Flat Spot on Baby's Head

If you can give him more tummy time during the day it helps. Spread out a blanket on the floor, or play pen and let him play on his tummy for an hour or so a couple times a day. Also use bouncy seats where he sits up without resting on the back of his head. Activity centers are great to sit in and explore all the gadgets on the tray. Sit him in a Bumbo seat on the floor for a while too. Any position that keeps him from laying on his back will help shape the head right. Also it wont be long and he will be turning over in his crib and you wont be able to stop him, and the head will shape up nicely.

What K's mom said...and leave the car seat in the car.
Wear your baby. :)

K's mom said what I would've said! :-)

Didn't get a flat spot but he had a bald spot. It grew back eventually. Don't worry if your ped isn't.

Diana, are you talking about torticollus (sp?)

You can keep him on his side by rolling up a baby blanket very tightly and positioning it next to his back. Or you can buy a sleep positioner. Make sure baby is getting plenty of tummy time as well.

my son had a flat spot but also the torticollis that you said your nephew had. he wore a helmet for 3 months...but his dr didn't do anything to help his tort (wouldn't recognize it as a problem) and so he didn't get helmeted till 8months.
anyhow, the boppy noggin nest-- amazing! i used it to help it from getting worse before he got the helmet and i think it helped round it a bit.
is the flat spot making his facial features assymmetrical? my son's cheek on his left side was fuller and bigger...and in the mirror he did not look right... they told me he'd round out when he started sitting, up, crawling..but it didn't. i hope your son's does without the helmet..

Hi, I'm a pediatric PT, so I work with this all the time. If it's not torticollis, most flat spots will fill out once your baby starts sitting up and rolling over. I'd work on that a lot as well as the tummy time you are already doing. The only kids who need helmets are those with severe flat spots/torticollis. It's important to keep him off of the back of his head partly because a flatter back of the head makes him prone to ear infections because the ears don't drain as well. One thing that helped my kids was to sneak into their rooms after they fell asleep and turn their heads sideways, even if they were on their backs. Try to remember to alternate sides so you don't cause a flat spot on 1 side, though!

My son had the same thing. Luckily his head turned out to be a good shape eventually. When he was awake I would give him supervised tummy time and I moved his head gently to the sides. My son also had a weird neck thing (I forgot what it was called) but we had to take him to physical therapy a couple of times and learn some exercises to do at home.

My son had this.
I held him, had him on his bouncy chair, his stroller, his car seat, his swing, his bouncy round thing w/toy that he stood up in and nevertheless
he still had a flat spot.
His ped freaked me out, told me he should wear a helmet for 23 1/2 hours a day for 6 months.
I asked if his flat spot would impede his brain growth and he said no.
I chose not to put that scary helmet on (I saw a video and it made me scared & sad).
I am happy to report that he is fine, the flat spot is 99% gone.
Can't see it/feel it etc. Am hardpressed to find it.
He does not have a ridge, he's smart, he did not have to wear a helmet.
I am glad, now looking back, that I did not subject him to that.
Hope that helps.

I used a Noggin Nest from Boppy for my DD who had a flat spot. It is like a little mini pillow with a hole in the middle of it where the back of their head goes. http://www.amazon.com/Boppy-Noggin-Support-Brown-Wheels/d...

It worked great for my DD who would only sleep on her back as well. The flat spot went away after a few weeks with that pillow, and of course keeping her off the back of her head the entire time she was awake.