The back of Andrew’s head is pretty flat.
We’ve joked about it a little from time to time, but Lois is now very worried that we have been horrible mommies and he’s going to be permanently damaged if we don’t do something about it.
Apparently, she spent a considerable amount of time on the internets yesterday looking up stories about babies with misshapen heads whose parents “let it go too long”. Many of them required helmets or other such things.
So, we are now trying to overcompensate the other direction and keep him from lying on the back of his head as much as possible.
We even propped him completely on his side for sleep last night. It worked pretty well, other than the fact that the binky falls out easier when lying on your side and it’s worthy of some short loud frustrated screams.
In the last 24 hours, we have put our poor child through an endurance test of sorts, making sure he was getting plenty of time upright or as we are now calling it “head fixing time”.
I even put the Jumparoo (present from Grandma R.) together, thinking he was too small for it. uh uh. He LOVED it!!!
Here’s a slideshow of the poor kid enduring his activity marathon.
Sonya said,
June 22, 2007 at 3:17 pm
Adorable slide show!
That jumping thing – I bet he’ll love it. I have fond memories of our boy bouncing like a maniac in his door jumper.
rachelle said,
June 22, 2007 at 4:18 pm
we have that same jumperaroo (pooperoo really). works wonders if your kid needs to poop.
flat head are fine in this world of back to sleep anti SIDS era. he won’t need a helmet…. once he starts to be able to roll over, play more on his stomach, and sit up her ein the next couple months, his head will reshapen. let him go at it on a blanket on the floor to work on his muscles for rolling over.
i have lots of bad mommy moments. but when i do, i reference this book, baby411 (fields and dr. ari brown authors) which is like my bible and has taken my psychotic freakouts about drew down to fun, carefree moments.
shortydizzle said,
June 22, 2007 at 6:41 pm
We have the opposite problem with Lily. She has been a side sleeper from day one. The Dr. started talking helmet at like her three week visit, which was a little premature if you ask me. It’s since gotten a lot better. I obsessively google that and now our current issue:constipation. (thanks to the rice cereal).
Little Andrew’s head will be fine I’m sure. It’s hard to not freak out a any imperfection.
KJ and the kids said,
June 22, 2007 at 7:03 pm
Who cares what his head shape is with a face like that.
DAMN he’s a cute baby !
merr said,
June 22, 2007 at 7:12 pm
Man he is so cute! I love the pic of him in a hat!
Don’t worry about the flat head. Cam had very bad flat head. We tried everything. Laying him on his other side, but he would turn, sitting him up, tummy time, blah, blah. Once he started sitting up all the time it wasn’t so bad. Also I would nap him on his tummy when he started rolling over. When he napped I would be right there so I wasn’t worried, and once they learn to roll over it is fine. He still has a slight flat head, and it is noticeable when his hair is really short or wet, but I think only by us.
Lisa P said,
June 22, 2007 at 9:05 pm
Definitely a cutie pie!!! I agree his head will take shape when he is up and about as he ages. Thickening hair also helps.
holly said,
June 22, 2007 at 9:32 pm
Thanks ladies!
Rachelle – we LOVE LOVE LOVE the Baby 411 book. We actually didn’t refer to it yesterday when we (Lois) had the misshapen head panic attack, but it usually is our first reference. The internet is not the place to go for reassurance that you are not permanently harming your child.
veeandjay said,
June 22, 2007 at 10:54 pm
My nephew had the flat head thing, and like people have said, once he was older and more mobile (and had more hair) it became far less pronounced. I believe it’s more common in boys than girls too, but whatever, your boy is beautiful and I’m sure it’s nothing to fret about. Step away from Dr Google
)
Shannon said,
June 23, 2007 at 12:03 am
We were worried about Erik’s flat head too. He REFUSED to put his head to the other side, even when he was sleeping! But once he started getting more interested in seeing things, responding to noises, and rolling, we stopped worrying about it and it’s fine now. So don’t worry too much! Kim was panicked about it for a while too!
Jude said,
June 24, 2007 at 4:04 pm
FYI, docs don’t usually worry about plagiocephaly (misshapen head) until things like the eyes and/or ears become out of alignment. A little “flat head” isn’t a big deal and is super duper common now that everyone is stressing “back to sleep.” Once your kid stops lying around so much and does a ton of flipping over, sitting up, etc., the head usually rounds itself out. And umm, you know, then you get a full head of hair.
Seriously, though, if you are concerned you should bring your concerns to your doc, but the doc is likely not to be concerned unless his head REALLY starts to get wacky.
(This is your free Early Intervention tip of the moment!)
Stacey said,
June 25, 2007 at 12:48 pm
he’s too cute. good luck with the head!!!
dis said,
June 29, 2007 at 3:28 am
OMG he’s adorable. Love the “Lil Tar Heel” hat!
tan said,
July 21, 2007 at 1:15 am
i’m 24 have flat head, i really want my head looks normal,do you have any suggestion? please help me,i’m so depressed