Re: 4 Month Old Resists Repositioning

[Guest guest]

Hi! I'm also fairly new to this board but I'll give you my opinion.

I have a 4-month-old as well who has been in his helmet one week as

of today. If his ears are at all crooked (if there is any facial

assymmetry) and repositioning isn't helping, I would, at the very

least, be evaluated by someone other than your pediatrician. So far,

my son has had an MRI (to assure his misshapen head wasn't a brain

abnormality) and he also has torticollis and has been in therapy now

for 6 weeks for that. Where are you located? I know the Cranial

Technologies that we go to do free evaluations, photos &

measurements and this will tell you exactly how far off his head

actually is. I felt no pressure from them and I made the decision,

after working with him since birth, to get the DOC band (even w/o

being able to afford it) because I didn't want to look back and

go, " What if " . However, my son's plagio is pretty bad and was caused

by in utero positioning. You can see his photos in " Will " on our

page.

All of this to say not to give up on the repositioning, etc. We are

still doing that all the time and I'm sure will continue to for a

long, long time. There are a lot more experienced parents on this

board that can help you with that. I would say move as soon as

possible b/c the more time that passes, the longer it takes for the

band to correct the problem, from what I understand.. We are pleased

Will got his band at a very young age and are hoping that he doesn't

have to wear it a very long time.

Good luck!

leigh

Will 4/11/04

[Guest guest]

Hi Mousy612,

We have gone through the same thing you are going through right now.

We noticed Connor's flatness around 3 months, our ped advised repo,

but also told us to get an eval from Cranial Technologies. So that's

what we did. With lots of " tummy time " & repo it did not correct

itself, we also did go to CT for the " free " eval and they had

mentioned repo too. We kept up with what advice were given but only

had little results so we opted for the Doc band. Connor's

measurements (which I don't remember what they where)just made the

insurance guidlines. One more question? Does your son have

torticollis? That could also raise a problem. If could tell us where

you live I could give you a CT facility near you....If you are not

close to one, I'm sure someone here might live near you and give you

a repitable place to go....Anyway " welcome " and I hope enjoy the

wealth of knollege you will get from the moms and dads here.

& Connor

Brachycephaley / Doc-band / 6 mons. old

-- In Plagiocephaly , " mousy612 " <mousy612@y...>

wrote:

> Hi I am new to this group.

>

> I have a 4 month old baby with a flat sopt on the side of his

head.

> The pediatrician evaluated him Friday and said to judge if he

needs a

> helmet he would check to see if his ears are straight. His ears

are

> only slightly crooked so the pediatrician said to continue to try

> positioning him until his 6 month check up and then he will

> reevaluate him again.

>

> We have already been trying to reposition the baby for about 1

month

> now. We is up off his head most of the time when he is awake. When

he

> sleeps we try to prop him on his side, but the baby squirms and

> wiggles his way out of whatever we use to prop him on his side. We

> have used the positioners that you buy at Babies R Us and no

matter

> how tight we get it he wiggles onto his back. The doctor said we

can

> start letting him sleep on his stomach but then he either cries or

> spits up.

>

> Does anyone have any suggestions! Thanks!

[Guest guest]

Hi and welcome to the group! I cannot offer any words of advice for

you, but wanted to let you know that Christie or one of the repo

guru's will certainly chime in to help you.

Good Luck and keep us posted on how things are going.

Dustie, mom to , DOCGrad'03

Texas

--- In Plagiocephaly , " mousy612 " <mousy612@y...>

wrote:

> Hi I am new to this group.

>

> I have a 4 month old baby with a flat sopt on the side of his

head.

> The pediatrician evaluated him Friday and said to judge if he

needs a

> helmet he would check to see if his ears are straight. His ears

are

> only slightly crooked so the pediatrician said to continue to try

> positioning him until his 6 month check up and then he will

> reevaluate him again.

>

> We have already been trying to reposition the baby for about 1

month

> now. We is up off his head most of the time when he is awake. When

he

> sleeps we try to prop him on his side, but the baby squirms and

> wiggles his way out of whatever we use to prop him on his side. We

> have used the positioners that you buy at Babies R Us and no

matter

> how tight we get it he wiggles onto his back. The doctor said we

can

> start letting him sleep on his stomach but then he either cries or

> spits up.

>

> Does anyone have any suggestions! Thanks!

[Guest guest]

Hi !

