To Christie (Remy's mom)

January 9, 2004

Hi Christie,

Thanks for sharing your story and photos. My 2 yr old son has mild

plagio but thankfully it is not really noticeable to others. Now, I

am on the alert when it comes to his little 5 month old brother! I

was careful from the beginning and had him in an exersaucer by 3 1/2

months and encouraged tummy time (however I do work and I did ask

his sitter to do the same but I'm sure she wasn't as vigilant as I

would have been). Anyway...even after having been so careful I now

see that he has a bit of flattening in the back!

You got fabulous results with repositioning Remy and I see you

started at 5 months, the age my baby is now. His is not as flat as

Remy's was so I'm hoping I can get good results also. My question

is how did you keep Remy off the back of her head at night, did you

side sleep her and keep her from rolling on tummy with rolled up

blanket (this is what I'm trying to do but he does end up shifting

back during the night). I feel like I need to be more aggressive

esp. since all naps he takes during the (work) day are at the

sitters house and so he is on his back there. I am thinking that

when he falls asleep I will trying and turn him so he is practically

on his stomach and put a rolled up blanket underneath his tummy so

that he cannot fall onto his face. What do you think??

There is a boy in my two yr old son's class who has braccy quite

bad. I don't know if his parents are aware of it and/or its cause

but it annoys me that doctor's say it will correct or hair will

cover because this little boy is african american and his short afro

does not cover anything. I hope he will be able to deal with this

okay when he gets older, perhaps there is some improvement as child

ages (but that is a question I have not found the answer to - you'd

think it would be a fact, yes or no).

Anyway, please let me know about your Remy method, she looks

fabulous. Thank you!!!!

January 9, 2004

Hi,

Nighttime repo can be extremely difficult. I have to give Remy most

of the credit, because she started sleeping on her sides, usually

alternating sides, on her own right at about 5 months old. It was a

huge, huge help in us getting the repo results we were looking for.

From her progress photos, you can tell Remy was kind of brachy/plagio.

I believe this side sleeping helped apply pressure to the sides of her

head, elongating it and helping to minimize bulges she had over both

ears. Sleep positioners were pretty much useless on our wiggle worm

by that point. On the nights when Remy tried to sleep on her back,

either me or my husband would take her to the futon in the spare room

and sleep next to her, keeping her on her side. My personal choice

was to NEVER have her sleep on her tummy at that age because of the

SIDS risk. Between checking on Remy's sleep position or enforcing it,

we got very little sleep! We were so completely exhausted! If the

progress photos we were taking every two weeks didn't show that we

were making progress, I don't think we would have had the mental

determination to keep it up! One other repo mom sewed a foam wedge

onto the back of her babies pjs. That way, his torso was tipped up a

bit, encouraging him to turn his head to the side while sleeping.

FYI, my husband and I worked exactly opposite shifts and a lot of

overtime. We had only an hour and a half overlap about 3pm and 3am.

Although a very challenging schedule, it did provide us total control

over Remy's envrionment as far as repo went. My husband and I were

able to give it our all and maximize results. I am very happy to hear

that your son's plagio is mild and not as flat as Remy! Hopefuly repo

can provide the bit of rounding you are hoping to realize. Concern

over the childcare provider's dedication to repo remains an issue for

repo'ing parents! I personally feel that all of the little repo

things we did with Remy added up, so if your son is on his back for

naps and some play at the sitter's house, then you are right, it could

be compromising your repo efforts. Better compliance from the sitter

might be pretty impactful. Do you think you can rework the repo issue

with the sitter? If it were me, I would present plagiocephaly as a

medical condition that would require some extra attention on the

sitter's part. I'm sure you have already done so, but I would make

sure to arm the sitter with all manner of repo products, especially

ones that will help repo the head while in a bouncie or swing, if she

is still utilizing those products (neck napper, already rolled up

towels fastened together with string.) I would tape a photo of how I

wanted my son repo'd in whatever item it was, to every item (bouncie,

high chair, swing, tummy mat.) I would also have a repo quick

reminder sheet to tape on the fridge, such as " bottle feeding in right

arm only!) You could tell her that the next 4 weeks are really

critical (let her know there's light at the end of the tunnel.)

Please let me know how things are going!

Christie (Mom to Repo'd Remy)

> Hi Christie,

>

> Thanks for sharing your story and photos. My 2 yr old son has mild

> plagio but thankfully it is not really noticeable to others. Now, I

> am on the alert when it comes to his little 5 month old brother! I

> was careful from the beginning and had him in an exersaucer by 3 1/2

> months and encouraged tummy time (however I do work and I did ask

> his sitter to do the same but I'm sure she wasn't as vigilant as I

> would have been). Anyway...even after having been so careful I now

> see that he has a bit of flattening in the back!

