- Newborn's skull bones are extremely soft,
thin and flexible.
And this is because it allows them to travel
through the birth canal as well
as accommodate a growing brain.
The other thing is babies tend to have extremely
weak neck muscles until three months of age.
And up until this point your baby's head will naturally fall
to the side whenever they're lying on their back.
It is because of these two reasons that babies
often develop a flat spot on the back of their head
which is often referred to as flat head syndrome
or positional plagiocephaly or deformational plagiocephaly.
The good news is that there are some simple things
that you can do throughout your day in regards
to the way you position your baby or hold them
that can actually prevent the flat spot from occurring
or stop it from getting worse.
So in this video we're going to cover
what those activities are
and how you should hold your baby
to try and prevent that flat spot from developing.
But before we get into a make sure you click
on that free PDF document in the description box below
which covers the developmental milestones
you can be expecting for your little one
in their first year of life.
This will give you an invaluable piece of mind
as you'll know when to be expecting skills
and when to be concerned.
So there are two different types
of flattening of the baby's head.
So the first one is plagiocephaly
and that is where one side of the skull is flattened.
And this often results in the side that's being flattened
that eye and that ear shifting forward in severe cases.
But generally there's flattening on one side of the skull
and on the other side there's bulging.
And then you have brachycephaly
which is where the back of the skull is flatten.
So it's on both sides this often results
in the head widening and at some severe cases,
the forehead getting larger.
Now most parents noticed flattening of the skull
at around six to eight weeks of age.
And the common causes for this flattening to occur
is firstly sleeping on their back.
Now it is recommended that they continue to sleep
on their back because it does reduce significantly the risk
of sudden infant death syndrome or SIDS.
So the recommendation is that they continue to sleep
on their back, but because they're sleeping on their back
for a long period of time, and they're also often
in car seats and strollers, there's external force going in
and apply it on that head,
and because the bone is soft and thin,
it may result in some flattening.
The other reasons or risk factors to developing a flat spot
on the head is if your baby was born prematurely
or has a medical condition, then that often results
in some prolonged positioning on their back
because their muscles are a bit weak
so their head is naturally falling to that side
and developing that flat spot.
The other main cause for flattening of the skull
or developing a flat spot is torticollis.
So torticollis is where you're a muscle that runs
from the neck to the collarbones,
so behind their ear to their collarbone
becomes really tight.
And that might've when now in utero or post
but it becomes so tight and often looks
like your baby's head is tilted.
So the chin is going in the opposite direction
and the side that is tight pools down
so that their heard is falling to one side
and their chin is going to the other direction.
Now because this muscle is really tight it is hard for them
when they're lying on their back to move their head
in any other position.
So as you can see you would constantly get a pressure
on that side of the head that is making contact
with the ground
which will then develop in that flat spot occurring.
Now if you do notice that your baby can't turn their head
in both directions really smoothly.
So when they're lying on their back
they can't actually turn it all the way in both directions,
then I would recommend you go see your baby's doctor
who can check to see if they do have torticollis
because if you get onto it earlier,
they can get some intervention
from a physiotherapist or some allied health
professional who be able to give you some exercises
and activities to try and lengthen that muscle
so it's not as tight and will prevent that flat spot
from occurring in the first place or getting worse.
So now we know what causes flat spots developing
let's talk about some strategies that you can do
in throughout your day with your little one
to try and prevent that flat spot occurring
or try and prevent it from getting worse.
So the recommendation is that they continue to sleep
on their back, but what you can do
is when your baby is asleep on their back
particularly when they're quite young
they tend to stay in the same position.
So when they're asleep you can go in
and just turn their heads
so that one night they might be looking to the left
and then the next night they might be looking
towards the right.
The other thing that you can do is think
about where you're placing the cot in their room.
So babies tend to like to look at things
that are very interesting.
So if you place it so that their cot
is facing a blank wall on one side
and the other side looks out into the room
they're gonna be more likely to turn their head
to look out into that room.
Now when you put your baby to bed
what you wanna do is you wanna change the way they are
in the cot.
So one night you might put your babies
so that their feet are down this end of the cot,
and then the next night you might change it
so that your baby's feet are down this end of the cot.
And what that does is encourage your baby to look
out to the side where there's the room is
and they're going to have lots of kinds of things,
interesting things to look at
and that will encourage them to turn their head
and start and fall asleep on that side
which then will result in them, distributing the pressure
through their back of their head throughout their sleep.
