Head Tilt

Updated on May 10, 2008
D.H. asks from Yuba City, CA
51 answers

Hello moms. I know this is probably nothing, but when my husband mentioned it to me, I figured I'd just double check. I have three children, two older boys, and one infant. She has a definate head tilt, she keeps it tilted to her right when she is laying down, sitting up and eating. I don't remember if my boys had a tilt like this, and just want to make sure that this is normal. I hadn't really payed much attention before, but she's starting to get strong enough to hold her body upright and the head is still tilted. If any of you could let me know if this is "normal" or something I should be concerned about I'd greatly appreciate it.

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So What Happened?

Thank you all for your advice. We just went to the doctor today, and it was a great appointment. The doctor checked her neck, massaged the muscles, and turned her head. She said that it doesn't appear to be torticollis, the muscles aren't tight or knotted. She gave me some stretches to do with her, and talked some more about tummy time as well. After just a few minutes of the stretches she's already turning her head a little bit more than she was as well as holding her head a little straighter. So we will continue putting stimulating toys to her left and stretching her neck and hopefully this will take care of things. Thank you all once again, the information you all gave me was wonderful.

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C.F.

answers from San Francisco on

Take her to a chiropractor. My cousin was the same way as an infant and the chiropractor took care of it in one visit.

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J.R.

answers from Sacramento on

My son who is now almost eight (my first and only) did the same thing when he was only months old. I didn't notice the "crook neck" at first...I had major complications at delivery and husband was doing most of everything!!! I think he was about 3 months when we took him to the Dr.'s one night after it seemed to be more pronounced and he was extremely fussy....something he normally wasn't. We found out that he was having muscle spasms in his neck from a shortened muscle, due to being cramped in one direction in the womb. They showed us how to massage him for relief and we started physical therapy a few days later. It only took a couple of weeks of stretching exercises to have his head straight and strong! Only little side affect he carries with him is one side of his head is a little flatter than the other....so no super short hair cuts for him!! :) Hope this helps! J.

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J.K.

answers from Fresno on

I don't know much about it but I would just have her evaluated by a doctor. I wouldn't worry just tell the doctor you are concerned.

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W.M.

answers from Sacramento on

D.
A co-worker of mine had to take her daughter to some sort of therapy at about the same age, because her neck did the same thing.

W.

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D.M.

answers from Merced on

Hi D., I see a lot of folks have told you about torticollis. Along w/ torticollis sometimes comes plagiocephaly (misshapen skull). My son had both and was diagnosed at 6 months. He had the head tilt and only if you looked straight down on his forehead could you see a slight depression of one side. I took him to PT and she recommended some exercises. I'd already been doing them since I read the information on the internet. Tummy Time was the #1 advice. But my son would cry every time I put him on his stomach and then once he could rollover he wouldn't stay on his stomach. My chiropractor recommended a cranial chiropractic specialist in Los Gatos. He took his own son to this doctor. I decided to see if the cranial chiropractic therapy helped since the exercises weren't providing any big improvements. I took my son to see Dr. Thomas Bloink. Dr. Bloink emphasized the importance of laying on the stomach to strengthen the neck and back muscles for crawling. He was concerned that my son wasn’t crawling yet or making progress in that direction. He also said the issue w/ torticollis is not just a tight muscle that needs stretching, it’s tension inside the skull from the dura. After ONE adjustment his head was straight! AND he went on his stomach w/out complaint AND he rocked on his knees for the first time! It was amazing. I knew he would be okay. Five weeks later he was crawling on his own. And he has only had his head tilt two more times in the last 6 months. Each time his head straightened up the adjustment. The first time was during the week after his first adjustment and the next time was a couple of months later during a growing spurt. I hope this helps. Maybe is will save you the stress of trying to “stretch” your daughters neck and using rolled towels and sleeping her on her side to stretch her neck. Here is Dr. Thomas Bloink’s info: California Cranial Institute 431 Monterey Avenue, Los Gatos, CA 95030 ###-###-#### www.DrBloink.com. He doesn’t take insurance. I send the receipts to my insurance and they reimburse part of the cost. Dr. Bloink is 1 of 2 specialist in this field in all of CA. Good luck to you and your family. D.

