There are many «normal» head shapes, and your doctor may determine that your baby doesn't necessarily have brachycephaly, scaphocephaly or
plagiocephaly if their head mesaurements are close to the «normal» point and either you or your partner comes from a family with head shapes that are similar to your infant's.
Infants can also be at risk for positional
plagiocephaly if they lay in a car seat, bouncy seat, or swing for too long.
Not exact matches
Unfortunately, babies who spend too much time on their backs, especially
if they are usually in the same position, can develop positional
plagiocephaly, or a flat head.
If your doctor believes your child may have positional
plagiocephaly then there are some steps you can do to correct mild forms of this condition.
If it's to the side so it's more of a parallelogram shape, that's
plagiocephaly.
If a doctor determines that your baby has positional
plagiocephaly, his recommendations will depend on your baby's age and the severity of the condition.
But
if your baby's head hasn't rounded out by age 6 weeks — or
if you first notice that your baby has a flat spot on her skull after 6 weeks of age — it's probably a case of positional
plagiocephaly.
Positional
plagiocephaly, or
plagiocephaly without synostosis (PWS), can be associated with supine sleeping position (OR: 2.5).113 It is most likely to result
if the infant's head position is not varied when placed for sleep,
if the infant spends little or no time in awake, supervised tummy time, and
if the infant is not held in the upright position when not sleeping.113, — , 115 Children with developmental delay and / or neurologic injury have increased rates of PWS, although a causal relationship has not been demonstrated.113, 116, — , 119 In healthy normal children, the incidence of PWS decreases spontaneously from 20 % at 8 months to 3 % at 24 months of age.114 Although data to make specific recommendations as to how often and how long tummy time should be undertaken are lacking, supervised tummy time while the infant is awake is recommended on a daily basis.
If you have concerns about Torticollis,
Plagiocephaly or any other aspect of your infant's development, please consult with your pediatrician.
But as the soft spots close, it can be harder to correct
plagiocephaly; so don't hesitate to bring the issue to your pediatrician's attention
if you have concerns.
If others can confirm that deformational
plagiocephaly is associated with increased rates of behavioral and learning problems during the school - age years, then the question to be asked is: «Is
plagiocephaly an early sign of subtle brain dysfunction or does early brain molding lead to subtle brain dysfunction?»
If you've read CanDo Kiddo for long, you know I LOVE activity gyms and frequently recommend strategic toy placement from them to help promote head turning in babies (to help prevent Flat Head Syndrome /
Plagiocephaly and Torticollis).
In the next post in this series, we take an in - depth look at what to do
if you notice a flat spot or other signs of
Plagiocephaly.
While these are by no means a likely outcome, in moderate to severe cases of infant
plagiocephaly, they are possible
if the flattening is left untreated.
Why do Pediatricians recommend having babies sleep on their backs
if it causes more
plagiocephaly?
To help determine
if your child also has
plagiocephaly or brachycephaly, we encourage you to visit a Cranial Technologies Clinic for a free consultation and digital imaging to assess your child's head shape.
Pillow use alone has been shown to increase the chance of SIDS occurring by up to 2.5 times, so it may be helpful to talk to one of our helpline advisers
if you were thinking of using one with your baby due to concerns for
plagiocephaly (or «flat head syndrome»).
If infants are placed on the back for a long time in the same position, it could lead to «positional
plagiocephaly», a case of flattened or misshapen head and «brachycephaly», the flattening of the back of the skull.
If your child is showing symptoms of flattening of the head or your doctor has already diagnosed your baby with
plagiocephaly, you may have heard about something called EI or Early Intervention.