It's been a while, but I am finally able to update my last post about Preston's positional plagiocephaly.
It's been a lot of work in the past four months to try and keep Preston laying on his "good side" and off of his head in general. Some of the ways that we made this happen was not using the stroller when we went out, we used the baby bjorn instead. If we went out to eat, Preston never sat in his car seat, he was always being passed back and forth between Patrick and I sitting on our laps. He needed the pressure off of his head. Period.
We also had a lot of tummy time, time in the jumper, or simply being held.
At night I would wake up constantly, checking the monitor to see if he had moved his head to the flat side, in which I would go back in and switch his head ever so delicately - trying not to wake him.
But when Preston was four months old, something great and scary happened.
Preston started sleeping on his tummy. Now, did this freak me out at first!? Absolutely!! SIDS is something that can happen to a baby Preston's age, so at all costs I wanted to avoid that. But, there came a point where I could no longer stop him.
So during day time naps I started letting him sleep on his tummy. In order for myself to feel more at ease, you can bet I put that monitor right on his back so I could see him breathing.
At night, I always put him on his back - but I would wake up to him on his tummy. A little later, I would put him down for the night on his back - and he would immediately roll over to his tummy. He's a stomach sleeper - butt up, hands underneath him, full on fetal position.
I knew that Preston could move his head back and forth and we also have a breathable bumper, so I put my worries at ease. Turns out, his want for tummy sleeping was a blessing in disguise. It allowed all of the pressure to be taken away from the back of his head, which lead to great news!
His head has officially rounded out on its own!!
Two weeks ago we went to to the pediatrician for his 6 month well-baby check-up and I couldn't wait for the dr. to see his improvement. Sure enough, the doc said his head looked great and we didn't have to worry anymore!!
So all of those sleepless nights and hard work during the day really payed off. But, thank you Preston for being a tummy sleeper, you helped yourself without even knowing it!
I just wanted to say thank you to all of those mom's who gave me advice or who were going through the same worries, I really appreciate your support. I had prepared myself for anything with this issue, but this outcome couldn't make us happier.
Flat head syndrome can happen and hopefully my posts have brought awareness and maybe given a few folks some help.
3 comments:
I am SO excited for you!!! That is fantastic news :) Preston is just too much, I love his little face. I think he looks a lot like you :) I'd love to get together as the only time I've been able to see him has been brief!
Again, so excited for you and your little family. Way to go, Preston!!!!!!!!
he looks GREAT!
This post made me cry. I'm so scared that my 4-month old's head will be misshapen forever; her head looks exactly like your son's did in a previous post. I noticed it at 2 months old... she was born with forceps (despite a c-section) so her head was kind of wonky initially. But my doctor told me not to worry. What didn't help was that she was an excellent sleeper from day one and favoured one side of her head. At two months old, I really thought the flattening on the right side was pretty bad and mentioned it to my doctor; he said to just reposition her head and keep her off the flat side. I am trying and trying but it doesn't seem to be working. I'm going to see a specialist about it and I won't be surprised if she will need a helmet. Anyhow, I'm happy that your son's head rounded out by 6 months and I really hope that I can say the same thing two months from now. Thanks for your post on this topic!
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