Re: I'm new to the group and very confused

[Guest guest]

Hello and welcome. I too am so glad you found this website when

is still so young to get benefit from repo'ing. I wish I

had found it then!

I think you are doing all of the right things and doing your research

on keeping him off off the back of his head. Buy/use whatever

products you need to do so: exersaucer, bumbo seat, wedge/sitting

supporter (OneStepAhead catalog), car seat supporter, front carrier

etc. etc.! Keep him out of that bouncy and carrier as much as

possible. Do the best you can and re-assess his headshape every week

with your camera. I'm glad that you have a digital and can go crazy

with pictures. Someone just posted their success with repoing and he

looks great! I would love to see . Let us know how it is

going.

Sue

Colin F. 10 mos.

Starband 6/29

Buffalo, NY

[Guest guest]

Hi there

Welcome to the group. It sounds like you are having quite a hard

time over this- but you are doing such a good job by catching this

early and by doing the repo that you are. At the very least it will

hopefully be stopping it getting any worse and at best will help

your son's head round out. It sounds like you care about him so much

and that you are a great mum!

You're in a difficult situation if you don't feel your family would

support a band etc- it means there is a lot of pressure on you

to 'sort this out' for him through repo which perhaps is why you are

spending quite a lot of time seeing if it has worked each day. My

guess, and I may be wrong, is that your son's head is not changing

shape each day, but rather sometimes it looks worse than others

(like at certain angles, in the bath when it is wet) and perhaps

even depending on how you are feeling. I had exactly the same thing

with my daughter's plagio- some days I would look at my daughter and

think 'what am I making a fuss about, there's hardly anything there'-

I think then I'd convince myself there was no real problem or a

very slight one, then the next day I would look again and see that

in fact it hadn't gone away and often looked worse. It's like

forgetting something, then waking up and remembering it all over

again. This is totally normal I think rather than anything that you

need to worry about.

As for rounding out, it is hard to tell. Some do ( I do know people

whose babies had small flat spots which rounded out) and some don't

(otherwise people wouldn't seek treatment) and I think you have to

tell yourself you are doing everything you can to help

right now- you really can't do more at this point.

It would be lovely to see some photos of - and do tell us

more about what you are doing with repoing- that way other members

can chime in with suggestions.

I'm glad you found us here, anyway!

Hannah (mum to Lucia, London,UK)

Plagio, passive helmet, 4/7/04

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

wrote:

> Hi everyone!

> I'm new to the group.

> My son, , is 3 and 1/2 months old and his back part os

> totaly flat (i guess you call that brachy baby) I started

> repositioning when he was 2 1/2 months but I haven't seen any

> difference. The wierd part though is that when I wake up in the

> moring, sometimes his head is rounder, other days it goes back to

> being flat. I thought I was going crazy and seeing things so I

took

> my digital camera and took pictures.(I " ll upload the pics once I

> figure out how to...) True enough, the last two days, he's head is

> rounder and today, it went back to the original shape (very flat).

> What's going on?? Can anyone help me explain this because I think

> I'm going crazy! I'm for aggressive repo. I'm willing to loose

sleep

> and eveything else jsut to keep him from laying on his back head.

I

> read redlock2003's tips for aggressive repo for brachys and I am

> doing all of those, but like i said, somedays are good and some

are

> bad. Is there any more that I can do in terms of repoing? I'm

> scared of the band but part of me is saying it really works but

all

> of my family, my husbands family and especially my husband will

not

> hear any more of the band. Its a closed case, they dont want my

son

> to have the band. I can't do anything about it because Its not

just

> my decision and I don't have any money if I were to ahead with it.

> Also, what are the chances of a brachy baby to go back to normal

> with just aggressve repo as a method? Thank you everyone and I'm

so

> glad I found you guys!

[Guest guest]

Hi Hannah!

yeah, u know, I think you are right about the day to day perception on nicky's head. Now that I examine him in different angles, I think the left side is a little bit rounded than the other side.

In regards to the repoing im doing is during the day time, when he takes his naps, i put him in his stomach. The side of his head is laying flat on his sturdy mattress. I alternate one side to the other but I favor more the left side since his right is more flat that the left one. One the night time where his sleep is longer ( 4 to 5 hours) I put him on his side with his head laying flat in the mattress. Again, I put him more on the left side. ( now when I get to think of it.. should I put him on both sides equally or which side do I need to work on more? the left which is more protruded or the right? which is flatter?

during playtime, I situate the his crib mobile and his toys on his left so when he looks at them he's laying on his left. I also put him on a boppy pillow in his tummy and put his toys in front of him. I also carry him a lot and play with him upright because he also has acid reflux! ( that's a whole other area that I neeed to keep watch very closely). anyways, I try to keep him away from car seat and stollers but my husband loves to take him outside for a walk. What can I do to keep is head from laying flat?

Thank you again for being there for all of us!

mary, nicholas' mom

hannah_farrimond <hannah_farrimond@...> wrote:

Hi thereWelcome to the group. It sounds like you are having quite a hard time over this- but you are doing such a good job by catching this early and by doing the repo that you are. At the very least it will hopefully be stopping it getting any worse and at best will help your son's head round out. It sounds like you care about him so much and that you are a great mum!You're in a difficult situation if you don't feel your family would support a band etc- it means there is a lot of pressure on you to 'sort this out' for him through repo which perhaps is why you are spending quite a lot of time seeing if it has worked each day. My guess, and I may be wrong, is that your son's head is not changing shape each day, but rather sometimes it looks worse than others (like at certain angles, in the bath when it is wet) and perhaps

even depending on how you are feeling. I had exactly the same thing with my daughter's plagio- some days I would look at my daughter and think 'what am I making a fuss about, there's hardly anything there'-I think then I'd convince myself there was no real problem or a very slight one, then the next day I would look again and see that in fact it hadn't gone away and often looked worse. It's like forgetting something, then waking up and remembering it all over again. This is totally normal I think rather than anything that you need to worry about.As for rounding out, it is hard to tell. Some do ( I do know people whose babies had small flat spots which rounded out) and some don't (otherwise people wouldn't seek treatment) and I think you have to tell yourself you are doing everything you can to help right now- you really can't do more at this point. It would be lovely to see some photos of - and do

tell us more about what you are doing with repoing- that way other members can chime in with suggestions.I'm glad you found us here, anyway!Hannah (mum to Lucia, London,UK)Plagio, passive helmet, 4/7/04> Hi everyone!> I'm new to the group.> My son, , is 3 and 1/2 months old and his back part os > totaly flat (i guess you call that brachy baby) I started > repositioning when he was 2 1/2 months but I haven't seen any > difference. The wierd part though is that when I wake up in the > moring, sometimes his head is rounder, other days it goes back to > being flat. I thought I was going crazy and seeing things so I took > my digital camera and took pictures.(I"ll upload the pics once I > figure out how to...) True enough, the last two days, he's head is > rounder

and today, it went back to the original shape (very flat). > What's going on?? Can anyone help me explain this because I think > I'm going crazy! I'm for aggressive repo. I'm willing to loose sleep > and eveything else jsut to keep him from laying on his back head. I > read redlock2003's tips for aggressive repo for brachys and I am > doing all of those, but like i said, somedays are good and some are > bad. Is there any more that I can do in terms of repoing? I'm > scared of the band but part of me is saying it really works but all > of my family, my husbands family and especially my husband will not > hear any more of the band. Its a closed case, they dont want my son > to have the band. I can't do anything about it because Its not just > my decision and I don't have any money if I were to ahead with it.> Also, what are the chances of a brachy baby to go back

to normal > with just aggressve repo as a method? Thank you everyone and I'm so > glad I found you guys!For more plagio info

[Guest guest]

,

I'm so sorry I wasn't on the board when you made your first post! I

did read through all of your responses and replies, and you have

already received some great advice, encouragement, and support.

Brachy baby repo is very time consuming and exhausting... first of

all, I want to commend you for encouraging so much time on the side

of your baby's head - this is the first line of defense to keep the

head width from getting any wider. Many repo'ers keep the babies up

off the back of their head, but omit spending " side time " which is

critical to brachy repo success. Excellent job! I would definitely

alternate sides of the head on a regular basis, in general.

I also wanted to point out that you are not imagining things when

you say that one day seems rounder, and the next, he seems

back to flat again. For very young babies, especially, their

headshape does change on a daily basis. These changes can really

frustrate the parents, so it's best to take a look at repo progress

on a less frequent basis to get the overall trend. You may already

be doing so, but I would take top and side view photos every week,

but no more frequently, to stand as your repo progress record.

