Flat head syndrome or plagiocephaly as the condition is medically known occurs when a flat spot develops on the back or side of a baby s head.
Baby s head getting flat on one side.
Researchers found that 47 percent of 440 2 month olds having routine check ups had what doctors call positional plagiocephaly where the back or one side of the head has a flat spot.
Flat head syndrome presents as a flattened area on the back or side of a baby s head.
As distressing as this can be to a new parent a flat head is treatable and doesn t mean your baby is in pain or will have any developmental delays.
This encourages your baby to look in different directions.
Is an uneven head shape cause for worry.
It s typically noticed by the parent up.
Premature babies are especially prone to torticollis.
The ear on the flat side might look pushed forward.
Torticollis occurs when a tight or shortened muscle on one side of the neck causes the chin to tilt to the other side.
Positional molding might be most noticeable when you re looking at your baby s head from above.
Babies also have weak neck muscles and usually turn their heads to one side when placed on their back.
Babies with torticollis can also develop a flat spot on their skull because they often sleep with their head turned to one side.
This can help if your baby tends to tilt his head to one side or the other while sleeping to look toward a window for instance.
Because of this your baby s skull may flatten.
Some babies develop flat spots on one side or the other because they stare out in the same direction all the time.
From that view the back of your baby s head might look flatter on one side than on the other.
It s linked to a baby sleeping exclusively on his back as well as spending a lot of time lying in a rocker car seat or swing.
Have your baby s head face the foot of the bed one day and reverse position the next.
These head shapes can also occur in combination for example plagiocephaly with brachycephaly flatness across the entire back of the head with one side of the back flatter than the other or plagiocephaly with scaphocephaly long and narrow head shape with one side of the back flatter than the other.
What causes flat head syndrome.
This causes a flat spot either on one side or the back of the head.
Plagiocephaly or flat head syndrome is when a baby s head is flat on one side.
A baby s skull is very soft and the bones can be affected by pressure.
Flat head syndrome is also called positional plagiocephaly pu zi shu nul play jee oh sef uh lee.
The condition can cause the.