Now when your baby is awake
you wanna encourage lots of tummy time
because obviously that gets them off the back of their head.
Now if your baby finds tummy time a little bit difficult
then make sure you check out the video linked above
where I go through different tummy time options
based on the baby's age
and how you can make it significantly easier.
The other activity you can do with your baby
when they're awake is get them to play
when they're in side-lying.
So that's where you roll them onto their side
and you would place a toy in their line of sight
when they're in that newborn phase
this will just help get pressure off the back
of your baby's skull.
And also you could look at changing the direction
your baby's facing,
so they might do side-lying towards the left
and then the next day it'll be towards the right.
Now when your baby's doing tummy time and side-lying
it's really important to make sure you watch them
in this position because they can accidentally fall
onto their tummy, and then they can actually
clear their body from that or their head.
It's also really good to use different ways
of carrying your baby.
So you could use the football hall
which is where they're lying in your arm
and their pressure is completely off their head.
You could also put them in side-lying,
so where you hold them like this.
And again, what you wanna do
because they're getting pressure on this side
of the skull is that next time you hold them
you would put them in the other arm to put pressure
on the other side.
You could also get them to lie in between on your thighs.
Also if you're holding your little one in your arms
so you're doing that cradle position
again you would hold them in one arm one day
or you could do it with each one,
you could just switch each weight period.
I find it easier to just do it in one arm on one day
and then the other arm the next day
because it gets a bit confusing.
So you hold them this side and that encourages them to look
out in this direction to see what's going on in the world,
and then it puts pressure on that side of the skull.
And then you would change arms the next day.
So it encourages them to look out in the other direction.
You could also do that with them over your shoulder.
So again, you'd have them up over your shoulder
and that would encourage them to turn their head
and look this way, and there's no pressure at all
on their skull at this point.
And then you change arms
and they would look out in that direction.
Now if you're feeding your baby bottle feeds
or formula feeds
what you wanna do is change the arm
that you're holding them in when you're feeding them.
So if you've got a bottle and you're feeding them this side
the next time you feed them
you would rotate that arm and use the other side.
And that again, would ensure that the pressure
is getting distributed evenly on that skull.
If your little one is lying directly on the floor
what you can do is position yourself
or toys on either side of their body.
So in one play session
you might be playing with your little one,
but would be over to this side of their body
and talking to them which will encourage them to look
toward you and engage in that play session.
If you're not there then I would just put some toys
on this side, which again
will encourage them to look at the toy.
And then next play session is you would sit
on the other side or lay on the ground
on the other side or place toy on this side
and that will encourage them to turn their head
in this direction.
The other thing is when they're playing on their back
you could also position it
so that they're got a window just beside them.
And again, that would encourage them to look out the window
and see the things outside.
And then the next time you would just turn their body
so that they're facing the other direction.
So if the window was here, the first play session
they might be here and then playing
and underneath the play gym
and then look out side this way.
And then the next time he put them on the ground
you would turn them around so the window is here
and that encourages them to look out in this direction.
It is recommended that you avoid letting your baby stay
in car seats or baby bouncers or seats
for a long period of time, because they are generally really
firm surfaces that can cause flattening
of the skull.
The other thing is the American Academy of Pediatrics
do not actually recommend the purchase
of and use of baby pillows.
So those are the ones that have been marketed as pillows
that can actually reduce the flattening
of the skull occurring in babies.
And that is because the pillows themselves
can actually kind of
cover your baby's face and obstruct their breathing
and also can cause overheating.
And they found that when babies are placed
on a pillow where their head is raised
it actually can result in their head falling forward
and then their chin tucking
which would then obstruct the airways
and impact on their breathing.
So those are the simple things that you can do at home
with your little one to try and prevent the flat spot
from occurring or reduce the level of flattening.
But remember, if you have any concerns
about your baby's head shape
or you notice there's flattening occurring
on the back of your baby's head
or you notice your baby can only turn their head
in one direction, fully to the ground
and the other one it's slightly limited
then I would always go and see your baby's doctor
at this point to make sure that they can complete assessment
and refer you to appropriate individuals
and specialists if required.
Also if you want information on how
to make tummy time easier
make sure you check out this video.
And if you want more information
on newborn cues and what they're trying to tell you
then make sure you check out this one.
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