Baby`s head is tilted

S

Shenzhennifer

Registered User
My baby is 14 weeks old. He has always had a tendency to turn his head to his right while sleeping, but now I`m noticing that it`s tilting to his right when he`s in his stroller and carrier.
He sleeps in a baby hammock so it`s not as hard as a mattress - that`s why I wasn`t really concerned until now. He`s also got a flat head, but he`s had that since birth as his father`s Japanese and has the same flat head:)
Any idea what I should do about this? I have heard about seeing a baby chiropractor (what are they called?)... we have insurance, but I`m just wondering the cost of this and if insurance would actually cover it.

Any help would be great. I don`t want my son to suffer in the future.
 
Do go have your pediatrician have a look at this first. I'm sure he/she will be able to point you in the right direction. Mostly for your peace of mind. There might be nothing wrong with your baby that a little massage can't correct or if it's a bit more complicated, at least you'll know the next steps to take.
 
Most babies develop a preference to sleep on one side and its quite normal. At 14 weeks your baby is still very young and his head shape will change a lot in the next 2 years. Try to re- position your baby to the left side and this should help. As he is able to support his neck put him on his tummy slowly increasing the time duration. I think a Paed would most probably tell you the same think Re- position avoid your baby spending too much time in one position or on one side.
 
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Hello, I had the same problem with my son. He preferred to turn his head one way, and ended up with a flat head on one side. I questioned this early on with our docter and was told it would right itself. However his head got flatter and I got more and more concerned. By chance a child physiotherapist came to a baby group I attended and I talked to her. She took my son on as a patient and taught me special holds and exercises to do to strengthen his neck and also loosen the muscles on the other side of his neck. Within 1-2 weeks I saw improvement in his ability to turn his head and the shape of his head. He was about 3 months at the time. I wish now I had known this sooner what to do. My son is 4 now and although his head shape looks fine, one ear is about an inch out of line with the other. The exercises were relatively simple. I was shown how to hold him to strectch the muscles and how to play with him to make him turn his head correctly. I can tell you more if you are interested. I was also in Australia at the time.
 
I don't think that the flat head is becasue your baby is japanese, I don't think all japanese people have flat heads. sometimes babies get flat heads becasue they are born with really tight muscles on one side of the neck. They can't turn their heads and end up laying on one side all the time, which then flattens out that side of the head. Can your baby turn neck at all? If this is the problem physio can help with the neck muscles. I personally wounld use a chiropracot as that is for spine manipulation, but it doesn't sound like a spine problem.
On the other hand some babies will lay on a certain side more and get a slight flat head, which then turns into more and more of a flat head as once the head is slightly flat it is easier for then to place there head in that position and more work to place head the other way. If it was really extreme and the baby only held the head one way, this could cause those musles to shorten and tighten up too.

Flat head is called positional plagiocephaly if you want to google it for more info. in the more extreme cases babies are put in headband to reshape the skull as they grow. those headbands or repositioning for less extreme cases is more sucessful the earlier it is done, when the baby's head is still growing rapidly.
 
Sorry, I should not have really mentioned the flat head, I don`t think. It`s flat since birth, and I`m sure it IS because he is part Japanese. My husband`s head is exactly like this - I noticed that the first time I touched the back of it years ago - it`s distinctly different from my caucasian head. And my son was born that way too - it`s reflected in his first birth pictures even. Also, he sleeps in an Amby Baby Hammock, which are softer than mattresses and supposedly do not make flat heads. And it`s not flat on his tilted side - just all the back side.
At any rate, I don`t need to change that if he was born with it. It`s beautiful because it`s his:)

BUT - I am concerned about the tilting of his head. He definitely prefers that side. he can turn both sides but prefers to turn one way. And it`s really noticable when he`s in his stroller or carrier.
I decided to take him to the pediatrician today. We are going back to Canada for a few weeks next month so I would rather gets find out if there is anything to be done now rather than later.
Thanks for all your suggestions!
 
hi shenhennifer - your baby may have a condition called torticollis, where the tendons in one side of the head are a bit tighter and therefore it is a bit more difficult for your baby to turn his head in that direction.
my daughter had torticollis. we went to pt and did simple things like placing objects on her right side so she would turn that way and stretch those tendons/muscles. the pt also did some exercises that my daughter HATED, but it was successful and today at five, my dd has equal range of motion on both sides of her head.
hope this helps.
 
my bb has a tendency to sleep on her left side for the first three months. now , at 8 months, she will sleep on the right.. i think it should be okay.
 
Hi, my baby had exactly the same problem at the same age (except he didn't have a flat head!). The doctor I saw in Australia at the time said that it wasn't a problem as many babies have a prefered side. She even gave me a brochure called "Does Your baby always look to the right?" (she also has one entitled "Does your baby always look to the left"!).

However, she advised that I should encourage my baby to look to the left or he could develop torticollis as he got older. Some ways to encourage your baby to look to the left are to stand on his left side when speaking or playing with him, putting interesting toys on his left side, laying him in the cot so that if he looks to the right he jsut sees a white wall but if he looks left he see all of the interesting things in the room etc. I was also advised to place a rolled up cloth nanny to the right of his head to prevent him turning it too far to the right when he slept (obviously you need to be aware of SIDS guidelines if you do this).

After a couple of weeks my baby started to look to the left. Happy to provide more info.
 
I would speak to your paed about possibly seeing a chiropractor (obviously checking to make sure their main practice are babies and/or children). If for nothing else to just to a double check...it could be absolutely nothing but a preference but it does sound like you are a little worried so a couple of appointments might ease your worry.
 
check up on the term: torticollis or wryneck, see if that's your case but do also check with your pediatrician.

my girl has it too. I discovered it when she's 2 weeks old and now she's 10mths and still doing physio... =(
On top of the tilting when we first discovered this habit, we also found a lump one the affected side of her neck.

Hope this helps.
 
Wow, glad to see that my baby is not alone.
He can look to each side and does. but he definitely prefers the one side.
A GP looked at him today and felt his neck. He said that the tilted side`s muscles seemed tighter. Tomorrow I`m going to see a Pediatrician at Adventist in Tsuen Wan. Let`s see what happens. Hopefully not as much physio as radicalmum`s baby - wow!
 
Just to follow up, I went to see the Paed today. He didn`t find any bump and said that most likely, my son`s neck muscles were developing asymmetrically, apparently common and should even out within a few weeks or so, when I will see him again. In the meantime, I think I`ll do some more exercises with him to strengthen the other side.
Thanks for all your advice!
 
Hi, a friend who is a physio noticed a slight tilt in my babies head (until then I hadn't noticed she had a preference for one side, but once it was mentioned it was quite obvious).

We had insurance and our Ped signed off sessions with a cranial osteopath/physio for mild 'torticulis' so they were fully covered. Whilst there, the physio said - do you want me to work on her flat head (hadn't noticed that either!) so all in all, it was great - both may have worked themselves out, but it was nice having someone sort it directly.
 
Shenzhennifer, my son also preferred one side. Paed told me 1. to change the direction he sleeps in his cot, so that he has things to look on the side he is not using. 2. We should encourage him to look on the less used side while sitting/ talking/ changing nappy on a particular side or 3. playing him by showing toys on that side etc. 4. We also massaged his neck muscles (the paed showed us) during his tummy time. This is all so that he uses his neck muscles that are tight, within 2 weeks his turning had reduced dramatically- and now at 6 mo. you would not know that he had any issue.
 
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