Hi there! Only just saw this. I had a similar thing happen with DD.
At 8 weeks the MCHN said to keep a real close eye on it and do everything I was already doing. I decided to take her to an osteopath. From her first appointment, I noticed a change. DD no longer preferred one side of her head to the other. She has now had 4 appt with the osteo over 3 months and the flat spot has nearly gone. I credit it to the osteo.
I've also got a Bumbo that DD loves, and she enjoys tummy time for short periods. Once she starts sitting on her own, I think it will completely correct itself, but If I hadn't have seen the osteo, I'm not so sure it would have worked out this well.
Niadla - glad to hear that your DD has had success! We are quite remote and either 1600km or minimum $250 flight each way to a Osteo, but obviously would happily find a way to make it possible to take her there if need be. Perhaps I should be looking at this now, or do you think I should see what happens for a bit?
Cranial osteopathy is what you'd be after, that or a paediatric chiropractor. Paediatric chiros tend to be easier to find than cranial osteos, I hope that gives you an easier option. Leasha has given you some great advice which I'll try not to repeat but yes, I totally agree that you shouldn't just accept a flat patch on your baby's head and you need to minimise the time your DD spends on her back when awake and try as much as possible to encourage lying on the side, tummy time etc.
My DS had a forceps birth and actually has a scoliosis in his neck from it...I picked up at about the age of 4 months that there was something not quite right...it was as if he wanted to roll but it hurt him to do so. One session with a cranial osteo and he rolled 3 times that very afternoon. He actually had to go for regular treatment until he was about 2 or so because he was growing so fast the osteo wanted to make sure everything stayed loose. Now he'll just need to go once or twice a year for a check.
DD on the other hand had a slight torticollis and was quite obviously favouring one side from when she was born so I was right back to the osteo straight away (when she was 2 weeks old) and I've had a few people comment on what a lovely head shape she has - I have been really vigilant because I do really hate seeing flat patches on babies' heads.
It sounds to me like your DD's neck needs a bit of treatment and the good news is that not only will that help her mobility and help discourage that preference for one side, if she hates tummy time a couple of treatments should help with that too. A good friend of mine's DS simply could not do tummy time at all, he just couldn't get his head up and one session with a paediatric chiro sorted him right out.
If you google osteopathy Australia you should find their website which lists practitioners all over the country and it will often list if they have a particular interest in treating babies or children. Alternatively just find any chiro or osteo convenient to you and ring them up to see if they treat babies and children. It is actually a specialised additional qualification in addition to the base osteopathy or chiropractic qualification and is becoming more and more popular.
Good luck!
ETA: I would get on to it as soon as possible. The younger they are, the easier they are to treat.
Hi
My DS was diagnosed with the torticulus problem too....and was getting the diamond head effect. Initially I raised it to the Dr and they were not concerned at all....basically made me feel like an idiot! But at 5 months our nurse noticed it and was concerned enough to get us a referal to the physio straight away!
Same as what happened with Leasha....we had the ears and forehead becoming out of alignment too and the nurse said if it continued as is my DS's left hand would not reach the same level of co-ordination as the right.
So we got the excercises too and in only afew weeks the physio says there has been huge improvement!
Youve already been given some great advise from Leasha there with focusing bubs to look the other way, always making the weaker side more interesting.
I still have the excercise sheets I was given, feel free to pm me with your email addy if you would like to have a look at them I can scan them and email them thru, but you will probably find alot of similar stuff onthe net too
Good luck with it all
Just thought I'd update on what's been happening with DD. We saw the MCHN for 3month visit and again she told me "her hair will cover it" So I asked her how she supposes we get a bike helmet to fit when she is older? Or how we cope with the teasing at school. I think that stumped her. Ended up she thought that DD had issues with gross motor skills because she wasn't doing push ups at 14wks or 10wks corrected so she sent us to a visiting pead.
Paed visit was good. No issues what so ever with her gross motor skills. But the Plagiocephaly was identified as an issue. Turns out she has torticollos and we are supposed to start physio. We haven't heard from the physio yet though so I'm getting a little impatient. Paed also said if by the time she turns 1 her head shape isn't right then we need to get a helmet. That is what I was concerned about. From what I've read Helmets should be used between 4-8months of age to be most successful. DD has her ears misaligned now, her forehead on the right is protruding and when she feeds I can often feel a clicking of her jaw
Do you think I should go to the doctor and ask to see another specialist? We have private health cover. She is 4 months on Thursday and I don't want to get down the track to have someone say we should have done something earlier. TBH I'm starting to think the last couple of days, I'd rather just get a helmet on, align it all back up and continue witht he positional treatment after that. What do you think?
I would try a paed chiro or cranial osteo as a PP suggested. DD1 had an awful flat spot - same deal with her ear etc. She could not turn to one side at all this meant that no matter how hard we tried to encourage turning/stretching she just couldn't. At 4 months we started seeing a chiro and within 2 weeks we saw a noticeable change - at 3 months you couldn't tell. I was referred by a fab MCHN - was the best thing we did. Good luck - perhaps ask around for someone????
PS I was very sceptical and was keen just to get it fixed (re helmet). Good luck and keep persisting if you are not happy.
i would most certainly see someone privately and have her assessed for a helmet NOW, i would not wait regardless of cost, at 12 months its almost too late to fix the problem.
DD1 had/has a flat spot, i notice her head is out of alignment it saddens me that we didnt do
anything about it even though others tell us they cant see the problem, i know its there and i notice it more now she is wearing her hair up more
Absolutely yes, get her seen by someone as soon as possible. The earlier you start, the easier and quicker it is to fix.
You don't need a referral for a chiropractor, osteopath or physio - you should just be able to book in. If she has a torticollis, that means she doesn't have freedom of movement and while she wouldn't be in pain, she certainly isn't as physically comfortable as she should be. 4 months old is not too late, my DS wasn't seeing his osteo till nearly 5 months of age.
I presume the physio your paed has recommended is a specialist in this field, and I don't see why you can't ring the paed's office and get the contact details for the physio and chase them up yourself.
Time to start jumping up and down and being a protective mummy bear, hun.
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