Re: What's the purpose of repositioning?

[Guest guest]

Sasha,

This is an excellent question!

In my own experience, our repo " technique " was two-fold: one, to

keep Remy off of her flat area at all times, 24 hours a day, 7 days

a week, and two, to create a passive holding point (what you're

referring to as " applying pressure " ) at every opportunity. I don't

often see repo explained this way, and I don't thinke every repo'er

goes to these extremes, so I am just speaking from my own philosophy.

The opportunities I took advantage of with Remy to make a " holding

point " were when she had her naps. She actually took her nap in my

opposite arm for three straight months while we repo'd. To be more

specific about the positioning, I have to explain that I thought of

Remy's head as a clockface (looking down at the top of it) and her

nose was as 12 o'clock. Since her flat area was at 4,5, and 6

o'clock, I place her head against my breastbone (the hardest surface

I had to offer) at her 7,8, and 9 o'clock positions on her head. I

made sure to rotate the contact around among these three positions,

because I didn't want to encourage flattening and create plagio on

the bulging side of her head! These hours and hours spent repo'ing

while she napped were a huge help in reshaping her head, I thought,

preventing it from getting wider or more bulgy on the bulging side

of the back of her head, encouraging growth in the unrestricted

areas (i.e. flat area!). I also applied this same theory to Remy's

head position in the carseat, highchair, and stroller (all of which

we kept usage to a minimum anyway.) It was very hard and time-

consuming work thinking in these terms, but it was a good fit for us.

Another " holding point " opportunity was her sleeping at nighttime.

Fortunately, Remy started to sleep on her sides all on her own right

when we started repo at 5 months. I would encourage her to sleep

right smack on the side of her head, right on her ear, that was on

the flat side of her head. The " holding point " kept her head from

widening any more than it already was, while taking advantage of

gravity to encourage the bulging side of the back of the head (which

was higher up of the mattress) to weigh down the flat side of the

head (which was closest to the mattress.) Also, gravity helped to

discourage Remy's head from widening on the other side of her head,

the ear farthest from the mattress.

Repositioning can be so difficult, because all you have in your

treatment " arsenal " is one point of contact to provide passive

holding pressure, and gravity. We were able to make it work for us,

though!

Thank you for the question, and I look forward to reading other

replies from repo'ing parents about what is working for them!

Christie (Mom to Repo'd Remy)

> Hi,

>

> Thank you all for your advice. I have another question. What is

the

> purpose of repositioning? Is it to apply pressure to the side of

the

> head opposite to the flat spot or is it to relieve pressure off

the

> head altogether? Since my daughter has a flat spot on the back

right

> side of her head, should I always keep her on her left side or

should

> I alternate sides and try to keep her off her back as much as

> possible?

>

> Sasha

[Guest guest]

Hi Sasha,

I'm currently repo'ing my 8 month old son. I do everything possible

to keep him off of the back of his head (he's brachy). In addition,

I try to apply pressure to the sides of his head whenever possible.

Because he's brachy (flat through the midline), I alternate which

side I apply pressure to every day. For example, when putting him

down for naps or bedtime, I lay the side of his head on my chest for

at least 30 minutes before I place him in his crib, and when I give

him a bottle, I hold him so his ears/head are lying against my

breastbone (right side one day/left side the next day). Hope that

makes sense?! ...I believe this strategy is key to our eventual repo

success. (jmo)

Keep us updated on your progress!

Kel (currently repo'ing 8 month old )

> > Hi,

> >

> > Thank you all for your advice. I have another question. What is

> the

> > purpose of repositioning? Is it to apply pressure to the side of

> the

> > head opposite to the flat spot or is it to relieve pressure off

> the

> > head altogether? Since my daughter has a flat spot on the back

> right

> > side of her head, should I always keep her on her left side or

> should

> > I alternate sides and try to keep her off her back as much as

> > possible?

> >

> > Sasha

[Guest guest]

> > Hi,

> >

> > Thank you all for your advice. I have another question. What is

> the

> > purpose of repositioning? Is it to apply pressure to the side of

> the

> > head opposite to the flat spot or is it to relieve pressure off

> the

> > head altogether? Since my daughter has a flat spot on the back

> right

> > side of her head, should I always keep her on her left side or

> should

> > I alternate sides and try to keep her off her back as much as

> > possible?

> >

> > Sasha

[Guest guest]

Sasha,

If you are getting good repo results with your nighttime repo

technique, by all means stick with it!!! I can't imagine that every

repo situation would be the same, and actually I think most repo

parents work the nighttime repo exactly as you are describing that

you do.

I just want to clarify about Remy's sleeping position that she was

on the side of her head, on her ear, so no contact whatsoever was

being made with the flat area of her head against the mattress. Her

flat area was behind the ear, and therefore there was no pressure at

all on her flat area (it was above the mattress.) Remy's flat area

was also relieved of all pressure with this technique.

Please share any other repo tips that are working for you, we have

so many parents currently repo'ing and it's so helpful to keep

communicating repo ideas,

Take care,

Christie (Mom to Repo'd Remy)

> > > Hi,

> > >

> > > Thank you all for your advice. I have another question. What

is

> > the

> > > purpose of repositioning? Is it to apply pressure to the side

of

> > the

> > > head opposite to the flat spot or is it to relieve pressure

off

> > the

> > > head altogether? Since my daughter has a flat spot on the back

> > right

> > > side of her head, should I always keep her on her left side or

> > should

> > > I alternate sides and try to keep her off her back as much as

> > > possible?

> > >

> > > Sasha

[Guest guest]

> > > > Hi,

> > > >

> > > > Thank you all for your advice. I have another question. What

> is

> > > the

> > > > purpose of repositioning? Is it to apply pressure to the side

> of

> > > the

> > > > head opposite to the flat spot or is it to relieve pressure

> off

> > > the

> > > > head altogether? Since my daughter has a flat spot on the

back

> > > right

> > > > side of her head, should I always keep her on her left side

or

> > > should

> > > > I alternate sides and try to keep her off her back as much as

> > > > possible?

> > > >

> > > > Sasha