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S.B.

answers from Redding on

Dear D.,
I don't think it's something you should be overly concerned about. Your pediatrician should let you know if it's cause for concern. I have a friend whose baby girl was born unable lift her head straight at all. It was due to the positioning in the womb and they noticed it at birth. So, got massages and rolled blankets, etc were introduced to gently help those muscles elongate. I believe she is in the 2nd grade now and perfectly normal and active. You would never know she had trouble with it. If she is favoring her right side, then try to switch which way you lay her or feed her. This is definitely something that can be worked out.

Good luck!

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S.M.

answers from San Francisco on

Hi D.,

I'm a pediatric occupational therapist and there may be a condition that your daughter could be facing. The scientific diagnosis is torticolis. It is a shortening or tightening of the trapezius muscle in the neck. It is correctable with physical therapy if she does have it. It's like a stiff neck and is simply caused by positioning and her favouring that one side. It probably isn't hurting her because she's not crying.
Hope this helps.

Rocio

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K.T.

answers from Sacramento on

Our Daughter had the same thing and I was really worried about it. Our Ped recommened some kind of chiropratic thing if we wanted but said it would probably work itself out and it did. Then we change Pedetritians and he told us never to do chiorpratci on a baby so we didn't and she's totally fine today. I can't even remember when it went away, its really no big deal. They grow out of it. I want to say at around 6months it started getting better.

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J.S.

answers from San Francisco on

All these response are great, I just wanted to let you know that both my boys had torticlis too. My oldest son actually had one side of his head flatten a little before we caught it, but is fine now. I did physical therapy and chiropractic care and for both of them it resolved within a few months. Go see your doctor, if you don't have medical care I can tell you the streches my PT taught me. Congrats on a healthy girl!

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K.A.

answers from San Francisco on

Hi D., My friends baby had the same type of issues and it ended up being tortacollis (spelling?) She ended up taking him to physical therapy and doing exercises with him at home. All signs are gone now. You should probably check with your doctor. Good luck:)

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J.C.

answers from Sacramento on

My daughter had it too, tortacolis it's called. It can be fixed with stretching and therapy. Tell your doctor. My daughters is gone now. It seems scary when you dont know about it, but it's no big deal. It's fixable. ;o) But, get on it right away.

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S.B.

answers from Sacramento on

Hi D.,
I would check with your pediatrician. Your doctor can rule out any health issues and may be able to show you how to do some simple exercised with her to strengthen her neck muscles. Good Luck!

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A.B.

answers from Modesto on

Hi, while reading your messasge, I remembered watching one of those medical shows that had a little boy that had a head tilt. After many trips to different doctors, one said that it can from something like a lazy eye. By tilting the head that was the only way he could see "normal". After surgery of tighting a muscle in the eye, the little boy didn't have the head tilt anymore. Hopefully this might help as a suggestion to the doctor.

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E.V.

answers from San Francisco on

My daughter (now 4) had a similar problem. When she was born, the doctors noticed her head was tilted to one side, and diagnosed her with torticollis, which just meant that the muscles were weaker on one side of her neck. She was a large baby and we think that she was stuck with her head crammed to one side during the end of my pregnancy. Her case was severe enough that we did weekly physical therapy sessions until she turned one. It was time consuming, but otherwise not a big deal. Best of luck.

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J.C.

answers from San Francisco on

My second baby came out with one side of her head by her ear pushed in and she did not want to turn her head to the right...there is a term for it but I can't remember the name of it. Basically her head (very large) was pushing so hard between my pelvis and her shoulder for so long that it made an impression and stretched out the muscles on one side of her neck. It took about 3.5 months for it to look normal again and the Dr. reassured me every visit that it was normal and would eventually fix itself.

I am guessing this is what happen to your baby...probably had her head turned hard in the womb and it will just take time and muscle strength to regain normal movement. You can place her on the opposite side of the turn and make it so she has to turn her head toward the crooked side to look at the action in the room…this will help strengthen the muscles and help her regain her motion.

Don’t worry about it, but tell your pediatrician at your next visit that you noticed it. I am sure she/he will explain it to you and put you more at ease. Believe me, I freaked about the ear thing for months and even though the pedi. and my mother said she was fine, I still worried, a little (grin).

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R.F.

answers from San Francisco on

mention it to her doctor. It can be a sign of a very correctible condition where the child's neck muscles are stronger on one side. They just need to help her strengthen the muscles on the other side. Your pediatrician can work with you on this &/or refer you to a physical therapist. It is a common enough issue.

