Postional Plagio, both sides of back of head are flat?

February 11, 2008

Hi. I was wondering if anyone has seen this before? My daughter is 8

weeks old, and both sides of the back of her head are flat. The right

is much flatter than the left, but now it is WAY more noticable.Its

liek she has a cone in the back of her head! I dont know how to lay

her? Her pediatrician is not phased at all by the looks of her head and

says to just lay her on her left side when she sleeps and plays, and

her head " will grow out of it " .

Its getting worse. I dont know what to do and I am scared. Her eyes are

already starting to become uneven. I posted pics of her head from 2

weeks ago...I need to post more, it already looks worse... The pics

are labeled Greta. If anyone has seen this before can you message me

back? Thanks so much, and have a great night!~marcy

February 11, 2008

Hi Marcy,

My little girl, Zoe, had a head shape that was pretty close to this. It was maybe a little more scaphycephaly and slightly less " cone shaped " in the back than your daughter's, but at 8 weeks the back of my kid's head was so pointy that she literally couldn't lay on it. My son, her twin brother, is now the one in the helmet for classic plagio. Zoe grew out of this head shape. Her head is probably still a little pointy in back, but now it's way less noticeable and by 12-14 weeks I didn't feel that it needed any intervention. Around 8 weeks is when I started going insane with repositioning. My kids were on their tummies all day, or else in Baby Bjorns, bumbos, or exersaucers.

That's not to say that your daughter will outgrow it, but at least there is hope, especially if you can keep her off of her head in general when she is not sleeping. The asymmetry is more likely to be a problem. Zoe was pointy but symmetric. So when your daughter is asleep, I would say to try to keep her on the less flat side, and when she is awake, keep her on her tummy or upright as much as you can.

In the end, you are aware of this and doing your research early, so hopefully you can avoid needing a band or helmet. But if you do end up needing one, it's really not the end of the world. I hope we can make you less scared. Basically, maybe your daughter will grow out of this head shape as she gets stronger and spends less time laying down, or maybe you will need to get a band in a few months. Either way, your kiddo will be fine!

In my experience, many pediatricians are not very phased by head shape issues. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't be phased. This is your kid! But at only 8 weeks old, the main things you can do are to keep her off the flatter side and to give her lots of tummy time and upright time during the day. The sooner your daughter is strong enough to enjoy tummy time and enjoy time in exersaucers or that sort of thing, the better chance you have that her head will start to get rounder on its own.

-Pam

P.S. When/if it does get a bit rounder, don't be surprised if she wears all of the hair off of the back pointy part of her head. I don't have a pic, but now my Zoe has a big ol' bald patch on the back where the old point would rub on her mattress when she tossed and turned fighting sleep. Heehee.

On 2/11/08, marcyeiseman <marcyeiseman@...> wrote:

Hi. I was wondering if anyone has seen this before? My daughter is 8 weeks old, and both sides of the back of her head are flat. The right is much flatter than the left, but now it is WAY more noticable.Its

liek she has a cone in the back of her head! I dont know how to lay her? Her pediatrician is not phased at all by the looks of her head and says to just lay her on her left side when she sleeps and plays, and

her head " will grow out of it " .Its getting worse. I dont know what to do and I am scared. Her eyes are already starting to become uneven. I posted pics of her head from 2 weeks ago...I need to post more, it already looks worse... The pics

are labeled Greta. If anyone has seen this before can you message me back? Thanks so much, and have a great night!~marcy

February 12, 2008

Marcy - I do see the right plagio - I would love to see her facial asymmetries - can you post pics of her face?

The good news - Greta is so young - you can start repoing her NOW. Then get a referral to a craniofacial dr at get their assesment asap and when they tell you to repo and see how it is in a month or 2 you will have a reference point.

Another thing you can do is visit a band provider like Cranial Tech - they do evals for free. They will take measurments and let you know if a band would help.

ope that helps you - and please know we are all here to help you - we've been where you are and know how to navigate the plagio journey.