How can I fix my baby's flat head?
This is the most common questions that I hear in clinic. Closely followed by "Why does my baby have a flat head - what did i do wrong?"
There's so much joy when we become parents, but also there's falso so much fear.
If your baby has a flat head it's not you're fault.
Iit's not related to anything you did or didn't do. From my vast wealth of experience no parent has every 'geven' their baby a flat head.
It's good to know why things happen so click here on Why does my baby get a flat head ?
What about 'fixing' baby's head shape?
Even better preventing baby from getting a flat head at all.
There is a huge amount you can do to help baby and a lot of this you can do at home for free.
Preventing "Baby Flat Head"
The muscles and the bones are the key areas we want to work on to prevent or 'fix' a baby's flat head.
Prevention is faster and easier than fixing it, so the key is to start early.
The younger the better you can use these principles for as young as one week old.
Of course if your baby has special health or medicial needs please take these into account.
When it comes to prevention we are looking at four main areas
1. Holds
2. Props/Supports
3. Getting Baby to do the work
4. Stretches
Even if baby has an absolutely perfect head shape after birth they can still develop a flat or uneven head shape(See why babies get flat heads to understand this in more depth).
So do use the 4 principles as early as possible even if you don't see a problem (details on using those principles are below) Think of it like servicing your car (a car that is the most precious and unique once only in the whole world car !). You might not know there's a problem, but getting in early and doing the prevention work sure makes that car run smoothly and could alsostop a lot more work being needed down the line.
Fixing Flat Head in Baby
Fixing a flat head takes more work than preventing it and the older baby is the longer it will take.
Don't worry if you're baby is a little older I have seen excellent results in babies that are over 6 months old and your baby's head shape is capable of lots of change even when they are 12 to 18 months old.
When it comes to fixing it - we use the same tried and tested principles that we use for preventing it
1. Holds
2. Props/Supports
3. Getting Baby to do the work
4. Stretches
The 4 Principes
These 4 principles cover everything that you can do to help head shape in baby.
Disclaimer : Please know that this is educational information and although I am a Doctor as I have not examined your baby this information can not be taken as specific health advice for your individual baby. We have successfully used these principles in clinic to help many many babies - however in some severe cases or if your baby has a specific medical condition then these principles will not be enough for your baby and you will need extra help, in which it is essential that you take your baby for examination by a medical practitioner.
Holds
The way we hold baby can really help with their flat head. Obviously if we are holding them they aren't on there back which helps. But with certain holds we can also passively stretch the neck muscles and reduce the moulding on the flat and uneven part of their head. And once you know how you can even sit watching TV relax back holding baby knowing you're also working to help that head shape. Parents tell me that they just love that feeling of relaxing and knowing your also helping baby at the same time.
Props
We can't always be there to hold baby, and night is the obvious example of this. This is where props come in, they include pillows and other similar devices and I also include helmets in here. Prices vary from pillows costing from $15+ up to a helmet which can cost up to $2500. (But do know that helmets are only needed in very extreme cases.) The principle with pillows is to get baby off the side of the head that is flattened. However it is important to try to get the pillow size and shape that's right for your baby, as your baby's age and the type of head shape effect how the pillow works. There's also the option of a rolled up towel which has the advantage that it's free !
Baby Does It
Getting baby to do the work for us is key and it can really speed up the change in head shape. There's lot's we can do here and it all falls under getting baby to look towards the side that they don't like turning to. So it's about putting what baby likes on that side to reward them for turning. And what baby likes is sound, light, movement and most of all you! In fact even the expectation of you is a reward for them. So you can use this when positioning baby's cot.
Stretches
This is perhaps the most important of the 4 principles as it's the least well known and used and is the one that I have seen get the most change with those babies that aren't doing well with head shape. I spend a lot of time in clinic teaching parents the correct way to stretch out baby. And it's always great when they next come back in not just because of the change in baby but because the parent is so happy with this new skill. It's often so frustating being a parent so to be given a way of truly helping baby and not relying on someone else always feels awesome!
Whats Next?
These 4 principles work wonders for baby's head shape. I strongly recommend you take action now and develop a daily routine that uses these prinicples.
Remember you could be researching this on the web for week's but time is ticking and the earlier you start helping baby with there head shape the better.
So if you want help getting your routine going click the link below and let's start helping baby today.