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J.M.

answers from Sacramento on

Hi D.!
My 3.5 motnh old had a head tilt and a preference to only turn his head one way. I was have some pain with breastfeeding and the lactation consultant suggested to try Cranial Sacral Therapy when nothing else seemed to work. We went to see Ben Katz, who has worked with several infants from my LC's recommendation. After 2-3 sessions (30 minutes, somewhat intense, but very gentle work) my son started to have significant improvement and the breastfeeding really improved (he couldn't open his mouth wide enough becasue the constriction made it really uncomfortable for him). Now, he still has a titl and preference, but I can do the stretching with him myself and it seems to not cause any pain.
Check out Cranial Sacral Therapy and Infants/breastfeeding on the web...there some good stories about it.
Good Luck!

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V.T.

answers from San Francisco on

Hi D.,
It sounds from your description that your daughter might have torticollis. Chiropractic care is great at diagnosing and treating this condition. My advice is to take care of it soon, because as she sleeps, probably she only prefers turning her head in one direction, and it can cause flattening of the head on that side. Your pediatrician can make the diagnosis but they often do not recommend treatment till it gets much worse. I can tell you from my experience, the sooner you get care, the faster the result and less impact on her development. I am a chiropractor myself and work a lot with infants. Here is a link with more info:
http://www.icpa4kids.org/research/chiropractic/torticolli...
Call me if you have questions.
V. Tali DC
www.drtalidc.com
###-###-####

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H.S.

answers from Salinas on

Hi D.,

My neighbor has a baby that has the same issue and it turned out to be a tight muscel in the neck. It was easily exercised and at 15 months they still work on it. The problem that arose from it was a mis-shapen head from the baby always sleeping in the same positions. He has had to wear a helmet for the last year to reshape his head. I would have the muscles in the neck checked and avoid the helmet if possible.

HGS, Pacific Grove Ca.

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G.D.

answers from Modesto on

I have seen this before... it is one of 2 things either neck muscles and tendons involved or one of the eyes is tilted in the socket and she is trying to compensate her sight because one is normal and the other is tilted!!! Check both options it is very important for her vepelopment and sight!!! Love, G.. :0)

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K.V.

answers from San Francisco on

If it's been that way since she was born, you might ask your doctor and get a diagnosis of torticollis. It's not usually a big deal and corrects itself, but in some cases intervention is needed. Ask your doc to look at it and consider that quite seriously at your baby's 3-month-old check-up. Good luck!
K. in EC

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H.M.

answers from Sacramento on

Hello. My son had the same problem when he was an infant. I noticed he always held his head to one side and the one side of his scull became flattened in the back. I asked our pediatrician and we found out that it was torticollis. She referred us to pediatric physical therapy where we had about 5-6 sessions. He was evaluated, then we learned some stretching exercises for the neck and some strengthening exercises to strengthen the weak side of his neck muscles. He is now 14 mos old and is perfect. No neck issues and as soon as he gained mobility in his neck the scull flattening went away. I definitely recommend pushing to get the physical therapy referral. Our P.T. applauded us for noticing the problem so early (about 2 mos.) and correcting it before it got any worse. They think that torticollis is sometimes caused while the baby is in the womb. Sometimes, the baby gets stuck in a certain position and their neck was kind of bent to one side. This is what causes the stiffening. Good luck and I hope your daughters problem gets fixed.

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C.H.

answers from San Francisco on

Hi D.,

I'm a physical therapist and it sounds like your doughter has what's called a torticollis. There is usually a head tilt to one direction with rotation of the head to the other direction. In your daughter's case, right tilt with left rotation. Her pediatrician should definitely keep an eye on it and refer for physical therapy as needed. There are stretches that can, and should, be done on a daily basis so ask about those. They will also want to see if there is a benign nodule in the muscle that will restrict the motion. My son actually had trouble with this too and as a PT it drove me crazy. It would seem to resolve intermittently and then creep up again, especially when he was not feeling well or was teething. His completely resolved by 10 months. If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact me! Good luck, C.

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G.P.

answers from Modesto on

I would check into it, I don't think its normal. Im not familiar with this, but maybe the doctor can give you more insight. If your daughter holds her head up straight, than you know its nothing to worry about. How is coordination? I think that is also important to observe her movements, to see if anything changes.

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H.H.

answers from Bakersfield on

Hi D.,

My nephew had this problem when he was an infant. From the time he was born he had always tilted his head to the side (I can't remember to which one) when he was sitting in his car seat, laying down, and when he was tired.

