06/11/2024
• plagiocephaly or flat head syndrome •
Plagiocephaly is a deformity of the baby’s skull, usually from positioning or moulding in the womb.
According to some research, about half of babies nowadays have a flattening of the head with varying degrees.
At birth and in young babies the skull is composed of 44 separate bony elements, meaning that some of the bones are not even fused within themselves. They are separated by areas of dense connective tissues (6 fontanelles). The cranial bones themselves are very soft and membranous, and are separated by unfused sutures, allowing the room for general musculoskeletal growth and the growth of the brain.
In summary, babies have very soft heads, in order to allow appropriate growth and brain development.
Unfortunately, this means their heads are prone to deformities, rated light to severe.
These deformities are commonly called plagiocephaly (flattening on one side of the head, ‘parallelogram’ head), but also brachycephaly (flattening of the back of the head, “square head”).
Plagiocephalies are commonly associated with torticollis, but your baby can have positional plagiocephaly without suffering from a torticollis.
What can you do about it?
Simple little things parents can do in order to promote natural improvement of the flattening of the head (given the paediatrician confirmed it was a positional plagiocephaly) such as:
• Promoting tummy time (8 to 10 times a day, from seconds to minutes)
• Interacting with your baby more to the side opposite the flattening, changing toys position and cot set up
• Regularly change position of your baby to decrease the pressure on the flattened area
• Consulting a pediatric osteopath in order to have a check-up and promote more symmetry in your baby’s neck movement and general body. You will be provided with more personalised advice and home exercises according to your baby’s need.
Wondering about how your baby’s head? Why not giving us a call today to discuss further. You can also read more about it on our blog post on our website.
