Baby Flat Head Tips!

Baby flat head also is known as Positional Plagiocephaly

All of my children have had this problem. All of them, in their newborn days, developed a flat head in a random spot that looked funny!

We even had a paediatrician say that one of my children’s head, at 6 weeks old, looked like a Homer Simpson shaped head!….umm what!!??!!

These days the message to all parents is to always sleep baby on their back. This is definitely the safest and best sleep position for baby, and we fully support it, however, it does nothing great for their head. So here is a list of things we have tried to help reshape the flat head.

Osteopath

For us, this has been a big help in our 3^rd baby’s flat head. Find someone who is trained to work with babies and who has had a lot of recommendations. (Plunket or your GP should be able to provide contact details or suggestions on who to visit). The Osteopath has picked up on things such as a tightness in our baby’s neck which was preventing him looking a certain way, with the gentle techniques they use, they are able to loosen it, allowing him to move his head more freely. This is something we have been going too for quite a few weeks so it can be a costly exercise but for us, it has been well worth it.

Tummy Time

If you are one of the lucky ones that your baby loves tummy time, then do this as much as possible when they are awake. If you are like us and your baby does not seem to like it very much then here are some things that you could try. Place baby on their back and once they are happy and comfortable roll baby onto their side, use a rolled-up towel to place behind the baby. Play with baby using mirrors, black and white toys and rattles. Once the baby is used to side play then gently roll them onto their tummy. Placing a rolled-up towel under baby’s chest can help. Try this often, and gradually baby may feel more comfortable to be on their tummy.

Encouraging baby to look in different directions

You can do this by using different toys and sounds. I find the black animal wall stickers in my recent post here is a great way of helping baby look in a certain direction. You could also use black and white shape picture cards Elle Cherie – Black and White Shapes (you can print these ones off, cut out and stick to a piece of card) to place in the direction you want the baby to look. Using noisy toys like rattles and music is also a good way to help baby look a certain way. Try and approach baby from different directions.

Bouncer or baby swing

Sitting in a bouncer or baby swing might help, as it may reduce the amount of pressure on the flat spot.

Having cuddles

Taking baby outside to look around is just another way to use up 10 minutes that the baby is not on their head. Our baby loves looking around outside and out windows. If you have a large mirror hold baby up to it, chat and play peek a boo.