My sister was concerned as well. Her doctor told her that my nephew did in fact have a slight titlt problem and it would most likely correct itself in due time. The doctor said if it did not improve in a few months that she should have it looked at again so corrective measures (head brace)could be taken while he was still very young. I believe that this can be corrected by using kind of like a helmet or brace that the child wears for a certain period of time.

Since I was watching my nephew during the day, I made sure to use one of those seat inserts that supports the baby's head that fit in the baby's car seat everywhere I put him to sit or lay. For instance, I used it in his swing, seat, even when he was laying down.

Basically, the doctor said that his neck was more stonger on one side than the other. We needed to ensure that he used the side that was lacking strength as much as possible. This would buid the neck muscles on the weaker side and corect the problem without have to take any sort of surgical measures.

He is four now, and you would never know that he has any problems what so ever. As he got older, bigger, and stronger the problem did improve and eventually disappeared.

If you are concered my suggestion to you would be to talk to your doctor and have her evaluated. It can certainly not hurt and would give you some piece of mind.

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M.R.

answers from San Francisco on

Infant Chiropractic would solve that very quickly. There is an amazing chiro in Noe Valley who sees pregnant moms, babies, and children all the time. She is amazing and SO GENTLE, you can barely tell that she is adjusting the baby. All three of my kids have seen her, and my youngest is only 8 days old.
Her name is Kristine Hicks and she works at More Mojo on Church at Clipper. ###-###-####.
It is TOTALLY WORTH it!
Good luck!

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J.S.

answers from Sacramento on

Hi D.,

I see this a lot in my practice as a Lactation Consultant. Most likely your daughter has a condition called torticollis which basically means one side is tight while the other stretched out..causing baby's head to be tilted over to one side. My recommendation to all my clients is to seek treatment - and not necessarily just go along with the physical therapy (PT) treatment most often recommended. PT is time consuming and can be very uncomfortable for baby. I refer to a Massage Therapist who specializes in Neuromuscular Therapy - she is amazing! She has helped ease babies out of torticollis very very quickly and with great success. In fact, I send all of my babies who have any kind of muscular issue to her - she has extensive experience with infants and babies just love her. :)

If you are in the Sacramento you can find her at ###-###-#### - Her name is Venice Sullivan. She really is fabulous!

Good luck to you!

Warmly.
J. Simpson, IBCLC, CIIM

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V.R.

answers from Redding on

Hi D.,
When my daughter was about 6 weeks old, I noticed when I put her down to sleep that her head always went the same way. I tried to turn her head, but inevitably, it always went back to the other side. My family said it was normal, and that she would switch sides eventually. The pediatrician, however, noticed this and wanted her to have physical therapy, which we did. The condition is called torticollis, which is a weakness in the neck. My daughter is a twin, and she was smooshed at the bottom of my belly, that is where her torticollis started. When my daughter started to hold her head up, she had a tilt, also. My daughter was about 4 months when we started the physical therapy. It really helped us a lot. The therpist gave us stretches to do at home, this was where most of the therapy happened. I would make an appointment with your pediatrician, and ask about a referral for an infant physical therapist. They will be able to assess your daughter and determine if she needs therapy.
Yours,
V.

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C.W.

answers from Sacramento on

You need to ask your doctor. My son had infant torticollis. He preferred to turn his head one way so the neck muscles got very tight. The cure was to encourage him to turn them the other way so they gradually stretched and loosened. For instance, there was a mirror he liked to look at and it always put him on the same side in front of it. I had to put him in front of it the other way so he had to turn his head the other way. I also always carried him on my right hip and had to start carrying him on my left him. I had to move his crib decorations or put him in the other way. Anyway, it may be nothing or it may be something. Have her checked out.

