So we have to keep our babies on their back to sleep (which most of them hate 🙄), which I feel like really causes flat head. Are there any tips to preventing this? I'm super paranoid and I'm always carrying my 8 week old but it's exhausting. He already has some flattening. My 3 year old's isn't bad.
I wish it was safe for them to sleep on their tummies, my life would be so much easier!!
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I’ve read to switch the side their head is at in the bassinet/crib in case they favor one side, and then just starting tummy time ASAP. And I liked the baby k’tan for when they were newborns for those times when you do need to just carry them around. My LO (5 months) has a minor flat spot and his pediatrician wasn’t too worried. She said it happens a little to every baby. We do what we can.
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No real solutions here, but I noticed DD always turned her head slightly to alternating sides whenever she was sleeping... Maybe you could try that, which would help for at least some of those sleeping hours? We ended up holding/carrying a lot out of necessity (she cried a lot) as well, but she has no noticeable flattening now at 4.
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DD is 3 months and has a bit of a flat spot on the back of her head (and is losing her hair from it rubbing against her sheet and puj tub
). But I watch her at night or during naps on the video monitor and can see that she's sleeping with her head turned to each side quite a bit, as well as sleeping with her head 'straight'. She hates tummy time so it's hard to get any meaningful part of the day with her not on her back unless we are carrying her. So far the wrap and carrier have been helpful there but more for our arms instead of for avoiding a flat head... I'm curious to see what her ped says at her 4 month visit and am hoping that she starts to hate tummy time a little less soon. Her older sister started rolling over around 3.5-4 months and a few days later became a tummy sleeper on her own. This one does not seem to be showing the same interest so we'll see when that happens! Happy to read suggestions on this thread too and see what we can do in the mean time.
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My LO didn’t have a flat head and I didn’t do anything special when it came to how he slept except of course putting him down on his back. Around 3 months he started to turn over on his belly on his own. We did a ton of tummy time and did not baby swings or positioners while he was awake. We also held him like crazy and most often that was him belly to belly or chest with us.
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Good suggestions, sounds like we can't do more than we're doing....
But he's very tightly wrapped in a Halo swaddle so his head seems pretty straight when he sleeps 🙄 -
I read somewhere (maybe HB!) that some kids are just prone to flat heads. So unfortunately your LO might just be prone
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I think some kids are just prone to it
I have a small flat spot on my head at 30 and I think I'm fine.
I asked my mom if she just ignored me in a crib/playpen all day 🤣 and after flipping me off told me she "rotated me like a little rotisserie chicken and you still had a flat spot"
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Does your baby sleep in your room? I noticed mine would always turn his head in my direction so I flipped his rock and play around every night. So one night, his head would be by my head and the next night, I would flip it, so his feet were by my head. It made him turn in the opposite direction to see me and I could still see him easily
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@peaches1038: yeah he sleeps in a bassinet next to me. I will try this for sure!
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Not too bad yet...?
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@pachamama: it doesn’t look flat at all to me!!
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@pachamama: his head doesn't look flat all (also he's pretty cute)
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@pachamama: My daughter, now 4, had a flat spot which her pediatrician brushed off as normal since it was symmetrical. We ended up getting a second opinion and that pediatrician referred us to physical therapy. We saw an amazing physical therapist who was getting her PhD and specializing in plagiocephaly. She told us our daughters head was in fact not normal and we needed to be doing a lot more tummy time. It’s not just the pressure on the head from sleeping, but the muscles in the side of the neck (sternoclodeidmastadoid) pull the skull bones into place as they strengthen. She said to try and get the baby to look behind them by making silly noises or shaking toys while they are doing tummy time. This further strengthens those muscles. We are lucky we saw that second doctor so we could reverse some of the flattening already done.
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@turquoisemama: this was super helpful thank you! I think that's the longest word I've ever seen.
@Sams Mom: thanks -
@pachamama: what a cutie! I think as long as you aren’t leaving them in baby holders all day it should be ok.
Both my boys have round heads. DS1 was held a lot and at 6 his head is fine. DS2 has spent more time in the rock n play and hated tummy time until he could roll. He is 6 months and so far a round head.
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@lindseykaye: I just saw this a few days ago re: rubbing off the hair on the back of their heads. Maybe it can help! https://usa.silkytots.com/products/silk-cot-slip-grey
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@pachamama: What about the flat-head pillows? Are those useless? No one has mentioned them so I'm wondering if they are. I see them all over Amazon and Pinterest.
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So maybe I should post this in the unpopular opinions thread but my kids slept on their bellies during the day while I was awake. Everyone from their pedis to our afterbirth-midwives encouraged it so I had no qualms about it. At night they were swaddled and in their cribs on their backs. They were able to turn their heads pretty much immediately so I never worried.
My DD2 (who was my twin A and whose brother was basically sitting on top of her in utero) had a very round head until suddenly at 6 months or so it suddenly wasn't anymore. After brushing me off the first time, the pedi agreed when I asked a second time that we should try PT. Luckily for us her fontanelle was really late to close so even though she was nearly one when she started PT we were able to achieve great results. The PT explained that probably even in utero due to the weight on her, her skull bones had twisted into each other and once her teeth came in and thus her jawbone/mandible grew, her eminences were suddenly not aligned straight anymore. So the PT gently moved them to their correct positions again and her head has been nearly symmetrical since then. Also, a lot of issues I never knew were associated with it got better: her bloating, her sweating when eating and a couple of other things. But do to her non-aligned bones there was quite a bit of pressure on her spinal cord.
So maybe PT is something you could look into. -
@foodiebee: none of those are approved for safe sleep so I guess you could use them during naps when you're awake? I also wouldn't use them in a car seat as people are suggesting as they haven't been tested. I'd skip anything like that unless it specifically says it's been tested for safe sleep etc
We carried my first a ton in a carrier and did as much tummy time as she would allow. My ped said alot of it is genetic and also how they were in the womb so just keep an eye on it
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It's just hard constantly holding him with my 3 year old around (who is aggressive towards him and I have to keep l away). Every time I put him in the RnP or bouncer I feel really guilty and it's added so much stress and extra work holding him.
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@MamaBear87: Makes sense! I thought that might be the case because I figured if they were amazing everyone here would've suggested them.
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@foodiebee: I did buy one of those just for the Rock and play under my supervision
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@pachamama: No problem! Haha yes that word is long, I had to look it up because I could not remember what it was called!
). But I watch her at night or during naps on the video monitor and can see that she's sleeping with her head turned to each side quite a bit, as well as sleeping with her head 'straight'. She hates tummy time so it's hard to get any meaningful part of the day with her not on her back unless we are carrying her. So far the wrap and carrier have been helpful there but more for our arms instead of for avoiding a flat head... 
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