Assymetrical Brachiocepahly, Torticollis, Starband= Delays?

[Guest guest]

My dd is 6.5 months old. She was originally dx with plagio at

2 months but after 2.5 months of repositioning they changed the dx to

assymetical brachi. She went through PT for her torticollis which

has finally resolved and got her Starband almost a month ago.

She had trouble lifting her head while on her belly because of her

torticollis and once we got that resolved she went straight into a

helmet. I am noticing that she still can not lift her head for long

periods of time on her belly and she is not sitting up yet. She can

do it with support but seems to tire out easily. We do most of our

exercises during the hour she has her helmet off.

I am trying to figure out if some of her delay could be related to

these issues or if they have more to do with the fact that she was 4

weeks early and also caught RSV at 2 months (basically the first 2

months of her life she slept!).... I was curious if anyone else

noticed some slight delays in your children who have had a similar dx.

Thanks!

Dawn

[Guest guest]

I think it is just due to strength, and she just isn't that strong

yet. My daughter had brachy with slight asymmetry (4.5 mm) and wore a

starband starting at age 5 mo. She did not have tort. She was not a

fan of tummy time (I should have pushed it more), but she was a

strong girl, and even with her helmet she sat up by 5.5 mo (on the

early side).

I think things will follow as your daughter builds up her muscles.

Have you talked to her PT about this? It seems that PT could help with

this too even if the tort is resolved. I would think from spending so

much time asleep when she was so young the muscles would tend to be

weaker than for other babies, and she may need a little extra time and

work to build up that strength.

-christine

sydney 2 yrs starband grad

>

> My dd is 6.5 months old. She was originally dx with plagio at

> 2 months but after 2.5 months of repositioning they changed the dx to

> assymetical brachi. She went through PT for her torticollis which

> has finally resolved and got her Starband almost a month ago.

>

> She had trouble lifting her head while on her belly because of her

> torticollis and once we got that resolved she went straight into a

> helmet. I am noticing that she still can not lift her head for long

> periods of time on her belly and she is not sitting up yet. She can

> do it with support but seems to tire out easily. We do most of our

> exercises during the hour she has her helmet off.

>

> I am trying to figure out if some of her delay could be related to

> these issues or if they have more to do with the fact that she was 4

> weeks early and also caught RSV at 2 months (basically the first 2

> months of her life she slept!).... I was curious if anyone else

> noticed some slight delays in your children who have had a similar dx.

>

> Thanks!

>

> Dawn

>

[Guest guest]

My son had tort and had PT for 6 months. His physical therapist didn't have a

lot of

experience (teaching hospital) and at first she focused mainly on improving his

flexibility.

After going to a seminar, she came back with a whole new set of exercises to

strengthen

his neck, shoulder and back muscles. My son was delayed in rolling over and

lifting his

head but as we started working on his strength in related muscles, he caught up.

Crawling

had a huge impact and he really had big improvement once that started too.

I wouldn't worry too much. It sounds like she's been through a lot and now

she's probably

just on the cusp of developing new skills. There are lots of kids who don't sit

at 6 months

just because that's who they are.

- (mom of Ethan, 10 months tort resolved, STARbanded since 7 months)

>

> My dd is 6.5 months old. She was originally dx with plagio at

> 2 months but after 2.5 months of repositioning they changed the dx to

> assymetical brachi. She went through PT for her torticollis which

> has finally resolved and got her Starband almost a month ago.

>

> She had trouble lifting her head while on her belly because of her

> torticollis and once we got that resolved she went straight into a

> helmet. I am noticing that she still can not lift her head for long

> periods of time on her belly and she is not sitting up yet. She can

> do it with support but seems to tire out easily. We do most of our

> exercises during the hour she has her helmet off.

>

> I am trying to figure out if some of her delay could be related to

> these issues or if they have more to do with the fact that she was 4

> weeks early and also caught RSV at 2 months (basically the first 2

> months of her life she slept!).... I was curious if anyone else

> noticed some slight delays in your children who have had a similar dx.

>

> Thanks!

>

> Dawn

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Dawn-

I would bet it's a combination of all those things. It's really hard

to pinpoint the exact cause of anything. My son had tort and didn't

have any weak neck issues like you described. But he was kind of

delayed in crawling, he military/belly crawled for about 3 months

before he finally got up on all 4s around 11 months old. He didn't

walk until he was 16 months old and at that point, I had him

evaluated because he was walking a little funny (under normal

circumstances, I would not have worried, but I thought it might have

had to do with his tort), and the doctor just said it was weak

muscle tone. He said to encourage him to climb and walk as much as

possible and he would gain strength and it would all catch up. And

it did. But then he hit 20 months old and still doesn't have any

real solid words, so I just took him last week to be evaluated for

his speech and the ST said he would benefit from therapy, but that

it wasn't related to the tort. So again, who really knows? At least

in my son's case, his tort wasn't very severe (it only took 3 months

in PT to be resolved), but he's been later in everything than my

daughter was who didn't have any tort or plagio. It's just really

hard to say.

Hopefully your daughter will build up her muscle strength soon. I

would still encourage tummy time as much as she can stand it, and

sitting up (I wrapped a boppy around my kids as they sat to protect

them if they fell over; I think my son didn't sit up fully until

about 7 months).

Good luck!

Jake-20m (tort resolved/rt plagio/DOCBand 15 weeks)

Jordan-4

>

> My dd is 6.5 months old. She was originally dx with plagio

at

> 2 months but after 2.5 months of repositioning they changed the dx

to

> assymetical brachi. She went through PT for her torticollis which

> has finally resolved and got her Starband almost a month ago.

>

> She had trouble lifting her head while on her belly because of her

> torticollis and once we got that resolved she went straight into a

> helmet. I am noticing that she still can not lift her head for

long

> periods of time on her belly and she is not sitting up yet. She

can

> do it with support but seems to tire out easily. We do most of

our

> exercises during the hour she has her helmet off.

>

> I am trying to figure out if some of her delay could be related

to

> these issues or if they have more to do with the fact that she was

4

> weeks early and also caught RSV at 2 months (basically the first 2

> months of her life she slept!).... I was curious if anyone else

> noticed some slight delays in your children who have had a similar

dx.

>

> Thanks!

>

> Dawn

>