Guest guest Posted September 19, 2004 Report Share Posted September 19, 2004 Hello, My son is 10 weeks old and has favored looking to his right side. I have tried swaddling him and placing him on his left side to sleep since I brought him home from the hospital but he constantly wiggles free and when I will find him laying with his head to the right. His head is now flat on the right side. My doctor is telling me I must force him to lay on his left side. I have toys hanging from his crib on the left side etc. We have elevated the crib from the right side to create a slant to encourage him to go to the left. Is there anything else we can do? I am taking him to an OT next week for stretching exercises for his neck. I would appreciate any ideas. Thanks Krista Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 19, 2004 Report Share Posted September 19, 2004 Welcome to the board! You have probably already figured out that forcing a baby to do anything is like forcing a cat to take a bath. It sounds like your baby has torticollis, which is a very common cause of plagio. There is a torticollis board at , too, which might be useful to you for finding out about exercises and for support and encouragement. You will be doing lots of stretches for the next few months, and many of us have also been there and are behind you 100%! At 10 weeks your son is at a great age for correction of his plagio through repositioning. However, babies with tort do not tend to respond well to repo because their neck tightness will keep making them turn their head back to the flat spot, so his head may not round out. If I were you I would start reading this board so you have lots of info to take to your pediatrician the next time you go. Your baby may need a band (don't worry, the baby won't mind it a bit) to round out his head. Some peds are a bit ignorant about bands and do not recommend them early enough, so the parent has to be proactive. I probably should have just talked about the tort and not scared you with talk of helmets, but I WISH someone had given me this info when my son was 10 weeks! So I'm giving it to you. We would all love to see pics of your baby! A shot of the top of his head or the back of his head would be best to show the flat spot, but I want to see the tummy, too! Baby tummies are the best! , 21 mos, DOC Grad 9/7 --- In Plagiocephaly , " ames_1967 " <ames_1967@y...> wrote: > Hello, > > My son is 10 weeks old and has favored looking to his right side. I > have tried swaddling him and placing him on his left side to sleep > since I brought him home from the hospital but he constantly wiggles > free and when I will find him laying with his head to the right. His > head is now flat on the right side. My doctor is telling me I must > force him to lay on his left side. I have toys hanging from his crib > on the left side etc. We have elevated the crib from the right side > to create a slant to encourage him to go to the left. > > Is there anything else we can do? I am taking him to an OT next week > for stretching exercises for his neck. I would appreciate any ideas. > > Thanks > > Krista Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 19, 2004 Report Share Posted September 19, 2004 Hi Krista, Are you trying some of the different sleep positioners out there to help keep your baby tipped up a bit? If your baby is wriggling right out of the positioners, you may have some luck with some of the homemade ideas provided by group members especially tailored for babies that wriggle away from positioners. Some have tried sewing a bag of rice to one side of the back of the sleeper to help keep the baby tipped up. Another neat idea made by a grandma was to create a snug fitting vest that fit over the sleeper - she then velcroed a small pillow to the back of one side of the vest to keep her grandson tipped up. There is a picture of this idea and more member repo ideas in the Files/Repo Headquarters/Repo photos folder. If you'd like to look through some store products that may be useful for repositioning, check out the Links/Repo and Tummy Time folder. At the very least, do you have a memory foam attachment to any sleep positioners that you are trying that softens the sleep surface under your baby's head, or is your baby's head directly resting on the firm mattress? I don't think that once a flattened area is created, that memory foam will round it back out, but it may be able to help prevent further flattening while you are awaiting appts. and such. How are you doing with repo during the daytime? We have some good ideas here at the site to help you with repo in the Files/Repo Headquarters/Repo Strategies folder. Have you eliminated the bouncie and swing altogether? Especially if you are struggling during the nighttime with repo, you'll need to be extra-vigilant during every minute of the day and naptime. As mentioned, torticollis (decreased range of motion of the head/neck) occurs commonly with plagio - something on the order of nearly 80% of plagio babies also have tort. Repo'ing babies with tort is very difficult, since they don't have the flexibility to have their head repositioned - it's not uncommon for repo to fail in these situations until the tort is resolved to a degree. Would it be possible to ask the OT to evaluate your baby for tort and let you know if there is a diagnosis of this? It is possible that a baby's headshape can worsen if repo efforts are failing. You'll want to take photos of the top and side view now of his head, so that you can compare them on a weekly basis with progress photos. If you notice any stalling of progress or even worsening of his headshape, it may be appropriate to move on to the helmet/band option. At your son's very young age of 10 weeks, you should see progress/rounding from your repo efforts in just a couple of weeks. Would you let me know if I can be of further help? Take care, Christie (Mom to Repo'd Remy) --- In Plagiocephaly , " ames_1967 " <ames_1967@y...> wrote: > Hello, > > My son is 10 weeks old and has favored looking to his right side. I > have tried swaddling him and placing him on his left side to sleep > since I brought him home from the hospital but he constantly wiggles > free and when I will find him laying with his head to the right. His > head is now flat on the right side. My doctor is telling me I must > force him to lay on his left side. I have toys hanging from his crib > on the left side etc. We have elevated the crib from the right side > to create a slant to encourage him to go to the left. > > Is there anything else we can do? I am taking him to an OT next week > for stretching exercises for his neck. I would appreciate any ideas. > > Thanks > > Krista Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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