A mother always knows and flat heads are gorgeous

[Mere]

Hello there-my son was born prematurely-throughout my pregnancy i felt as though he was stuck and I was sitting on him- i always had quite a few false labours and so at my insistence the antenatal staff at the hospital started to regulary monitor his heart-at every appointment the babys heart would drop off- I was convinced that there was something very wrong-but no doctor or mid wife would take me seriously-on the day that he was born i went to hospital three times and was rudely told to go away and that perhaps i had wet myself and that my waters had not broken-on my last visit i refused to go and thank goodness a kind midwife examined and shocked told me baby was coming-labour lasted all of an hour when she worriedly told me that baby's heart rate kept dropping off and she called a consultant who straight away ordered an emergency C-section. Baby was born-he was beautiful but had the longest head-no one thought it was anything serious-so brought him home-slept him on his back-every few weeks i would tell doctors and health visitors i was worried about his head-they poo pooed me-at 5 months baby's head was severly flat at the back-i saved up went to a private craniofacial doctor-baby had positional plagiocephaly-head shape was bracheycephaly, flat at back, wide at sides and tall at the top-was devestated but doctor assured me baby would be ok it would improve would not be perfect but would get better-most important was that he was otherwise normal-he said if i was still not happy in a few months we could consider a special moulding helmet-then one day looking at photos from my wedding i noticed that my older brothers head was exactly the same as my sons-my brother is 34-and in an adult his head did not look odd at all-so when people say that the head will improve I reckon sometimes it is true-even more interestingly I found out-coming from Ghana west africa that there childrens head are thought to be incredibley beautiful if they are flat-in fact it is a sign that you could one day become a great king or a queen and so parents deliberately try and flatten heads.....also the cranio doctor said in the future there weill probably be as many children with flat heads as without

[Twinkie]

How bizarre Mere!!

I am sure you DS is beautiful. What happens now do you wait and see if his head changes shape??

Its strange that we get worried about stuff that may be normal - I have had to have CVS with both of my children because fo the thickness of their nuchal folds - but my best friend did say to me well DD has a very short fat neck (a little wide and short but she is petite I prefer to say) and maybe your babies just have fatter necks than most and this is what triggers of the need for more scans etc... weird eh!!

[Flip]

Mere, you've reasured me. My ds2 has the flatest head at the back that I've ever seen. It comes out in bulges at the sides. I was concerned about the shape of his head and he spends that much time sleeping that there is little chance of it getting better.

At least I know now it's nothing to worry about. He's beautiful regardless and always smiling.

[phatcat]

ooh yes - another very flat headed ds here which hasn't improved much since birth, but he's perfectly normal and has lovely curls which disguise it to some extent. Really interesting about the Ghanian thing Mere - like it!

[ChicPea]

Hi Mere! I was going to start a thread on this a couple of weeks ago but I became worried about it and didn't want to discuss it until I had seen a specialist.
My DS is 8mths now and when he was born he had a beautifully shaped head (I have photos to refer to) but my DH noticed that it had changed shape and became concerned. The Pead said that it is positional and that by 18mths it will sort itself out and at least his head was growing etc and that he is a normal healthy boy. He also showed me a photo of a helmet and begged me not to go down that route. Agreed with him and went away with those words repeating over and over but started to notice lots of men with heads flat at the back and became concerned as their head didn't sort itself out by 18mths.
Anyway, we are lucky that our son is healthy and gorgeous but we are seeing two specialists about this. One this Thursday (24th) and the other on Wednesday 29th as we would like to be fully informed. Apparently there is an increase due to the SIDS scare and the "Back to Sleep" campaign where babies should be placed on their backs. If we do try to remedy it with a special moulding helmet, it is because we don't want our son to be teased while growing up about his head shape and would he be cross with us for not doing something about it now when wearing something corrective isn't a vanity issue. Anyway, the first step is to see the specialists.
Will let you know how we get on.

[Mere]

Hello there Chick Pea, ohh I tell you it is soo frustrating and it makes me feel sooo mad that so many doctors and peads simply do not take parents concerns seriously-as far as I know though I think that they are probably just trying to be cautious as there seems to be some debate as to how well helmet therapy works-we were also given this option but to be honest I am not very sure that I shall go that route-I suppose I wonder if there could be any risks that helmets pose that in years to come will be discovered-for the time being though I am simply monitoring baby's head until my next appointment-if he has a head like my brother or any other slightly flat headed man I dont mind at all-so long as nothing really bizarre starts to happen I will give it some more time-in the meanwhile though good look and all my best wishes for your appointment-please let me know how it goes and dont feel alone about this there are many of us parents out there who are more than a little bit angry by the seeming ignorance and lack of understanding by an awful lot of doctors, health visitors etc....also i was told to keep taking fortnightly photos of babys head from, front, top and each side-this has helped me to monitor his head

[SofiaAmes]

It is amazing how much is disguised by hair. I think that if you shaved the heads of all the adults in this world you would find a lot of severely "deformed'" heads. My friend's ds slept so much as a newborn that his head was flattened on one side. He is now 3.5 and you really can't tell. In fact since he now has hair, I'm not even sure if his head straightened out or it's just not visible. So that's all to say...don't worry. I think it's sad that doctors can't seem to find the words/explanations to allay mothers' fears in these kind of cases.

