• Prolonged lying on the back
• Torticollis
• Misalignment of the body
• Delivery at birth

Misconceptions

Mothers often assume that baby’s condition is somehow their fault, wrongly believing the way they hold their baby or wash his hair is responsible. This is certainly not the case. Neither is the condition hereditary.

In fact, it can actually result from a perfectly normal delivery. For example, one eye can be smaller and higher on the face; this is actually a facial slant caused by the facial bones dragging along the mother’s tail bone. Just how prominent the facial slant is depends on the size of the head, the size of the mother’s pelvis and the position of her tailbones. Around 70% of facial slants occur on the left side, as most natural deliveries lead with this side. Often the bone on the back of head will also rotate, causing a less rounded skull.

Prevention

Crying & Sucking
Crying and sucking both help to shape a baby’s head by contracting the connective tissue. If using a bottle to feed baby, make him work harder by using a slow flow teat.

Check Your Baby’s Alignment
Get a professional to check out your baby’s alignment a few weeks after the birth when the body and head have had a chance to stretch out and reshape. If this does not happen, have someone trained in working with infants check and treat any misalignment of the pelvis, spine or head. If you had a c-section with no complications and the head shape was perfect when your baby was born, arrange to see a therapist trained in head shaping if it suddenly starts to become flat.

Tummy Time
All babies should have tummy time six times a day. This should be for as long as they can tolerate it, even if it is only for 30 seconds. This not only takes pressure off the back of the head, but also strengthens the neck muscles to help with reshaping the head. Many of the neck muscles are attached to the sides of the face and skull.

Head Brace/Helmet
Head braces or helmets may be considered for children who have not had their misshapen head condition corrected during early infancy, when the condition is more easily and more effectively treated. Head braces or helmets are not fitted on children of less than eight months of age. The helmet is worn for about 9-12 months, 23 hours a day, and requires adjustments every six weeks or so.

Other Tips

• Alternate sleeping positions from back to side, to the other side.
• Do not let your baby stay in a car seat or stroller for long periods of time.
• If you bottle feed, alternate the sides on which you hold your baby.

When should I seek help?

Of course you are concerned about your child, so be proactive and seek help. A child does not outgrow the misshapen head condition, although it may improve slightly with time. When a child grows hair it is less noticeable, but the problem is still there, so the sooner you seek treatment, the better.

An infant has seven soft spots in his head, and there is a lot of movement between the skull bones. The first one starts to fuse after two months; this is the forehead, which is in two pieces in a baby. I have seen many children come in for head shaping between the ages of nine months and 30 months when it is already too late to achieve significant change. Some valid work can still be done at this age, but it can also be time consuming with a toddler who cannot lie still, so the treatment takes longer.

The earlier you seek treatment, the more effective it will be.

Now offering assessments via video chat

Caroline Rhodes, physiotherapist and craniosacral therapist has 30 years experience and has been treating newborns in Hong Kong for the past 16 years. As a result of parents seeking her help for their baby in connection with flat head syndrome, she is now offering assessments through either Skype or Facetime.

The parents will need to have a smart phone with a video so that they can show the different angles of the baby’s spine, head and face. Once the areas that are contributing to the flat head are determined, Caroline can teach the parent some gentle mobilisations to correct any restrictions. She will also offer a home exercise programme. This is an essential key in getting the baby to move in all directions rather than favouring one direction, which is a major factor leading to the flat head.

A treatment in the clinic can be arranged after the assessment whenever it is convenient for the parents to come to the clinic. The Skype or Facetime session will offer significant savings in both time and money for those parents coming in from other regions in Asia.

Physiotherapy for the treatment of flat head syndrome is often covered by medical insurance.