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M.S.

answers from San Francisco on

Hi D.,
Your daughter's head tilt may be normal but it's worth to have it checked out with her dr. My son had a tilt to the right (common) too, we and the pediatrician noticed it around 2 month old (he's now 15 months)(he was 7 weeks premature so his dr basically had him under a microsope to make sure all is well) no matter what we did he prefered tilting to the right so we went to physical therapy to make sure it's not torticollis (shortened neck muscle on that side). it was not, but for months we did phy. therapy to make sure it doesn't develope into that and to make sure he keeps full rage of motion. also I must mention around the same time (2 months old) we noticed a flat spot on the right side of his head and again no matter how he was positioned (even rolled up towel to prevent the tilt) he would tilt to the right. at 4 months we ended up starting helmet therapy to round his head. As his head got rounder, his tilt got less. by 8 months- no more tilting and now for his head shape, only me, my husband and the helmet orthodist can tell it's alittle off. he's still wearing the helment b/c he's still growing and probably will for the next few months- until 17 months or max 2years old. anyways ask the pediatrician to check for torticollis and check her head shape because if she's tilting, she might develope a flat spot on that side of the head.
hope that's somewhat helpful
M. s (mother of 4 1/2 year old daughter & 15 month old son)

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K.N.

answers from San Francisco on

Dear D.,
Your little girl may be experiencing torticollis which is a shortening of certain neck muscles causing a tilt of the head. Some infants just have this. Please check with her pediatrician about this and if you are still concerned, ask for a referral to a pediatric physical therapist for treatment as it is more successfully treated at a young age when the muscles are so pliable. I am a physical therapist who treats children and have an office in Los Gatos and Campbell. If you need more information you can call me at ###-###-#### and a message will be passed on to me.

Good luck!
K. N

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S.P.

answers from San Francisco on

Hi D.,

It is really good that you noticed this head tilt, whether it be slight or extreme. I would suggest to take her to her pediatrician for a physical exam. Make sure the evaluation has a good history (ie. circumstances surrounding birth and any possibility of trauma or associated symptoms.) A head tilt can be a cause of several things: perhaps it is nothing more than just her still building up her neck muscles, or torticollis where she might need physical therapy, but it can also be serious things such as infections, ophthalmologic/vision problems and possibly tumors. Your doctor is the best person to ask about these things and evaluate your daughter. Good luck and keep us posted.

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M.E.

answers from San Francisco on

Our son had an obvious head tilt when he was a baby, and he was diagonosed with torticollis. He started physical therapy when he was 5 months old, and he is fine now at 15 months.

A lot of times when there it is a headtilt, it is due to a weak neck muscle, which is easily corrected with physical therapy. Ask your pediatrician about it..

Marisa

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M.W.

answers from San Francisco on

D.,
My first born had this issue and i was concerned as well. I asked the doctor and she told me that he probably has a kink in his neck. SHe told me to try changing the position i feed him and sleep him. We were sleeping him in sleep positioners because he didnt like sleeping on his back. So we got into a routine of sleeping him on the same side which made his head drop and neck kink. The doctor had us switch the way we laid him down for a week and then once it helped with the problem we switched him every other night until it went away. IT WORKED!!

I hope this helps. Good luck and if all else fails ask your doctor.

Best,
Molly

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M.G.

answers from San Francisco on

Hi D.. I remember watching something on Discovery Channel about a kid with a head tilt. They noticed it pretty early but the doctors couldn't find anything wrong. After seeing several specialists, at this time the kid was probably 3-4 years old, it was finally diagnosed. What the doctor did was cover one eye and the kid immediately straightened his head! It was unbelievable. Apparently it was a nerve in that eye that made it difficult for the kid to focus and he tilted his head to compensate. Sorry can't remember the name of the disorder. Hope I was to help, though.

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R.S.

answers from Chico on

I had premature twins and one of my boys, the smallest one had a head tilt, for the longest time, he eventually grew out of it, with a little help from us, we did some repositioning, and lot's of tummy time when it was appropiate, in fact I was looking at some pics right after they had gotten home from the NICU and sure enough there was the tilt. We were told it was just a muscle weakness and will resolve, and now there are 18 mths old and no head tilt.

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S.P.

answers from Sacramento on

D. - i'm sure you are getting a bit worried now that you have noticed the head tilt. my younger daughter seemed to always being tilted and i thought she was just the cutest thing. it turns out she has muscular tortacullis. it causes her no pain and is easing up now that she is almost 2. talk to your doctor. have it checked out. i went through an mri with her and that was tramautic for me but i learned we were right. just a muscle issue. brigit was over 9 pounds at birth and was a little cramped in the womb. if you want to know more or ask how the whole process went for me, you can email me at ____@____.com
S.

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J.F.

answers from San Francisco on

Hi D.,

My daughter had the same problem. Our peditrician told us to lay her in our lap on her side - and weak side up, gently push the head down, we did a few repititions of that and then relaxed. After doing that for a period of time, it helped to strengthen her neck, and helped to stretch the neck muscle. I also work for a local Chiropractor in El Sobrante, If you are interested in your daughter going to one, let me know and I can speak to you.

