for concern, your ped. would probably say something. Good luck!

I dont have this problem, but I wanted to let you know, I have braces and Hanger Prosthetics & Orthotics made them for me and while there I saw the helmets and asked about them. Randell Rowland, the manager, is very passionate about the good these can do for the children. You could call them to find out what doctors refer to them for this. I think they may be the only place in the portland area that fits these. The number is ###-###-####. I know they have several offices around the metro area. Good Luck, Jen

I'm SO glad to hear that another mom has this concern! My middle son was a late crawler and he loved to be flat on his back - so his spot developed on the back of his head. He's been crawling now for about two months and his flat spot is just now starting to round out. I just figure that it took him eight months to develop his flat spot, so it'll probably take at least half that amount of time to get rid of it!

My update: My son is now 13 months and has no flat spot!

Children's hosptial has a clinic just for dealing with the flat spot, ours was pretty mild but I still wanted to get it checked out. They were very kind and helpful and reassuring with good ideas about how to minimize it. I vote for going if you don't think it will change much-it is nice just to have the peace of mind.

L.,
My son had the same exact thing..his head looks fine now. He is almost 3.
I can't remember when it all rounded out, but it did. We did go to a specialist and had a special helmet made for him, and it wasn't worth it.
I think he was between 4-6 mos when we had the helmet, and the effort of trying to make him wear it, and keep it positioned in the right spot was crazy. I gave up on the helmet, and low and behlod his head rounded out and with hair on top of it.. no one would ever know his head was flat. :)
I know how you feel, try not to worry so much. It will be ok.
K.