its probably just where he lays on that particular side of his head more than the other... it happens to alot of babies... if it bothers you that bad, you could get ahold of a neurologist to calm your nerves, but chances are, its not necessary... but you have to remember that the bones in a babies head aren ot fused together so they can shift... thats probably all it is-- laying on that side has shifted them toa position that they sit flatter on that side.... so she's right, once he is able to roll over and be off of his head more, it should shift back where it belongs

Hi, I had the exact same problem with my son only it was the back of his head that was flat.
And..it was REALLY flat.
I did not put him on his tummy much and that is why the back of his head got flat.
Like you, my pediatrician got me an appt. with a neurologist..they checked him out and didn't see a need for a helmut because by this time he was already 7 months and was starting to sit up (so some of the pressure of always being on his back was subsiding).
They felt he was just fine and didn't need anything more.

I wouldn't worry at all about it....when your baby starts sitting up the head will straighten out...just try making sure you don't leave him in the same position all the time.

Thanks little_mama ur words are really soothing for me

thanks susie.. so shall i postpone the appointment with neurologist.. I can wait for another month or so to see for changes isnt it?
Has ur son's head became round now?
Is it ok if i make him sleep facing up to avoid him facing flat side?

Hi, it is preferable to have him sleep with his face up...at least all the pediatricians and the Academy of Pediatrics now say that babies should be put to bed on their backs.

This is part of the reason my son had the flatness on the back of his head. But, that alone wasn't the reason...I didn't do enough tummy time with him which I now regret because he also didn't learn how to crawl...he hasn't crawled yet and he's now progressing to standing/cruising so crawling never happened for me.

If there are no other untoward effects, I would wait awhile, once your baby is sitting up and doing more things than just lying on the side of his head, the head should round out...but...it may not be a bad thing to just get a neurologist to "physically" look at him to see if he warrants a helmut.

Yes, my son's head rounded out but you can still see a bit of where it was flat at the back, but only I can tell, you wouldn't notice if you saw him now.

Hope this helps.
Sue.

Susie

Nice to hear that ur son's head b'cme round hope my son's head will also b'me round. I do give him tummy time tooo.. Also i massage his head...Hope that will help. but i noticed since he sleeps facing dtaright now his back is getting flat !!!!!!! God only shd help him !!!!!!!

Staying in the same position too long is what causes this and it's nothing to worry about too much. You can try putting him on his tummy when he is not asleep so that it doesn't continue to be weighed down in the back. There are also special head-rests that you can buy that have a round cushion with a hole at the back of the head to minimize the flat head look.

The baby's head is very soft because the skull has to be malleable to be born... That's why it's so easy for this to happen.

This subjuect is pretty near and dear to me as I had a bad experience.

Because my family Dr was not comfortable making a diagnosis he sent us to the Plagiocephaly (flat head syndrome) clinic at a childrens hospital. We noticed the flat spot at about 3 months but didnt think it was anything to be worried about and so at his 6 month appointment mentioned it to our family Dr.

We had to wait 2 months to see the specialist at the clinic (he was now 8 months) and they told me that he had a condition called tortacoolis which is basically a tightening of the neck muscles which causes the baby to have a preference to turn his head to either the left or the right. In our case it was a preference to turn to the right which results in a flat area on the left side of the head.

We were shown pictures of babies left untreated who had sevear disformations and how it had an impact on facial beauty. It was very scary stuff to see. We were told that our son's condition was not as savere but they reccomended a helmet (for the flat spot) and physio to regain the lost mobility in his neck...THIS WAS A COMPLETE SHOCK to us because we never thought in a million years that his head was that bad...we only agreed to go to the clinic because or family dr asked us if we would LIKE to go even though he thought it was no great concern.

So to make a long story short, we went to see the therapist and she looked at us like were insane. She siad that she had never seen a reccomendation for a helmet or physio for such a mild case of "flat head". She even said that she would make note that perhaps the clinic was pushing parents in the wrong direction. What a relief for DH and I to hear that! We are from Canada where health care is free but the corrective helmet is considdered to be a "cosmetic" device and therefore not covered by any insurance. The cost would have been about $1700 and he would have had to wear the helmet for 23 hours a day for 6 months.

We were torn about what to do because every parent wants the best for thier baby but we just felt that his head shape was no big deal and bearly noticable. So we were blown away when the dr said that we should get a helmet.

I would go with your gut and not make any rash decisions. We were told that his head shape would improve as he started to spend more time "upright" and they could NOT guarantee that the helmet would make a difference either. Sooooo we could have ended up spending a lot of money on a helmet that would have caused our little boy a great deal of stress to see no results...NO THANKS!

Jozzie: did they have you go to Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto by any chance?

Susie.

No...we went to CHEO in Ottawa.

Hi. I guess, welcome to the club. Daniel is my second child, so I thought that I was a pro. , because I had no problems with my first. Now, my 4 month old son has same problem. We got a little bump on the left side of his forehead and a little flat spot on the back. At our last visit with Dr. she said that his head definetly a little bit flat, but it will go away if he will spend more time on his belly. She mentioned as well that option with helmet and X-ray. I have no idea what to do, and what is best. I found some information online, that this problem will not affect his mental health and brain growth in a future . I live in TN and summer is really hot here, as well as humid. He just learned how to turn him sefl from the back to his tummy, but then he falls a sleep, he likes to turn his head to the side anyway.