Good Luck

Jenny

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E.L.

answers from San Francisco on

Hi D.,
My son had a strong head tilt and the pediatrician called it torticollis. we had a few sessions with the physical therapist and she showed me some things I could do at home to help stretch his neck muscles. By the time he was one , it was completely gone. If I were you, I'd talk to your doctor and see if he thinks your baby may have it. It is fairly common and treatable.

Good luck!
E.

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A.A.

answers from San Francisco on

Most likely, her head tilt has something to do with the way she was in utero or perhaps during the birth... an osteopath or craniosacral therapist could help tremendously. It is very gentle work and most babies release and move quite easily... which means a change could happen in a few minutes... in one or a few sessions, depending on your baby.

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D.B.

answers from Redding on

Hi D.,

I think your husbands observation may be accurate.

My son, at 4 months, started tilting his head down and look up with his eyes if he really wanted to hone in on something. We went to a health fair type thig when his sister was getting ready to go to kindergarten. An optometrist was there and was screening any childrens eyes. He tested my toddler's eyes and said right away that he needed glasses. I have the great memory of him going around moving his glasses up and down to see the difference in the way things looked. He said to me, "Mom, your hair looks messy when I have my glasses on". Then he took them down and then he said, "oh, it looks better now"! He was three then.

A few years ago my other son's wife was in the hospital and I went to stay with the kids while he worked. We would walk to their neighborhood park. I commented to my grandson, who was 5 at the time, how cute this dog yard ornament was. He said to me, "Grandma, it looks more like a cat to me". It was difinately a dog. I told his parents perhaps they might want to have his eyes checked. He wears glasses now. Kids don't know that they don't see clearly because that's all they know.

It can't hurt for you to have your daughters eyes examined.
Perhaps you will hear of a childrens medical fair coming up like I did.

Take care.

D. B. : )

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W.H.

answers from Sacramento on

I saw a story on Discovery Health channel about a little boy who kept his head tilted from birth. I don't remember what age he was at the time they did the show. But they found out that when he looked up his eyes didn't see the world the way it should. So to compensate he tilted his head so everything was in the correct place. He was getting like vertigo symptoms and this was his way to fix his problem. They got him glasses and got the right diagnosis and now he is doing better and as soon and he got his glasses, he stopped tilting his head. Just something else to check into.
W. H.

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S.L.

answers from Sacramento on

Hi D.!

Our son was diagnosed with torticollis (twisted neck). We noticed a flat spot was develpoing on the right side of his head around 6 weeks. We proactively asked our pediatrician about this concern at the 2 mo. check and obtained a referral for physical therapy. He is now 4 months old and this condition has really improved with weekly PT! I would strongly advise having your daughter checked. When it is diagnosed and treated early, it is easier to treat. But don't worry, it is really pretty minor! Congrats on your baby girl!

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L.O.

answers from Sacramento on

I watch a little girl who did this and it went away when she was 5 months. I wouldn't worry too much, but when in doubt, ask her doctor, I'm sure he'll ease your mind. Good Luck.

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S.L.

answers from Fresno on

It is possible that she may have a misalignment of the vertebra in her neck. During birth when the doctor pulls the baby out the head and neck are often twisted in an attempt to help the baby out. Misalignment can occur. Besides postural problems, if there is a misalignment there could be pressure on nerves that go to important places, e.g. heart and lungs.

Misalignments can be checked and corrected by a chiropractor. If it is a spinal misalignment it can be corrected quickly and easily before it causes more problems in the future.

Consult with a chiropractor who treats infants and children and have her checked.

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M.W.

answers from San Francisco on

A friend of mine had this happen to her daughter at about the same age. They talked to their pediatrician about it, and ruled out earache, etc, and it turned out to be some muscular issue. One side of her neck was stronger than the other. a few months of exercise on a big exercise ball (they let their daughter sit at an angle with the weak side on top so that she had to work extra hard to hold her head up). She just turned 8, and is just fine. Let your pediatrician know right away. Good luck to you!
M.

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B.S.

answers from Sacramento on

First step, ask your doctor. It may be nothing but it may be her way of hearing you better if there is a hearing deficite. An easy way to check yourself is clap on the left side and then clap on the right side and see how she responds. Take it easy, she's still very young and it maybe nothing but check with your doctor to make sure.