In addition, these daily changes to your baby's headshape should be

telling you that even momentary pressure to the back of his head

will add up and affect his headshape. Especially with brachy

babies, you should strive for ZERO time on the back of the head. In

a baby as young as is, aggressive repo should have yielded

dramatic results in the last month, instead of no change at all.

Having no improvement could mean that you need to look for other

repo opportunities you may not be aware of. This may be hard to

believe, since you are already probably exhausted from your efforts,

I know!

If your husband won't currently consider banding an option in the

future, than he needs to be 100% on board with aggressive repo.

Walks in the stroller, or in the carseat in a travel system should

be eliminated all together. How heavy is your son? Can he still

fit into a front carrier such as the Baby Bjorn, or maybe one that

goes on the back? When your son is in the carseat, how do you

position his head? My husband and I went to absolute extremes in

this regard, desparate for repo results - I kept cartrips with just

Remy and me down to a minimum, only when absolutely necessary.

Usually, if we had to go somewhere, we rode together as a family and

one of us rode in the back seat next to the carseat and ensured

Remy's head was always turned to one side or the other, never on the

back of the head. Do you or your husband hold your son in the

crooks of your arm? Brachy babies who are being repo'd need to be

held on the parent's chest facing to the side, with the side of the

head resting on the parents breastbone as often as possible. This

position is better for repo reshaping than just holding the baby on

your lap with no pressure to the head. I would say this was my

biggest challenge area with my husband, because he couldn't see how

a little pressure from an arm would do any harm. What about diaper

changes or play time? Is ANY time spent on his back? Try diaper

changes while on his side, or at a bare minimum put foam behind his

head even for incidental backtime when changing the diaper.

Would you let me know of some problem areas where might get

any contact on the back of his head? I'd be happy to help

brainstorm up some ideas.

Brachy is difficult to correct with aggressive repo alone. I was

able to convince my own husband that banding might be a possibility

by forcing him to look at some initial pictures of our daughter's

head - he couldn't deny that she was flat as a board in back! He

desperately wanted it to correct on its own, and not " announce to

the world " that there was something wrong with his daughter's head

by having her wear a helmet. I used his strong feelings as leverage

to get 100% over the top cooperation with repo efforts. Over time,

as he became more educated about plagio, and took a look at the

adorable babies on this site, he became more open to the idea of

banding, if necessary. It was a process, but now, he will often

bring up the plagio topic in social situations, mention our own repo

success with our daughter, and talk about my involvement in this

group! He has completely come full-circle on the plagio and

treatment issue, but it was definitely a process with him.

With a son, you may be able to reach your husband by pointing out

concern over noticeability later on and short haircuts, as well as

difficulty with the fit of sports helmets later on (football,

baseball, bicycle helmets, etc) if you aren't able to get at least

some correction to your son's headshape by whatever means

necessary. Have you computed a cephalic ratio from some top views

of your son's head? There are instructions for this in the

files/repo headquarters/repo strategies/measuring repo progress

document. Having this measurement may also help to show your

husband where your son stands as far as deviations from normal.

Take care,

Christie (Mom to Repo'd Remy)

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

wrote:

> Hi everyone!

> I'm new to the group.

> My son, , is 3 and 1/2 months old and his back part os

> totaly flat (i guess you call that brachy baby) I started

> repositioning when he was 2 1/2 months but I haven't seen any

> difference. The wierd part though is that when I wake up in the

> moring, sometimes his head is rounder, other days it goes back to

> being flat. I thought I was going crazy and seeing things so I

took

> my digital camera and took pictures.(I " ll upload the pics once I

> figure out how to...) True enough, the last two days, he's head is

> rounder and today, it went back to the original shape (very flat).

> What's going on?? Can anyone help me explain this because I think

> I'm going crazy! I'm for aggressive repo. I'm willing to loose

sleep

> and eveything else jsut to keep him from laying on his back head.

I

> read redlock2003's tips for aggressive repo for brachys and I am

> doing all of those, but like i said, somedays are good and some

are

> bad. Is there any more that I can do in terms of repoing? I'm

> scared of the band but part of me is saying it really works but

all

> of my family, my husbands family and especially my husband will

not

> hear any more of the band. Its a closed case, they dont want my

son

> to have the band. I can't do anything about it because Its not

just

> my decision and I don't have any money if I were to ahead with it.

> Also, what are the chances of a brachy baby to go back to normal

> with just aggressve repo as a method? Thank you everyone and I'm

so

> glad I found you guys!