6.5 weeks and only turns her head to one side.

[jenjams]

As the topic suggests, DD2 is 6 and a half weeks old and is heavily favouring turning head to the right. When asleep her head is totally to the right and same as when lying on her back. When on her tummy, I try and put her head the other way. I also try when she is asleep to turn her head which doesnt work. Should I try and put some sort of wedge in there to encourage it to turn the other way, should I get someone to look at it or should I wait and see if she can start turning the other way. There have been brief periods in the last few weeks where it did turn to the left. I am just worried her neck muscles wont develop properly if I leave her be.
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks

[[M]umma[M]ia]

DD favoured her right side till about 4 months. I took her to a chiro, made no difference. it corrected itself eventually.

[studymum]

They will usually favour a side for some time, apparently it can be because they spent alot of time that way in utero. It usually corrects itself as they get older and gain more control over it themselves. You can try encourage the other side while awake by putting toys or music to the opposite side.

DD2 is just over three weeks and sleeps with her head bent right back and to one side, if I try correct her, she chucks wobblies , she has even started rolling back to the side she likes in her sleep.

[Mad Scientist]

Hey Jen, I was told that as long as they CAN turn their heads both ways, even briefly, then their muscles can do it, it's just a matter of them getting used to going both ways. I was told to hold dd2 opposite ways to encourage her to rest her head the other way and also to play with her on the other side with toys etc to encourage her to look that way. If you are really worried just ask at her 8 week check up. Hope you're going well x

[diannescruffy]

DD was the same, try swapping ends of the cot and the toys is a great idea to encourage her to look the other way.

Regards,
Dianne

[Malyna]

Bubs favoured looking right as well. I used the TV to encourage him to turn his head the other direction. I'd lay him down, during nappy free time, so he would have to look over to his left to see the flashing lights on the TV. At 12mths, he has no problems turning his head left or right.

[~Gee_Whizzy~]

Hey Jen, I was told that as long as they CAN turn their heads both ways, even briefly, then their muscles can do it, it's just a matter of them getting used to going both ways. I was told to hold dd2 opposite ways to encourage her to rest her head the other way and also to play with her on the other side with toys etc to encourage her to look that way.

Yep thats exactly what I was told too! - My DD favoured her left side right up until 4.5 months, then she just started facing to the left, so it did eventually correct itself

On a side note though, a girlfriend of mine was worried about her DD favouring her left side too and it hadn't corrected itself by the time she was 6 months. turns out she has a torticollis (sp?) on the right side of her neck which wasn't detected at birth (she was a breech bub delivered by c-section)...she now has physio to help stretch her neck out and has much better movement but may still need surgery further down the track if the physio doesn't help.

[Curly]

Sorry but no, don't wait for it to correct itself. This is how she will get a flat patch on one side of her head. Not to mention the fact that not having freedom of movement will be uncomfortable for her and it can affect how quickly they roll over, maybe disturb their sleep because they can't move the way they want to.

You need to go and see a cranial osteopath (an osteopath who treats babies) or a paediatric chiropractor. The earlier you treat it, the quicker it will resolve itself.

Both my DS and DD have needed treatment - DS because he was a forceps birth which gave him a scoliosis in his neck and DD because she was born with a mild torticollis (a twist in the body). Her torticollis, as it turns out, was not fully resolved because I noticed she was much clumsier than DS when she started walking and it turns out that the twist goes from her neck right down to her foot, so she is having some intensive physio at the moment to sort her out. It will only take about 6 weeks to fix it, young kids can respond very quickly to treatment of this nature.

It sounds to me like your DD also has a slight torticollis.