Thanks for the info. I am in Charlotte, NC. I do not think he has torticollis, he just prefers to sleep on his back with his head tilted to the right. We have tried to get him to turn to the left and he won't. Out of desperation I took him to my chiropractor and he had 2 adjustments and now he will sometimes lay with his head to the left but not enough to correct the flatness on the right side. It is really hard to monitor also because he is in daycare full time and I have to take their word for it that they are giving him lots of tummy time- which he hates.

Thanks again.

Lori

fuzzer3544 <hmstlouis@...> wrote:

Hi Mousy612,We have gone through the same thing you are going through right now. We noticed Connor's flatness around 3 months, our ped advised repo, but also told us to get an eval from Cranial Technologies. So that's what we did. With lots of "tummy time" & repo it did not correct itself, we also did go to CT for the "free" eval and they had mentioned repo too. We kept up with what advice were given but only had little results so we opted for the Doc band. Connor's measurements (which I don't remember what they where)just made the insurance guidlines. One more question? Does your son have torticollis? That could also raise a problem. If could tell us where you live I could give you a CT facility near you....If you are not close to one, I'm sure someone here might live near you and give you a repitable place to

go....Anyway "welcome" and I hope enjoy the wealth of knollege you will get from the moms and dads here. & ConnorBrachycephaley / Doc-band / 6 mons. old-- In Plagiocephaly , "mousy612" <mousy612@y...> wrote:> Hi I am new to this group.> > I have a 4 month old baby with a flat sopt on the side of his head. > The pediatrician evaluated him Friday and said to judge if he needs a > helmet he would check to see if his ears are straight. His ears are > only slightly crooked so the pediatrician said to continue to try > positioning him until his 6 month check up and then he will > reevaluate him again.> > We have already been trying to reposition the baby for about 1 month > now. We is up off his head most of the time when he is awake. When he > sleeps we try to prop him on his side, but the baby squirms

and > wiggles his way out of whatever we use to prop him on his side. We > have used the positioners that you buy at Babies R Us and no matter > how tight we get it he wiggles onto his back. The doctor said we can > start letting him sleep on his stomach but then he either cries or > spits up.> > Does anyone have any suggestions! Thanks!For more plagio info

[Guest guest]

Thanks. I made an appt for next Monday. Luckily Cranial Tech has an office right here where I live. I did not realize that I do not need a referral for a consultation. Thank you so much to everyone for referring me! Now I will not have to worry for 2 more months waiting for Ian's six month check up. My gut feeling is his head is not going to get better on its own.

Leigh thank you for sharing your pictures. Your son is so cute and he looks happy.

Lorileighmommy <leighstulack@...> wrote:

Hi! I'm also fairly new to this board but I'll give you my opinion. I have a 4-month-old as well who has been in his helmet one week as of today. If his ears are at all crooked (if there is any facial assymmetry) and repositioning isn't helping, I would, at the very least, be evaluated by someone other than your pediatrician. So far, my son has had an MRI (to assure his misshapen head wasn't a brain abnormality) and he also has torticollis and has been in therapy now for 6 weeks for that. Where are you located? I know the Cranial Technologies that we go to do free evaluations, photos & measurements and this will tell you exactly how far off his head actually is. I felt no pressure from them and I made the decision, after working with him since birth, to get the DOC band (even w/o being able to afford it) because I didn't want

to look back and go, "What if". However, my son's plagio is pretty bad and was caused by in utero positioning. You can see his photos in "Will" on our page.All of this to say not to give up on the repositioning, etc. We are still doing that all the time and I'm sure will continue to for a long, long time. There are a lot more experienced parents on this board that can help you with that. I would say move as soon as possible b/c the more time that passes, the longer it takes for the band to correct the problem, from what I understand.. We are pleased Will got his band at a very young age and are hoping that he doesn't have to wear it a very long time.Good luck!leighWill 4/11/04For more plagio info

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I just wanted to welcome you to the group. My baby also wriggled

out of the positioners and ended up on her flat spot starting around

2 or 3 mos. Hopefully someone will have some good advice for you!

How did they rate the severity of his flat spot?

, mom to Hannah, DOCgrad

Cape Cod, Ma

--- In Plagiocephaly , " mousy612 " <mousy612@y...>

wrote:

> Hi I am new to this group.

>

> I have a 4 month old baby with a flat sopt on the side of his

head.

