14 Jul Have you noticed that your newborn baby has a flattened spot on their head

Have you noticed that your newborn baby has a flattened spot on their head
Been trying to correct that flatten spot on baby’s head yourself but not too sure if you’re actually making a difference

If you answered Yes to the above statements, then you are not alone. Here at My Favourite Physio, we see many babies who present with a flattened spot on their head and parents would have reported trying to correct it themselves for weeks or months before coming to see one of our Expert Paediatric Physiotherapists.
Here are 3 Common Mistakes parents would have been making when trying to correct their baby’s flattened head shape:

1. Staying up all night turning baby’s head to the opposite direction every hour. Unfortunately, this strategy fails because it either wakes baby up or baby will quickly return to sleeping on their preferred side within minutes. The end result is parents feel exhausted in the morning and they are tired and irritable during the day, while baby’s head shape does not improve.

2. Parents purchase a variety of pillows “designed to correct baby’s flat head shape” or wedges to tilt baby off their backs to try to keep them angled off the mattress away from their preferred side to sleep. Unfortunately, none of these pillows have been shown to be effective in correcting baby’s head shape. In fact, research shows that pillows around baby’s head in their cot is related to incidence of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). So we strongly recommend parents do not use any pillows or tilt their baby into awkward positions in case baby lands on their nose and suffocate. 

3. Parents wait and see and hope that baby’s head shape would get better as they get older. Unfortunately, baby’s head shape will not get better without effective Paediatric Physiotherapy Early Intervention. In fact, the longer parents wait, the flatter baby’s head shape becomes and the harder it is to correct it. 

If you are concerned about your baby’s head shape, the nest thing to do is to speak to an Expert Paediatric Physiotherapist. Ring My Favourite Physio on (02) 9790 4233 or PM us @myfavouritephysio to find out how we can help your baby today!