[val23]

My 9 week old baby has a flat head on the back and on one side. I've been told that this will fix by itself when the baby starts crawling, etc.. and by putting the baby in a prone position. However some friends of mine say that I have to massage it. And from searching in the net, there are gadgets such as the headband/helmet that would reshape the baby's head.
Can somebody tell me if this is necessary? Thanks.

[armstroe]

I'm sure this will correct itself over time - simply for the fact you don't see many toddlers with flat heads.

If it is concerning you, and you have the insurance cover, you can take your baby to see Caroline Rhodes who is a physio and craniosacral therapist. (ph: 2121 1402). I saw her for my baby's reflux and now my elder daughter's glue ear. I highly recommend her.

[rani]

Val,

The Indian custom is to massage an Infant's head to ensure its symmetrical. There are Indian masseuses in TST, I used a woman called Mala her contact info listed here:

http://www.geobaby.com/Mala_L324

Also used a sleep positioner to ensure that Dhruv slept on both sides.

[val23]

I think I'll wait for another month. If his head is still flat, I'll try the massage first and then if that doesn't work, I'll try the physio.

[sharonwong]

my daughter has flat head on the back and on one side i guess similar to your child. because it's so flat on the back it almost seems as though the top is very pointy too. her head looks especially odd when her hair is wet.

in new york wearing helmets to correct flat head has become very popular since kids are encouraged to be on their backs more nowadays. well my daughter is now 7 months but at a month old she was colic and when she settled i would not shift her thus came along her flat head from sleeping on her back or how ever she was comfortable. anyway my pediatrician asked me to see a pediatric neurosurgeon but in the mean time i'm putting her only on her ok side....somehow i don't think it's really working all that well...maybe that is the shape of her head!!

she is older now so i am also leaving her on her tummy when she turns on her own. this helps with the flat head.

the chinese say that you can massage the head i'm just wondering for how long and with circular motion or what??!

i'm still waiting for it to smooth out. wonder what she'd look like with those cute helmets.

[val23]

thanks sharon...

i'm taking a vacation in the Philippines right now and I saw a chiropractor for myself. He is an American doctor and is actually capableof doing cranial adjustments. I think this is a good option but both my husband and my dad are too scared to get this done to my now 3 month old son. Somebody here suggested that he be carried around all the time which his nanny is doing. We also massage his head every morning. I just massage it from top to back and from front to back. I dont really know if this is correct. I do see an improvement as in his head isnt as sharp as before but it's still flat at the back.

As for those helmets, I dont think they have those in HK. As for sleeping prone, my baby hates it so much. He also doesnt like sleeping on the side and it's difficult for me to enforce it since he rolls to the front all the time.

Anyway, as I mentioned in my previous post, I will just wait and see and if his head is still flat in a month or 2, I will see the cranial therapist that armstroe recommeded.

[sharonwong]

hi val23
i guess you will have to wait as i will have to. as long as there is no medical problem with having a funny shaped head i really am not too concerned. all mothers worry about the way their daughters look more so than sons.

anyway if you have any suggestions of therapists etc... please let me know. i will try to massage her everyday from now on. her head is not as soft though since she's going on 8 months. i will try anyway. now i have other issues to worry about...like her teeth....ughhhhh she has a grey coloring on her 2 front teeth. i'm researching what that can be from ...read my post today.
tks
sharon

[JennyB]

I'm sure every baby is different, but my baby used to have a very flat head on the back and right side, because she never held her head to the left. Since about 3 months this started to change and her head is gradually getting more symmetrical - she is now 5 months old. I think you might have to wait more than a month to see an improvement. Sometimes we just have to be patient!