[nightowl]

goodness...dd's head is really flat at the back and i had never taken much notice..i just assumed it would sort itself out. my friend's baby had the flattest head i have ever seen but hers does seem to be improving now shes starting to sit up.

[colinsmommy]

[Grommit]

Ds (6.5mths) has a really badly shaped head - flat at the back but as it is growing it now has a big indent in the back and is lopsided. It is all due to the way he slept - with is head to one side. It looks pretty awful but he is healthy and very happy so I am hoping that he will grow some hair soon! Dd had the same prob but she had lots of hair so didn't look so bad - she is 4 now and her head is still a funny shape (only noticable when hair wet and by me!). I haven't heard about these helmets - will ask my paediatrician when we see him today

[ChicPea]

Shall I ask both specialists for a better price if there are ten of us !!!!

[Ghosty]

It is funny ...
People comment on the shape of my DD's head ... and hers in NOT flat ... Because of the 'Sleep on the back' thing now, my DD is unusual compared to all the babies we know as her head is very round at the back ...
DS was the same ...

I will add here that to the horror of my midwives when both my babies were newborns I put them on their sides to sleep (swaddled ... No chance of rolling over) for the first 6 weeks of their lives.

DD now (at 4.5 months) sleeps on her back but turns her head to the side (she has no preference for which side) ...

Mere ... I love the Ghanaian story ...

[ChicPea]

Okay, here's an update. Saw specialist on Thursday and cancelled the other appointment due today. We have decided to go down the helmet route which DS will wear for 3 months. Saw couple with their DS prior to our appointment who said they wished they had started treatment earlier as their DS was 13mths before helmet fitted and obviously as 12 mth old has a mind of his own and removes it.
The specialist did say that if the problem is noticed earlier, say 3mths, a soft bean bag type of pillow can be organised which "gives" and then doesn't flatten the head as mattresses are hard. He also said that with a flat head, the brain which is obviously growing then can't expand where the flatness is, ie at the back, so it starts expanding at the sides, for example, which is what has happened to DS.
Anyway, just wanted to add this for MNers who read this thread for their own interest. Will also update when progress is made.

[ChicPea]

Okay, another update: First specialist's technician didn't contact us straight away so started to panic as time is of the essence and asked my peadiatrician to refer me. He did to a very good neurosurgeon at Great Ormond Street who said he didn't use helmets and it will start to sort itself out but there will always be a degree of flatness.

So back to square one.

Then went back to one of the original doctors (Dr Christoph Blecher from Frankfurt)who has a clinic in Harley Street every two weeks and we saw him yesterday evening (Sunday). As we have been reading/researching this for a while and having seen 2 dcotors already, we felt this one was the right doctor. We saw one baby at the clinic who was 9 weeks prem and had lay on one side for nine weeks and had a severely flat head on one side.

Today we went to Kings College in Denmark Hill, London and has the casting done. We saw one baby about to go in for the same and another who had been wearing his helmet for 4 months and his parents were very happy with the results.

This is what I have learnt:

Flat heads don't go away on their own. Boy babies have more of a tendency to develop this as they are usually lazier than girls. It's important to change their sides for sleeping so that they don't sleep on their back only. If the flatness starts, the best time to correct it is in the first year and the earlier in that year the better. The second year is harder as the head grows at a slower rate and also by the time your baby is a toddler, they will have a mind of their own. Nurses and medical staff need educating as Health Visitors, GP's, etc are all telling parents not to worry.

We are going to Frankfurt to have the helmet fitted this weekend to save waiting two weeks for his next visit to London. Shall look up his website and will post it for anybody interested.

[popsycal]

Hi folks - just found thuis thread
ds is 2 in a week or so and has a flat head, particularly on one side.

It is much less noticeable now thought it did worry me for a while.

I didn't get his hair cut for ages, worrying that chopping off his curls wuold make it more visible. But we did it a few months ago and the back is relly quite short.
And you can't notice

Good luck to everyone

[ChicPea]

Started typing an update a couple of weeks ago, computer crashed and couldn't type it all again!
DS has worn headband for almost three weeks and we can already see an improvement. It is lightweight and he only protests when it is being put on his head after bathtime and then he doesn't notice it. He does hate having even clothes put over his head.
He wears band 23 1/2 hours a day and it just comes off for bath time as it mustn't get wet and it has to be cleaned.
We are very pleased so far and there is a change already. The sides are less square and looking rounder.
The doctor's name is Dr Chris Blecher who is affiliated to Kings College Hosp in the Dental Department and he is a qualified dentist and maxio-facial surgeon. He has been doing the headbands for the last ten years. Please look at www.cranio-online.de.
HTH.

