Baby only turns head in one direction (positional turn) - help?

[Jac]

My 7 week old DD has a "positional turn' meaning she has a strong preference to turning her head in one direction. She already has significant flatness to one side of her head due to this preference. Has anyone elses bubs had this and what did you do to fix it?? Have tried side lying when awake (although she resits and trys to roll back even with a wedge behind her) and I physically turn her head when she's asleep but she just turns it back again as soon as I walk away! Thinking about whether I should see an osetopath or physio - any recommendations (Melbourne) or other suggestions welcome?

[Olive]

jac DD had the same, we saw a paed chiro in boronia, now in ringwood and also ivanhoe, i beleive the osteo at the Bellybelly centre can help as well!!

[Lulu]

I'll PM you the details of a chiro place in East Ringwood that specializes in babies and is gentle and wholistic xoxoxo

[AnyDream]

Have you had her assessed for a torticollis? That's when one of the muscles in the neck is shorter/tighter on one side than the other causing the baby's head to turn in the opposite direction. Definitely get it checked out with a physio or osteo, since a torticollis gets worse as the neck muscles strengthen and you will need to do exercises to correct it if that's the case.

[tannedangel]

My DD had this! We took her to a chiro and her spine wasnt alligned with her skull as a result of the birth. He fixed it all up and she now has no issues, and the flat spot has reduced a great amount!
Definately see a chris/osteo!!

[minimatron]

We had this too.... as dd was already seeing physio for hip dysplasia, the suggested to hang toys on the side she doesnt turn, also to approach her from that side. It did work in time. DD had a fairly flat head due to being on her back in a harness for months, however now at 18 months, you can hardly notice. Its still a little flat but certainly not as bad as it was.

HTH

Melissa

[DaintreeDream]

I'll PM you the details of a chiro place in East Ringwood that specializes in babies and is gentle and wholistic xoxoxo

Lulu is it possible you could PM me the details also?

My DD is 5 months old and she to had a preference to what side she faced uo until about a month ago, she now turns her head both ways happily however I have recently noticed that when I sit her up she bends to the side and her back is sits out more on her left side of her spine compared to the other side if that makes sense, I am currently looking for a chiro to take her to that comes recommended.

Deanne.

[BellyBelly]

Definitely Clare @ BellyBelly, she does cranio sacral work on babies and they respond really well.

https://www.bellybelly.com.au/clare-gordon

[Clare Gordon]

Hi Jac (and everyone else),

There is definitely something you can do and I would recommend getting her looked at. It may not be anything at all, i.e. a potential strain from birth that can be treated, but if she does have a torticollis, as someone mentioned, then you really dont want to just leave it as is.

I am not sure where you live but I work in the BB centre ( in canterbury) and I see many babies, so feel free to bring her in for a check up.

Clare

[Krush]

hi there
my son was diagnosed with torticollis when he was about 8 weeks old. We were told it was due to the tough labour - as he had to be "yanked" out of me with ventouse in one contraction as his heartbeat went very low - and his neck muscles were torn on one side and healed very tight.

Anyway............. we were referred to the physio at our local hospital by his GP where we learnt exercises and got tips to help him turn his neck the other way as his head was becoming a very weird shape! It was very handy being referred by the GP to the physio as it was free! (helpful to a 1 income family!!)

The physio then referred him to the orthopaedic surgeon and xrays. Which all turned out to be fine.

Anyway - after about 9 months of physio (still continuing but not as often), coupled with him now crawling and not on his back so much, now at 11 months old he can turn his neck both ways and his head shape is getting much better.

So after all of that i would recommend either GP to specifically be referred to a physio - or if you don't mind paying just go to a private physio - one with experience with children would obviously be better! While it can be scary - simple stretches and keeping the side that they turn to "boring" and the other side "exciting" so they turn. Plus placing the cot so they have to turn to see you when you are coming in the room.

If you have any questions - let me know!

K