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T.M.

answers from San Francisco on

Hi D. - It sounds like your baby may have Torticollis. My nephew was head down for so long (from like week 15 on) and was actually stuck in one position in the uterus, and because of this he also had a head tilt - Some cases of torticollis can be much worse and stem from a problem while giving birth - you may feel a little bump on her neck on the side that she tilts. And some cases are very mild (like my nephews) where it is more of an issue of muscle tone and comfort for the child. Don't get scared reading all about it on the internet (there are very . Talk to your pediatrician and make sure to go see a pediatric PT. My nephew is 2 and no longer has a tilt, they did PT 1 or 2 times a week until he was about 1 (they feel they probably did way more PT then was really needed, in hindsight). The important thing is that you see a PT early on, the longer you wait, the harder it can be to deal with - Unfortunately, pediatricians often don't catch this early on. So I would demand a PT visit.
Best of luck to you and your daughter will be fine!

Here is a description from Torticolliskids.com

What is Torticollis?

Torticollis literally means "twisted neck". It is derived from the Latin terms torta meaning twisted and collum meaning neck. The term "torticollis" actually refers to the positioning of the head. There are many underlying conditions that can cause a head and neck position that would be considered torticollis.

The version of torticollis most commonly found in infants is Congenital Muscular Torticollis, meaning:

Congenital - present at birth
Muscular - affecting the muscles
Torticollis - literally means 'twisted neck'

There are many causes of torticollis and not all of them are muscular problems. Torticollis can also be caused, albeit rarely, by bony abnormalities in the spine, vision problems (Ocular Torticollis) or neurological imbalance (Benign Paroxysmal Torticollis). Congenital Muscular Torticollis (CMT) is, by far, the most common form in infants.

What causes Congenital Muscular Torticollis?

CMT is caused by damage to or a shortening of the Sterno-cleido-mastoid muscle in an infants neck. Sometimes, but not in all cases, there is a hematoma (lump) in the muscle where it was damaged. That lump will eventually go away as the muscle heals and is stretched. The most common causes of CMT are inutero positioning, lack of space inutero (big baby or little mom), a traumatic birth, multiples (lack of room again!), and low amniotic fluid inutero. Obviously, non of these things can be prevented. SO, now you can stop feeling guilty!

What are the symptoms?

Many parents, especially first-time parents, don't realize that their child is having a problem. Often torticollis is mistaken for the normal 'floppy' neck of a newborn. As the baby gets older it will become more apparent. Generally, you will see the 'tilt' associated with torticollis in the first week to 10 days of life.

If your child is affected by CMT (congenital muscular torticollis) there will be a tightening of the Sternocleidomastoid muscle (SCM) on one side of the neck. Because the SCM controls both tilt and rotation (ability to look from side to side), a child with torticollis will tilt one way and look towards the opposite side.

Most times, you will notice that whenever your baby sleeps, his/her head will be in the same position.

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L.W.

answers from Sacramento on

HI D.! I had a very difficult birth myself, and now later in life after I learned Quantum Touch® I ended up changing the size of my skull. I think why it happened is because that's what size my head would have been if I had not had a difficult birth squeezed for 36 hours in the birth canal before the Doctor was ever even called by the nurses.

Check out the pictures of what Quantum Touch can do, then if you'd like to give it a try, I know some people in Yuba City who do this technique if you're interested. Of course you can buy the book and learn how to do it yourself too. It's very easy and becomes more and more powerful the more you practice.

Here is the link to a few photos (scroll down to see the scoliosis photo):
http://www.quantumtouch.com/index.php?p=about
http://www.quantumtouch.com/index.php?p=stories&sort_...

Love, L.

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T.R.

answers from Stockton on

Heather,
Get this checked right away. I believe she has what's called torticollis. Read up on it. It is started in the womb, and it will cause severe flat head if not treated with physical therapy. My nephew had it and once treated and with therapy it will go away. But get it treated right away before it does get worse. It can leave the head flat on the preferred side.
Good luck,Trish

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V.T.

answers from Fresno on

hi D.,

I don't want to sound dramatic, but I would most definately have your baby girl checked out. I have never known, nor heard of any child with a "Permanent Head Tilt". Maybe that side of her muscles just aren't developed enough. It will probably turn out to be somehing common, but just to be safe I'd get her in.

Best of luck to you darlin'. You've sure got your hands full!!Let us know what happens.

V. t.

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