When to worry about baby having a flat head?

my baby is 4 months old and I’ve started noticing that the back of his head is getting flat. I rotate his head through the day and limit how much time he spends on his back but it still is looking flat. I was just wondering if any moms have had this happen and did it fix itself with time?

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Our daughters was that way and it did fix itself once she started crawling and not sleeping on her back

My 4 month old also has a flat head. It should correct itself, I’ve been told, the less time they spend on their backs. So give tummy time or sit them on your lap as much as possible

A sit-me-up chair might help, too.

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Yeah… We almost had to get our daughter a helmet. But once she started rolling, crawling it fixed itself.

Bring it up to the pediatrician. Depending on how severe it is sometimes they may need a helmet to fix the problem

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I believe most babies go through this. Their heads are starting to take shape, so their plates are moving around to go into place. Totally normal!

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Your dr should recommend a helmet
Yeah your not picking your baby up enough thats why the babys heads flat.
Um tummy time should do. Hold your baby more.

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It depends on how severe it is. My daughters did not correct itself (even with PT and extended tummy time), so she had to be in a helmet for 2 months. Now she has a beautifully shaped head :heart_eyes::joy: I would get a professional opinion if you’re concerned. It’s not just aesthetics…it can cause other issues so it’s best to talk to your pediatrician!

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Tummy time fixes that!

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It usually will. My daughter rubbed her head bald, but didn’t go flat, but I know plenty of moms that had it happen. They have “pads” you can buy if you’re concerned, but I would talk to your pediatrician about it before committing the money to it as I don’t know if they work or if they are actually safe.

More tummy time, and time holding the baby. If not baby eventually may need a helmet if his pediatrician says so.

As much tummy time as you can outside of sleeping. If it’s bad your doctor will recommend baby be fitted for a helmet to help shape the head.

Next appointment ask if your child has torticollis

Unheard of, keep rotating often and after a few months things will change

My chunkers had to get a helmet since he was such a good sleeper (10 to 12 hours a night starting at the age of 2 months). We tried everything to get his head to round out on his own, but luckily insurance covered most of the cost of the helmet. We tried tummy time and different pillows to “fix the flat” but nothing worked for us. Getting him his helmet was a great investment and has almost completely fixed his head shape!

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Also change the way you hold baby during feeding. Your doing the things you should to help. It takes a little bit of time.

My son had a flat part on the side of his head and it has corrected itself he is now 13 months

I read that if you alternate which direction their head is facing when you lay them down, they will alternate which direction their head faces when they turn it while sleeping? (So, head is closer to the left side of crib one time, next time head is closer to the right side of the crib) No clue how true it is since I read it once mine was older but worth a try :man_shrugging:

I never noticed that with any of my three but all three were almost bald in the back from rubbing the back of their heads on the crib, bouncer, swing etc. So unless its really obvious and dramatic, you may just be a worrier like most mamas are. Maybe talk to the pediatrician if your super concerned. Goodluck mama!

Tummy time tummy time

Baby needs less time laying down. Spend more time on their tummy and up in arms or saucer.

Yes it happened to my son and it was just from normal sleeping and being in his carseat…We bought a Nuby head shaping pillow from Amazon and it corrected it within a month …

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My daughter’s pediatrician said my daughter’s right side was starting to get flat because that’s the side she would sleep on. She said just try to keep her off that side. My daughter now sleeps on her tummy. With you baby being only 4 months I would do alot of tummy time and let her sleep on her tummy for naps with supervision.

We had to take my daughter (6 months old now) and the therapist lady told us pretty much just to keep her from laying with her head on that flat spot as much as possible and we did that and it corrected within two months the lady said as she grows of course she will be moving around more and it won’t be as big of a issue trying to make sure she isn’t constantly laying one way so it does mostly correct itself but needs some help to keep her off that one spot

Do lots of tummy time it could correct itself my sons did. But if he likes to be on his back when he sleeps then he may need a helmet as he grows older to correct it

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My first was suuuper close to getting a helmet and was seeing specialists but ended up not needing one. His head looks fine now (3 years). My second (7 months) also has plagiocephaly and his is finally starting to correct itself now that he’s sitting up and off of his head most of the time. Push tummy time!!! Like a lot!!! My second started rolling back to belly at 3 months and that made it easier because he would put himself on his tummy, but before that, he hated it but I would still push it.

I bought a small pillow to prevent flat head and within a week I noticed a difference good luck xxx

There’s nothing you can do. It’ll fix itself.

Massage the babies head.

You need to stop laying your baby on his back and start doing more tummy time or else your baby will be put in a helmet to fix the flat.

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My girl is 10 years old and her head is still flat in the back, but she has so much hair it isn’t noticable at all not even when she wears it up.

My son is 5 months and will only go to sleep laying on his left side but during his sleep he moves around alot and ends up either on his back or his right side

My kiddos got it and they were all carried unless in the car or asleep until they could sit independently.

My son had the same thing but it was not very serious his doctor never recommend a helmet and when he started crawling it fixed it self :blush:

I would suggest an evaluation with a pediatric physical therapist. I used to work at an outpatient pediatric rehab clinic, and we got lots of babies with plagiocephaly( flat spot on the head) and/or torticollis
Sometimes a helmet is recommended but not always

With my daughter we had her in the rock n sleep rocker and she would only sleep in there, after a while she started getting flat head and so transitioned her in the bassinet and eventually she got used to it but man did she cry so much but eventually she learned that was her bed. It eventually went away on its own.

I just would constantly mold his head with my hand. My son’s was flatter on his right side (from everyone holding him in their left arm). He is 10 & his head is normal.

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There is a pillow for this

You know cave people didnt have helmets some how we survived as a species :wink: js ftm worry more trust me they will be fine, I have 3 kids no special pillows and no special needs.

My daughters head was slightly flat on her left side from having Torticollis, her doctor even referred her to a specialist but I had already been talking with her physical therapist about her progress and she said as long as we prevented it from getting worse it would round out without needing a helmet and it did. You can get his head measured to see how flat it is and if you need intervention. Continue keeping him of his head as much as possible.

If you do need intervention the sooner the better before he turns one.

I was worried about it with my daughter when she was around 4 months. She prefers to sleep facing toward one side. The doctor said they would take a look at it again at her 6mos checkup, and they didn’t say anything. She’s been sitting up a lot so it’s getting a lot better!!! I wouldn’t worry at all if I were you since he is about to be siitting up soon and it should fix itself. I think some doctors are too quick to hand out those helmets… just know there are risks involved with them too.

When i noticed my baby would get flat is when my pediatrician pushed tummy time. We hadnt been truly doing it because we had hard wood floors outside of town which tracked in a lot of dirt. She said just clean daily and he will be fine. But anyway with the tummy time he rounded out even though he hated it at first. 5 minutes whining about wanting to be picked up went away pretty quickly

My son had a similar issue so I got a flat head pillow, I had one in his bed, one in the bouncer and one in the buggy, even if he was sitting on the sofa or anywhere I’d make sure it was there for when he rested his head back, 2 months later and its fixed itself, he’s almost 5 months old now.

My daughter had the same thing when she was a baby baby, flat head pillows really really work! Can’t recommend them enough x hope this helps hun x

This happened to my son but unfortunately his was due to torticollis (tight neck muscle on one side). He always turned his head to the right when he slept despite me repositioning him constantly. We did lots of tummy time too but nothing helped. He ended up in a helmet. Not every baby needs a helmet though. Just be diligent about repositioning and do tummy time any time baby is awake. If you don’t see results it doesn’t hurt to ask your pediatrician for their opinion.