Re: Re: Head shape

[Guest guest]

Your daughter is about a month younger than my son, and he has the same

problem with the flattening of the head. It really has nothing to do with

the DBB/FAB. This has become more of a problem since the Back to Sleep

campaign. SIDS has dropped since babies have been sleeping on their backs,

but plagiocephaly (flattening of the head) has increased. Our pediatrician

actually sent us to a neurosurgeon to see if he needed to wear a DOC band

for a while to round his head out, but the neurosurgeon said his was mild to

moderate and suggested repositioning. He said his head should round out

over the next year.

Another question: How much time is Ava spending in things like bouncy

seats, swings, carseats, etc? If it's a significant amount of time, get her

out of them. We found out that these contribute quite a bit to

plagiocephaly. We were told to keep our son out of these devices as much as

possible...maybe use them a little each day, but not for long. A carseat

while in the car is obviously not an option, but some people keep their kids

strapped into them at home, and some kids who have respiratory problems have

actually spent a lot of time sleeping in them. Hold her as much as you can

and make sure she has plenty of tummy time during the day. Napping on her

tummy is fine as long as you're able to watch her. If she's not able to

roll both ways yet on her own and whenever she wants, I wouldn't leave her

alone sleeping on her tummy.

If she has good head control and is ready, you might even want to prop her

up in a sitting position so that the back of her head is not pressed up

against anything. We use a pillow on the floor and prop a boppy pillow

against that and it works for us. He's able to sit up, lean forward, and

has something to grab onto to steady himself. We still have to watch him,

of course, because he does go sideways occasionally when he's wiggling

around....plus the pillow being there, etc. He has the tendency to lift his

bottom off the floor and slide his way down until he's lying down, and

again, the pillow is there, which he will promply grab and pull over his

face. We obviously keep a really close eye on him when he's propped up like

this. I can't wait until he can sit unsupported!

Hopefully some of this will help. still sleeps on his back and

still spends some time on the floor on his back so he can practice rolling

over, but he's been out of the swings and bouncey seats for over a month now

and kept off his head when we can and we have seen some improvement. We

know it'll be slow, but at least the improvement is there. The DOC band

would have cost us $3000 and insurance usually won't cover it.

and

BCF 03/25/2004

DBB 23/7

> > Head shape

> >

> >

> > Hi,

> >

> > Just want to throw something at you guys. Since Ava is in the DBB,

> I

> > noticed she is getting that flat look to her head. Know what I

> mean??

> > It's not terrible but I know she will be in these for along time

> and

> > I don't want it to get real bad. When she is sleeping it is on her

> > back and I try to rotate her head from side to side but it's still

> > looking flat. I know I can't put her on her side because her one

> leg

> > sticks up in the air. I've tried putting a small pillow between her

> > legs when laying her on her side but she wakes more often. That

> > seemed to only work when she was in casts and very content. During

> > the day I do let her nap on her belly that is how she is most

> > comfortable and I am able to keep an eye on her.

> > Any suggestions??

> >

> > KK

> > Livi 01/03

> > Ava 05/04,BCF R-AT, DBB 2wks and worthless!

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >