Newborn with Flat Spot

Try to give her tummy time too, with toys. Tender Care Pediatrics is an excellent pediatrician, Dr. Chang, in Northfield. Good Luck. L.

You might try to prop her on her side with recieving blankets. When my daughter was an infant, she would not sleep on her back. I found that she seemed to feel more secure when she had a recieving blanket tucked in on each side of her and she was on her side. She started sleeping better right away and that way I could switch her back and forth from one side to the other on different nights to keep her from getting a flat spot.
Hope this helps you out!
~P.

The flat spot will go away. The bigger problem with letting her sleep in her carseat all the time is that they are in the same postition without a lot of freedom to move. That can cause muscle development issues. If she sleeps on a flat surface she can move around, but in a carseat she is pretty much stuck in one postition and can't really even kick her legs. In carseats, too, babys often slump a little which is not good for her spine either.

My daughter slept in her seat until she was 6 months old due to GERD (reflux), doctor ordered. As far as I'm aware, it doesn't cause a problem. Although my husband hated that she slept in it, it helped her sleep. I wish I could still do it actually! She still wakes up twice a night and I'd LOVE for her to sleep through. And P.S. she doesn't have a flat spot on her head.

It does usually go away on its own. Have you tried swaddling her with receiving blankets?? She may just need that tight wrapped up secure feeling like in the car seat. Try rolling a couple receiving blankets and placing them around her in the crib so she can't roll etc.. It makes them feels safe and secure.

I was so sure my son had a flat spot on his head as well, but if it was ever there, it's since gone away. I think the best suggestion is lots of tummy time. Once my son was a little more sturdy, he loved his Bumbo chair. You just have to watch because eventually your daughter will learn how to escape the Bumbo and that can lead to accidents. As far as sleeping in the crib, one of the suggestions I found helpful was that supposedly babies will want to look out into their rooms while they're in the crib. So I would put my son to sleep with his head at one end of the crib for a week and then switch ends the next week. And to help me remember which way he was sleeping that week, I'd put a stuffed animal in which ever end his head was meant to be in. My husband thought I was being silly, but it gave me piece of mind!

Hi T.,

The spot will go away by itself.

I say (after you've check with your pediatrician) that anything that gets them to (safely) sleep at this age is great. I don't know much about the flat spots (mine doesn't have one) but I was told that I should rotate which end of the crib the baby sleeps at because they tend to turn their head towards the door/activity. So, you could try switching the way the car seat faces (when she'd not in the car, obviously) and see if that gets her to turn her head, too.

Good luck. The sleep does get easier!

My advice to Mom's are that after 6wks start doing what you intend to do for the long haul. Your daughter won't be sleeping in her carseat when she's a year old and the transition to a bed will be harder the older she gets. Do it now. Good sleep habits and routines are very important right now. If its nap time you have to respect that and if that means no errands etc while she's napping so be it.

As for the flat spot, my older son is 5 1/2 and he still has his. But he was a preemie so maybe he had a softer mellon. When the Dr noticed it she told me to change direction on the changing table and hold him in the other arm.

I'd also get a wedge for the crib, it will keep her feeling snug.

My son had a condition called torticollis, which is when a newborn has trouble turning his or her head from side to side and they tend to favor only onside causing a flat spot.We did a few months of physical therapy and all was well. Call your peditrician....good luck!

The flat spot DOES NOT go away naturally, my son's head is still flat in the back and he's 6! Also, you should never let a baby under 1 yr. of age sleep on their tummy due to SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). Maybe you meant spend tummy time, which is necessary to avoid the flat spot and good for neck control. Best of luck with this, I know it can be frustrating.

Give her more tummy time when she is awake. If she doesn't like tummy time you can put her in a Bumbo seat. Don't put the seat in a high spot such as a table or counter top while you do what you have to do. I suggest holding her and playing with her when you are finished doing the things you have to do. All of these things will help. A baby's head starts to flatten from being in one position too much. It's called plagiocephaly. As for her naps, have you tried letting your daughter nap in a swing? The movement of the swing may help her nap for a longer stretch.

