Babies head shapes - flat head syndrome

Flattening of the head, known most commonly in the medical world as plagiocephaly, is something that Lauren Storey, Osteopath frequently sees in clinical practise. Often parents are concerned that there is a patch at the back or side of their baby’s head that appears to be flattened and causes the head, and in more extreme cases the face, to have an asymmetrical shape.

Commonly the flattening is caused when a baby has a preference for lying with their head in the same position and as babies have malleable skulls, having an external force placed repeatedly on the same area of the head can cause a growth distortion. However, the skull continues to grow and shape a great deal over the first year, so if the flattening is noticed and dealt with early on it has a better chance of resolving.

Babies will always lie in the position that feels most comfortable to them and so if there is stiffness or discomfort within the neck they will avoid certain positions or movements. This can be influenced by the position they grew in when in the uterus, trauma to the necks during the birth (especially during very long labours or those which needed the intervention of forceps or ventous) or habit after birth.

In most cases the flattening presents a purely cosmetic worry for parents however as the head growth is encouraged by brain growth and development, it is important to prevent the problem getting to a stage where it could impede on brain growth and development. In cases where babies have a particular preference for right or left rotation, they often play and interact with the hand on that side more frequently leading to a hand dominance which should not be seen before the age of  1 year.

Tips for how to prevent flattening of the head:

·         Encourage your baby to turn their head to both the right and left when sleeping. This may mean putting stimulus such as light, toys or yourselves on their non favoured side. One good way to do this is to turn them the other way round in their Moses baskets or cots.

·         Alternate sides when feeding. When breast feeding you will do this naturally however its important to switch sides when bottle feeding if your worried your baby is developing a preference for either rotation.

·         Dedicate time each day to tummy time. This will mean they spend a little less time lying with pressure on the back of their heads and is an important position for physical development. Start off with only a couple of minutes at a time and build up gradually as your child gets used to the position, observing them at all times when on their front.

·         Talk to your local paediatric osteopath!

Osteopathy for babies is a little different to what you may have experienced if you have been to see an osteopath yourself. We take a full history going back to the pregnancy and birth, give a thorough physical examination to assess both physical and neuromotor development, then treat using a very gentle approach including both cranial and structural techniques. With the development of head flattening the approach usually involves ensuring that the child has full range of motion within their spine whilst removing any internal tension that may prevent the cranium from growing symmetrically.