[Emmmmmmmmmma]

My 2nd childs head is flat at the back and i didn't worry too much until they said his soft spot was too small. He had a scan and everything was fine and his skull is still growing but his head was so flat that we decided to get him a helmet. he got it when he was 13 months and is waiting to have his second moulding. He is 15 months now. Progress seems to be slow though and his head still seems flat at the back but it has grown. The helmet is not like the ones i have seen on the web. It covers his whole head and is clear. Has anyone had one of these on their child before. i would be very interested to hear what progress other people have experienced.

[starlover]

jojo maman bebe sell the following product for helping to support your baby's head:

sleep support

[ChicPea]

Emmmmmmmmmmmmma, did you go to Norman Waterhouse for the clear helmet? We looked at this but weren't convinced. We found another doctor and went ahead. Treatment almost finished. We are very pleased and I shall be posting before and after photos to inform everybody.

CAT me if you like Emmmmmmma.

[ajmum]

ChicPea

Would love to see your results when you have them. Don't forget to post them.

My daughter has a flat head on one side (and corresponding slightly pushed forward forehead on that side). I didn't notice it until she was about four months old (she's now 10 1/2 months old). The GP was nice and said it would sort itself. He later referred us to the paed, who said something similar. After each appt, I've thought to myself don't be silly, it WILL sort itself out. I think it has improved slightly (she's always had loads of hair so I think I'm probably the only person who really notices!), but I still worry that if we'd gone down the helmet route, we'd be done now and she'd have a 'normal' head. Like someone said earlier in the thread, I don't want her to be teased when she's older - it's hard enough out there! We have another paed checkup next month so I guess I'll wait and see...

[Petall]

Ajmum
How did you get on with the last paed appointment?
My DS is having the same treatment as Chicpea's(thanks to her!) and we are really happy too.
I've just been back to see the GP who did his 6 week check when she was adamant that it would sort itself out. It didn't and had only got much worse by the time treatment started at 7 months.
This time she was more interested in the headband than his current chest infection and told me again it would have got better if we'd done nothing. It makes me sooo angry, how does she know what would have happened? There is no research , surely you have to go with your gut instinct and do what you feel is best for your child. At worst it has done him no harm and it is so much better now.
Like you said, the sooner you treat the quicker the result, DS is now 13months and has a few more months to go. I wish we had started sooner, but it took me a while to find MN and Chicpea to be better informed.
Good Luck

[ruty]

i've had exaxtly the same experience. Why don't the hvs tell us to move the baby's head from side to side? I had no idea, and from three months i started to notice my ds has a pronounced flat spot on one side and started to turn him at night. Gp said it would sort itself out, now he is 7 months and it has affected his forehead on one side, only slightly, but i worry it will get worse. And flat spot at back just as bad. Will try to seek out Chris Blecher. Don't like the sound of the helmet, my ds has eczema on his forehead so i know he will hate it, but what else can we do?

[mamadadawahwah]

Having just been to my cranial sacral therapist about my son's head, she advised there are methods one can do to "shape" babys head. She suggests i use featherlight touches to his front back and sides of head to "smooth" out the bumps. Been doing it for a while and have noticed a slight" difference to the bumps. Apparently baby's head can be moulded up to 2 years or more.

[ck1]

Hi all

Just to say that I run an MSN support group fr this condition - as it doesn't always get better on its own - as some of you have found out.

The group is at:
groups.msn.com/PlagioUK

There are three providers of the helmets in the UK now and all have had excellent results.

My son Toby is in a STARband - from:
www.plagiocephalyuk.co.uk

His head was severely flat right across the back (brachycephaly) but it is slowly improving as his head grows.

Claire

[ChicPea]

AJMum, 10 1/2 mths is not too late but the best time is in the first half of the first year. There is still fast growth of the head during the second half of the first year but it does dramatically slow down in the second year, ie from 13mths. My DS had his headband fitted at nine months and it was removed for good last Monday. We are thrilled!

Ruty, glad we have spoken. My DS has eczema as well but the headband didn't aggrivate it. We just applied loads of Diprobase.

I promise to post before and after photos. Need to ask DH to assist as I haven't a clue how to do this. Will do by this Saturday, DH willing.

[ck1]

Hi Emmmmmmmma - I have seen the clear helmets. They are called STARlight helmets and are made by a company in the US called Orthomerica (www.orthomerica.com)

No-one on my board is using one at the moment, so it would be great if you came along and joined us to give your experiences - you can join at groups.msn.com/PlagioUK

Claire