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vee_mckenzie
10-13-2004, 12:20 PM
Whether our 3 month old is sleeping or playing, he tends to favor putting his head on the right side. We encourage him to use the left side since his head is changing shape!! He is not comfortable and cries when we make him go to the left. When we put him down asleep, we put his head on the left side, but during the sleep, he switches back to the right. We have tried a rolled up receiving blanket to keep his head in place, but he still manages to turn his head. Any suggestions?

ljencks
10-19-2004, 07:24 PM
Have you tried using those velcro sleep positioners? Babies R Us sells one that has three velcro positioner pieces - 2 long positioners for the baby's side and one for the head that you actually contour around the head. We used this and keep the head positioner in a pretty tight "U" shape so it is difficult for our son to turn his head. He ends up sleeping on the back of his head now, but I thought this was better than always sleeping on the one side.

Our doctor also told us that during the day we should do as much as possible to get him to look toward the side he isn't sleeping on. So when he's playing on his back with you, lay down on the side he doesn't usually look toward or put all of his toys in that direction so he gets more used to looking that way. It took a few weeks on our part, but it is now working. Also consider the way you hold your baby in your arms -- try to hold him in a position that encourages him to look toward the side he doesn't usually turn too. I used to hold him upright a lot with one hand supporting his neck and turning it slightly toward the side he never slept on. This is all supposed to help relax the neck muscles and make it more comfortable for him to look and eventually sleep that way. Hope this helps a little!

vee_mckenzie
10-20-2004, 11:49 AM
Thank you so much for your suggestions. I have the 3 piece sleep positioner so will give that a try tonight. Thanks also for the other suggestions - will start ASAP to see if we can make a difference.

proggoddess
10-25-2004, 09:14 AM
DD used to do that, too. Our ped said it's because she was scrunched that way in the uterus. We used the sleep positioner, but it didn't help much. Mainly we just wanted it for the little foam pillow it came with to help take the pressure off her head. Now that she can roll over, she usually flips herself onto her tummy or she sleeps on her left side. We're hoping that little flatness on her right side will disappear soon!

We just kept her right side to the wall in her crib and tried to sit her up and put her on her tummy a lot during the day. We took her to a physical therapist to have her checked out, but as my husband said "she's only suffering from PPS: paranoid parent syndrome." :)

audys
10-25-2004, 03:11 PM
Hi Vee, my baby also favored one side of his head at 3 months - this got worse with time. It turned out that he had a prematurely fused growth plate on his skull (craniosynostosis and needed surgery for this at 4 months). This is very rare and your baby probably doesn't have it, but be aware of it. Your pediatrician should check your baby again to make sure the growth plates and fontanelles are still open. The positioning may help - there's more info at:

http://www.cappskids.org/

Take care, Audrey