6.5 weeks and only turns her head to one side.

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

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

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 :D, she has even started rolling back to the side she likes in her sleep.

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

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.

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

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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.

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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.

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.

It's interesting how some people say get it looked at and some who say it should be ok. After we have fed she can be upright and having her head to the left so I guess you can say she can turn it that way and also if I position her whilst during tummy time with her head the other way it does stay there.
I guess I will wait til our 12 week checkup and see what the MCHN says. And just keep trying to encourage her head to go the other way. Its hard though when you put her down and she immediately goes to the right.
Thanks all.

Sorry about my quick reply.. had a toddler trying to bash the crap out of the keyboard.

As i was saying.. DD had pretty severe torticollis. I did the encouraging her to look to the other side, turning her around in her bed so she would have to look to the left to look at me.. etc etc. I took her to a chiro, that specialised in babies and he was great. I cant say it helped much, i personally don't think it made a difference but he did give me one exercise to do with her that i think helped. I got a big exercise ball and put her on it on her tummy (whilst holding her at all times so she doesnt fall off) and slowly rolling the ball forward. She also went forward with the ball but used alot of her neck muscles, which in turn, helped to strengthen them I assume. I wouldnt do this with a 6.5 week old.. DD was about 3 months when i started doing this. I believe that helped. But as I said, it just corrected itself over time when she began to crawl (so 5 months, not 4) and when she began to sit unadied.

At the end of the day hun, i always go by the motto "When in doubt, get it checked out". You know your baby better than anyone else.

HTH xo

DS2 was the same and i mentioned it at his six week check, they just said like others have to try and encourage to lay on the other side, place things of interest on the other side and lay him the other way in the cot...... Not so easy when they like laying on one side, DS2 favoured his one side a lot so much so he layed that way in utero and has no cartlidge in the ear on that side. When he was born it was completely flat with no shape...... You can't tell now though

Hey Jenjams,
Two of my three kids have had this problem...
With my daughter it corrected itselff.
With my son, now almost 5 months, he developed a definite flat spot on his head to the point that his forehead started to bulge on one side and he was definitely getting a misshapen head.
I did wedge him so that he was forced to turn his head the other way, and lucky he's a placid boy and a good sleeper so he really didn't fight it that much.
My paed says it's sometimes a pinched nerve that makes one side of the neck muscles a bit shorter than the other hence the tension which forces the head to one side.
It may or may not need treatment, but if you notice that your baby's head is developing any asymmetry then get it looked at sooner rather than later.
:)
Cheers

DS#1 had that problem - He was posterior and the 2nd stage was very long, so my gut told me it was due to problems with escaping the birth canal. I took him to an osteopath who specialises in infants and very gently she worked on his neck and skull til it corrected itself.

The osteopathic theory is that if you wait too long the skull bones can fuse leading to a misshapen face. So in their view it is best to get it sorted out sooner rather than later.

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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.

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Completely agree. Both my boys had this problem and one treatment by a chiro fixed it.

My 12 week old DD would lie mostly with her head her to the right. But when I put her on her tummy she was able to turn her head from side to side. Then a couple of weeks ago she started lying with her head straight when I put her on her back.

I think its common for babies to favour one side (usually the right) at first. But if you are concerned its best to get it checked.

I agree with those who have said to get it looked at sooner rather than later. DD had the same issue and no amount of coaxing from me (toys to look at, turning her head, etc) made any difference. I ended up taking her to a chiro who specialised in babies. They said it's common with babies who were vacuum delivery or posterior - DD was both.

Her neck improved a lot with just a few sessions. They told me that these issues are best resolved while they're little as they can have long term neck issues if they're not addressed early.

Good luck.