This is really a subject dear to my heart, because I am waiting right now to hear from my son about my two little grandsons, and what Cranial Technologies told hmy son after his twins went there two weeks ago.
I have been researching this for over four months, and the hundreds of
posts I have read by parents who have babies and children with these problems, which were not treated in a timely manner, are just heartbreaking.
There is a support group for parents with plagiocephaly babies and for adults with plagiocephaly and/or torticollis.
The young adults are asking for any information about how they can get help with this problem, and many say they wish so much that someone had
done something about it for them when they were babies.
I read the ehealth forum wants to be the one stop for helpful info, but unless they have the sites I have found on this topic, they will not be.
There is absolutely misinformation about this issue.
Because the pediatricians are working at lower the cases of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) they began a campaign in 1992 to get babies to sleep on their backs. This was not the norm for many, many years, and some parents have written their babiy would have choked on formula or milk which they were spitting up while lying on their back. While I can't recommend that mothers put babies on their tummies to sleep, as the SIDS cases have significantly dropped, I will say it is essential that these babies have time on their tummies. If I had a baby in my care, and could be with the baby during the day, I would carefully watch over the baby during daytime naps, with the baby on his tummy - but that's just me.
Also, part of what is contributing to the high incidence of positional plagiocephaly is that many babies are not only sleeping on their backs, but spending a lot of time in a reclining position in swings, baby recliners, and carseats, with the back or side back of the head getting pressure in the same place.
Another contributor is a neck muscle condition called torticollis, sometimes called wry neck. One side of the neck has a muscle which is tighter and shorter than the other. The baby's head will tilt because of this, and again, it means when lying down, they are on the same spot on the back side of their head.
It is not unusual for premature babies and/or twins to have one or both of these conditions. Some are born with them, some are developed after birth.
While doctors have assured that this does not affect the baby's brain growth, many parents are reporting delayed motor skills. It is probably not anything to worry about, because eventually they catch up.
The only other thing about this, is that the doctors often say the baby's head will round out when they start sitting up, but many of these babies don't start sitting up until they are 8 or 9 months old. That is on the late end of the scale. Some babies start sitting up at four months.
My personal thought: heads are heavy, and plagiocephaly conditions would cause the weight of the head to be unbalanced. I would think this would make it more difficult for a baby to balance enough so they could sit without falling over. If they do manage to balance the rest of their body, in spite of their head weight not being balanced, this would mean they are compensating, and having to use one side of their muscles differently than the other side. This presents more problems
In fact, there are documented cases (some doctors who examined patients in Taiwan) of people who had torticollis and how the condition affected them when it was untreated. As they grow older their ears are more unaligned, one eye is not in the correct placement, the jaw is misaligned, the shoulders, spine and hips are affected. The facial anomilies are greater as the child ages.
In the many posts I have read, parents write that they were told their babies' heads would round out, but they did not. Many are very sorry they did not heed their own concerns and proceed to have the helmet or band treatments, along with the physical therapy, if it was needed for those with torticollis. Not once have I read a post or blog or web page of a parent who wrote they had these treatments done for their babies and were sorry that they had it done.
The young adults with these conditions (many in their twenties) write they are sorry they did not receive treatment as babies. They are asking if anyone has any info about surgery for correcting their head shapes and other facial anomilies related to this.
Many parents report problems getting the insurance company to pay for treatment. Insurance companies often regard it as cosmetic, but it is not cosmetic; it is reconstructive.
The optimal time for the helmet or band treatment is between 3 and 6 months, though many have had good success with later treatment.
I favor getting the treatment, because there are so many posts I have read of parents with babies whose heads did not round out. If one waits much longer, the results are not as good as they could be. The problem I see is what if this is a baby whose head does not round out? It is a gamble not to provide the treatment, and it is gambling not with my head and body, but with someone else's head and body. This means a life with continuing development problems of an unbalanced head and body, with the accompanying physical difficulties and pain. (TMJ is linked to these conditions.)
If you do not find all the info you are looking for here, and I have yet to see any one site that has all the info together, you can search these topics out on the internet.
Frankly, I consider it misinformation for anyone, particularly doctors, to post or write that babies' heads will round out on their own (except for the first six weeks after birth), when the baby has plagiocephaly, or any of the other similar flat head conditions. Usually I see such comments written as usually their heads will round out on their own by age such and such (sometimes two years old; that's a long time to wait and see....) Usually is not the word I want to hear when I am concerned about my baby, or my grandbabies.
Their are several blogs and posts by parents with their stories and pictures, and I think all the ones I read shared that their baby did very well with the helmet or band treatment, i.e., it was not a traumatic experience for the baby.
I hope this is helpful for those of you searching.

hey everyone i going to start from start off what my son my son has all at flat head since he was a baby . doctor and health vister check telling me it would go back it to shape once he was sitting up but it never did . me and my boyfriend decide to push doctor wen he was 8 months to get it check because we thought he would need a hemelt but we went to pre that wen we learn that he got he had a condition called tortacoolis which is basically a tightening of the neck muscle and that hemelt wouold be no used to him because off the muscule problem x thenwe got appoiment for physio just wen he turn one then he started getting physio now am waiting for appoment withfor him in yorkhill which is in glasgow which my son might need a opertion . so if you children think you child mabay have flat head take them take to doctor get them check out

my sons head on one side became flat when he was 3 months old. i was worried as it looked odd. but health visitor said it would correct itself as he got older..the doctor advised a helmet was the only option... hes now 9 months old and his head is not so flat on one side.as hes more mobile now it seems his head it gettin rounder... i didnt want him to go thru havin a helmet on and glad i didnt put him thru it. hes a lively boy and love him no matter wot.