16 Nov Have you noticed that your baby seems to sit with a curled spine when you hold them on your lap

Worried that there’s something wrong with baby’s spine because they seem to keep falling to one side on their feeding chair

A quick search on Google for ” baby with curved spine” will pop up suggestions of Congenital Scoliosis or Infantile Scoliosis describing a rare condition in which baby is born with a spine that is not normally formed before birth. This piece of information causes parents to become distressed and upset fearing the worse for their baby. Recently at My Favourite Physio, this exact situation brought a new mother into our clinic with her 6 week old baby. Mum was extremely distressed thinking that baby has a spinal deformity because her baby curls to one side in a “C” shape when held in sitting.

Our Expert Paediatric Physiotherapist carried out a full assessment on baby, including checking baby’s head shape, neck, spine, hip and feet to determine the cause of baby’s posture in sitting. The end result is baby has a tight neck muscle, which causes her to tilt her head to one side, bringing her whole body to that side both in lying and in sitting. Her tight neck muscle is a condition known as Torticollis and can be easily treated. The treatment involves, specific neck stretches, strengthening exercises and positioning to prevent a flatten head shape. Once baby’s neck muscle was treated, baby was able to sit upright and no longer falls to one side with their spine in a “C” shape. Her mother was relieved to see the difference in baby’s posture within 2 weeks!

So if you are noticing your baby is tilting their head to one side or leaning to one side when in sitting, instead of asking Dr Google for advise, reach out to My Favourite Physio on (02) 9790 4233 or Dm @myfavouritephysio to speak to one of our Expert Paediatric Physiotherapists. 

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