>

> You got fabulous results with repositioning Remy and I see you

> started at 5 months, the age my baby is now. His is not as flat as

> Remy's was so I'm hoping I can get good results also. My question

> is how did you keep Remy off the back of her head at night, did you

> side sleep her and keep her from rolling on tummy with rolled up

> blanket (this is what I'm trying to do but he does end up shifting

> back during the night). I feel like I need to be more aggressive

> esp. since all naps he takes during the (work) day are at the

> sitters house and so he is on his back there. I am thinking that

> when he falls asleep I will trying and turn him so he is practically

> on his stomach and put a rolled up blanket underneath his tummy so

> that he cannot fall onto his face. What do you think??

>

> There is a boy in my two yr old son's class who has braccy quite

> bad. I don't know if his parents are aware of it and/or its cause

> but it annoys me that doctor's say it will correct or hair will

> cover because this little boy is african american and his short afro

> does not cover anything. I hope he will be able to deal with this

> okay when he gets older, perhaps there is some improvement as child

> ages (but that is a question I have not found the answer to - you'd

> think it would be a fact, yes or no).

>

> Anyway, please let me know about your Remy method, she looks

> fabulous. Thank you!!!!

January 9, 2004

Thanks Christie! I just wrote to you again (before I saw this

reply) about a different issue - taking side photos. Let me know

what you think if you get a chance.

Thanks for all the tips for the sitter. I have told her all about

plagio. She looks after lots of babies but had never come across it

before! I wonder why some babies get plagio/braccy but most don't

considering that most parents follow the " back to sleep " theory now.

I will let you know how it goes! Thanks so much.

> > Hi Christie,

> >

> > Thanks for sharing your story and photos. My 2 yr old son has

mild

> > plagio but thankfully it is not really noticeable to others.

Now, I

> > am on the alert when it comes to his little 5 month old

brother! I

> > was careful from the beginning and had him in an exersaucer by 3

1/2

> > months and encouraged tummy time (however I do work and I did

ask

> > his sitter to do the same but I'm sure she wasn't as vigilant as

I

> > would have been). Anyway...even after having been so careful I

now

> > see that he has a bit of flattening in the back!

> >

> > You got fabulous results with repositioning Remy and I see you

> > started at 5 months, the age my baby is now. His is not as flat

as

> > Remy's was so I'm hoping I can get good results also. My

question

> > is how did you keep Remy off the back of her head at night, did

you

> > side sleep her and keep her from rolling on tummy with rolled up

> > blanket (this is what I'm trying to do but he does end up

shifting

> > back during the night). I feel like I need to be more

aggressive

> > esp. since all naps he takes during the (work) day are at the

> > sitters house and so he is on his back there. I am thinking

that

> > when he falls asleep I will trying and turn him so he is

practically

> > on his stomach and put a rolled up blanket underneath his tummy

so

> > that he cannot fall onto his face. What do you think??

> >

> > There is a boy in my two yr old son's class who has braccy quite

> > bad. I don't know if his parents are aware of it and/or its

cause

> > but it annoys me that doctor's say it will correct or hair will

> > cover because this little boy is african american and his short

afro

> > does not cover anything. I hope he will be able to deal with

this

> > okay when he gets older, perhaps there is some improvement as

child

> > ages (but that is a question I have not found the answer to -

you'd

> > think it would be a fact, yes or no).

> >

> > Anyway, please let me know about your Remy method, she looks

> > fabulous. Thank you!!!!

January 9, 2004

Hi,

I forgot to include in my last post links to two studies which start

to deal with the question of rounding out as the babies get older.

These links can also be found in the LINKS section of the group,

PLAGIOCEPHALY STUDIES AND RESEARCH folder. One study say that in

babies without tort, improvements in symmetry are generally seen as

the babies age. The other study says that of 37 plagio cases being

treated " conservatively " (I have no idea how aggressively these babies

were repo'd), 8 returned to complete normality. If the links are two

lines long, you may need to copy and paste the entire link to your

address bar (for some reason, only the first line of the link is

" activated " meaning you won't be directed correctly.)

Here they are if you are interested,

Christie

omputer-aided Measurement and Grading of Cranial Asymmetry in Children

with and without Torticollis (pub Nov. 2001)

Asymmetry of the cranium was found with similar frequency in

torticollis and normal babies up to 12 months old. After 1 year of

age, the deformity persists in patients with torticollis into their

adolescence, while the normal group shows increased symmetry.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve & db=PubMed & list_uids=1\

1683809 & dopt=Abstract

Study: Posterior Plagiocephaly: Proactive Conservative Management

(pub. Jan. 1999)

We reviewed 39 cases of posterior plagiocephaly, 37 of which were

treated conservatively. Of these, 34 patients had a significant

improvement over the following year with sleep posture modification

and/or physiotherapy. While only eight cases returned to complete

normality, the remainder had deformities that were deemed mild by both

mothers and surgeons, and did not merit surgery.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve & db=PubMed & list_uids=1\

0343585 & dopt=Abstract