> The pediatrician evaluated him Friday and said to judge if he

needs a

> helmet he would check to see if his ears are straight. His ears

are

> only slightly crooked so the pediatrician said to continue to try

> positioning him until his 6 month check up and then he will

> reevaluate him again.

>

> We have already been trying to reposition the baby for about 1

month

> now. We is up off his head most of the time when he is awake. When

he

> sleeps we try to prop him on his side, but the baby squirms and

> wiggles his way out of whatever we use to prop him on his side. We

> have used the positioners that you buy at Babies R Us and no

matter

> how tight we get it he wiggles onto his back. The doctor said we

can

> start letting him sleep on his stomach but then he either cries or

> spits up.

>

> Does anyone have any suggestions! Thanks!

[Guest guest]

Hi, and welcome to the group!

We have lots of repositioning resources here at the group. When you

have time, you might want to browse around the links/repo and tummy

time folder, and the files/repo headquarters folder. There are some

great ideas, products, and photos in there!

How has repo been coming along for your son? You mentioned that you

have been repo'ing him since he was 1 month old - have you seen any

improvement at all over time? Repositioning efforts in very young

babies usually yield immediate and dramatic results. One of the

best ways to see how progress is coming along is to take top and

side views photos of your baby's head from the same angle and

distance... have you been able to take photos over time?

Successful nighttime repo is absolutely critical to getting repo

results... often if you are unable to ensure that the baby stays off

of the flat area at night, it " undoes " all of the progress made

during daytime repo, or even makes plagio worse. Once the sleep

positioners can't " corral " the wriggly babies, nighttime repo

becomes exceeding difficult. My own daughter all of the sudden

started sleeping on her sides at night, which was a huge help with

repo. Some ideas other parents have come up with, are concepts

where the baby can't squirm away from the repo device: a bag of

rice or small wedge directly attached to the sleeper, for example.

The best idea I have heard came from a grandma - she made a snug-

fitting vest to go over the baby's sleeper and then made a little

pillow that velcroed to the vest on one side on the back (there is a

photo of this idea in the files/repo headquarters/repo photos

folder.) Another option is to get a positioner that allows the baby

to sleep on their back, yet encourages them to turn their head to

the side to keep them off of the flat area. One such positioner is

the Sassy:

-Sassy Infant Sleep Positioning Wedge & Support

Provides firm support, while allowing you to alternate your baby's

head position, as recommended by American Academy of Pediatrics to

help reduce the risk of " Flat Head Syndrome. The head position wedge

can be alternated from left facing to right facing.

http://www.greatbabyproducts.com/sassysleepbackrightbaby.htm

Another homemade idea that still allows the baby to sleep on their

back is a custom headrest designed by a mom. She basically ordered

custom foam in a square shape, and then cut a square-shaped hole in

it - creating a square ring which she covered with cloth. The

baby's head rested on the foam, but the head was actually suspended

slightly above the mattress and not subjected to pressure from the

mattress. There is a picture and instructions for this idea in the

files/repo headquarters/repo photos section.

I hope some of these ideas might help you out... I think it's a

great idea that you have a 6 month deadline for trying repo, to

evaluate results in case you need to go to a band. If you notice no

continued improvement or ANY worsening, I would move that

appointment up.

Take care, and let me know if I can be of any help with your repo

efforts,

Christie (Mom to Repo'd Remy)

P.S. My own daughter's repo progress photos are in the

photos/before and after/repositioned/Remy folder if you are

interested in taking a look.

-- In Plagiocephaly , " mousy612 " <mousy612@y...>

wrote:

> Hi I am new to this group.

>

> I have a 4 month old baby with a flat sopt on the side of his

head.

> The pediatrician evaluated him Friday and said to judge if he

needs a

> helmet he would check to see if his ears are straight. His ears

are

> only slightly crooked so the pediatrician said to continue to try

> positioning him until his 6 month check up and then he will

> reevaluate him again.

>

> We have already been trying to reposition the baby for about 1

month

> now. We is up off his head most of the time when he is awake. When

he

> sleeps we try to prop him on his side, but the baby squirms and

> wiggles his way out of whatever we use to prop him on his side. We

> have used the positioners that you buy at Babies R Us and no

matter

> how tight we get it he wiggles onto his back. The doctor said we

can

> start letting him sleep on his stomach but then he either cries or

> spits up.

>

> Does anyone have any suggestions! Thanks!