Hi T.,

Congrats on your new baby! Many babies like to sleep in a car seat or bouncer because they feel secure - it holds them nice and snug like when they were in your belly. My son used to take naps in his swing, but always slept in his bed (or ours) at night. I kept him swaddled at night until he was 5 months old. This helped him to sleep better as his involuntary movements were contained and he didn't wake himself up as much. Also, instead of sleeping on his back, I slept him on his side. Everytime he woke up to nurse, I would switch which side he went back down on - this way he didn't get used to sleeping on only one side. He never developed any flat spots on his head. While a minor flat spot will heal on its own, you do have to be careful that it doesn't get too severe. I have two friends who had to put helmets on their babies to cure the flat spot.

Congrats again on your new baby.

J.

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T.,
I believe this is a pretty common thing. Or at least it was with my oldest. She developed a considerable flat spot on her head and we had to work with a therapist to do various exercises for at birth she strained the muscles in her neck which caused her to favor one side - or preferring to tilt her head in one direction while resting or sleeping. We didn't give her enough tummy time for she hated it. The long story of it is that she received therapy attn. to stretch out the muscles in her neck, as well as having to get a helmut to correct the flat spot. Although it was hard at first to see her in a helmut, I'm grateful for doing it early for it did correct the flatness. I recommend that you discuss this further with your pediatrician, as well as do further research - you have to do what is right for you.

Hi T.,
I have a nine month old and when she was sleeping all of the time, she would fall asleep in her bouncy seat. I used to take her to work and she would sleep in the car seat sometimes. Bailey(my daughter) loved to sleep with ther head to the right side and her head was really flat for months. I talked to the doctor and she said that it was normal( alot of kids will have a flat spot on the back of their head. She said that when she started holding her head up more and sitting up this problem would go away. Well she's nine months old now and the flat spot is gone, it just takes a little time.

I am an orthotist and have had quite a bit of experience with positional plagiocephaly, which is a flattening of the head due to pressure on the same side of the head for prolonged periods of time. Some sites that explain it pretty well are: http://pediatrics.about.com/cs/conditions/a/plagiocephaly...
http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/general/sleep/positional...

The incidence of positional plagiocephaly increased significantly after the launch of the "Back to Sleep" campaign, to reduce the incidence of SIDS. You should be letting your infant sleep on her back, but if she seems to favor one side of her head, then the flattening can occur. This can happen whether she is in her carseat, or in her crib. The best things for both prevention and early treatment are repositioning while she is sleeping and a lot of supervised tummy time when she is awake.

My son also has a flat spot on his head, which I noticed rather early. We were pretty diligent about putting him on his tummy a lot (even though he didn't like it at first). Also, we would try to get him to look in the direction that would keep him off of his flat spot. Try putting something on the crib that encourages her to look in the direction that keeps her off of her flat spot. With these two things, it will generally correct itself. (A mild flattening of the head is not going to cause any health or developmental problems, and when they are older, it probably won't even be noticeable).

If the deformity is moderate to severe, then cranial remolding helmet therapy may be appropriate (That's where the orthotist comes in). Most likely you won't get to that point. But, it's a good idea to mention it to your pediatrician during your next visit, so he/she can monitor it.

My son slept in his carseat for first 4-5 months. He had a few colds and being propped up helped him breathe easier and he learned to like it. When awake, we made sure to give him plenty of time on the floor to wiggle and work those muscles. He was fine developmentally. Once he started rolling, moving and crawl ing more, he was happy to sleep in the flat crib. We did put the carseat in teh crib to get him used to the environment of his room though and I think that helped. My daughter is only 17 months older than my son so we really had to get sleep and I needed him to sleep during the days as well-it worked so we went with it. His head is fine now.

I think he liked the coziness of the seat. My third loved to be swaddled REALLY tight for nearly 4 months. Perhaps they were looking for the same feeling in different ways? In any case, they all have round heads now and they are 3 and 10 months.

All babies who sleep on their backs get a flat spot; it goes away.