Insights on Mothering: Lesson 2
(Plagiocephaly: also known as flat head syndrome, is a condition characterized by an asymmetrical distortion (flattening of one side) of the skull. It is characterized by a flat spot on the back or one side of the head caused by remaining in a supine position for too long.
Torticollis: a twisted neck in which the head is tipped to one side, while the chin is turned to the other. Congenital torticollis (present at birth) may occur if the baby's head was in the wrong position while growing in the womb)
Her flat spot was measuring at a 9 mm difference between the two sides when I first took her in last January. Yikes! A 10 means baby needs the helmet. :( After going crazy with the stretches and exercises, she measured at 6 mm the following month. That was a relief because it proved our hard work was paying off! The next two appointments, our Amberly's head was at 5 mm of difference. And today she measured at 3 mm! (Zero to 3 is normal)
Hoping to remember these stretches if needed for my future babies. Amberly always tilted down to her left side, and had very limited ROM looking over her left shoulder.
3 stretches, two minutes each day (the third stretch is just holding her head so she's looking over her left shoulder)
To strengthen her neck to relieve Torticollis, tilt her down to the left (or whichever side baby is tight on)
5 times a day for 3 minutes
Baby NO likey, it was hard work for her!
Light up toys, phones, or Daddy is a great distraction while baby does the exercises.
Make it a focus each part of your day to have baby look over the shoulder she is tight on (in our case, Amberly's left shoulder) as much as possible.
We love her bald spot. AKA "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" haircut
Baby should also sleep with her head turned the way she is tighter on, to help stretch it out. I found that a little baby donut pillow such as this was a huge life saver for my little lady!
Avoid leaving Baby in her car seat, bouncer seat, or any position that has her return to her torticollis, for longer than 20 minutes a day.
And lastly, TUMMY TIME, tummy time, and more tummy time. At least an hour of tummy time each day, broken up into short time segments.
As you can see, Amberly was barely tolerating it for more than five minutes at a time and then would fuss. I tried to tell her to follow Hannah's good example, but to no avail! I'm glad Hannah held her hand for moral support.
But after five PT appointments, my strong girl graduated from physical therapy today! Her flat spot is all but gone (she is measuring in the normal range, thank goodness) and I am happy to say that she enjoys her tummy time for 15 minute increments now!
Getting prepped for crawl mode
We are elated that Amberly won't be needing a helmet and that we were able to correct her neck and head with the stretches as instructed. Those helmets are pricey and very inconvenient. I am certain it would have corrected her head but my girl would have had to wear that thing 23 hours a day, and she would have despised the entire process. She is a bit particular about things, and I know she would have loathed that helmet! So I stretched her, and stretched her, and stretched her some more. She hated the exercises, I had to trick her by doing them late at night once she was deep asleep. This wasn't my favorite when I was exhausted, but well worth it!
We have officially defeated plagiocephaly and torticollis!
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