As a first time mom, I didn’t know a flat spot on the back of my baby’s head could be such an issue (or that it was even called flat head syndrome) or else I would have been WAY more conscious of it WAY earlier to prevent this from happening. I feel like it’s one of those things no one tells you or maybe it was one of those things that my “mom brain” didn’t pay much attention to. Either way, I feel like I let my sons cute little head get flat and now he is being monitored by a specialist to make sure the shape of his head is corrected. Who knew you could screw up the shape of your child’s head within the first 4 months??? #newmomproblems

We were just told by our pediatrician to do at least 15 minutes twice a day of tummy time to help get him off his head, which he HATED (and still hates!) and we dreaded since he would scream the whole time. Then once he figured out how to roll from his belly to his back, it was game over. He would NOT stay on his belly for more than five seconds so we kept rolling him back over to his belly multiple times. That was probably not cutting it for tummy time though. 🙁 We of course put him to sleep on his back every night to prevent SIDS and he slept through the night from 1 ½ months to around 3 months (for the most part) so that put a lot of pressure on the back of his head. When we went out, we usually kept him in his car seat in the stroller and when he fell asleep in it (which usually happened) we left him in there while we ran errands, were out to dinner, or out for walks by the beach. He also LOVED his swing and although he now sleeps in his crib, he HATED napping in there and by the time I’m done with the whole ordeal of him screaming, me coming in to provide comfort, giving him some time to cry it out, then going back in and so on, it’s an hour later and he is hungry again and beyond irritable. I lost patience and for the next nap I just let him fall asleep in his swing, where he was again putting pressure on the back of his head.

That all changed once we went to our 4 month appointment and our pediatrician referred us to a specialist because the back of his head looked very flat. Yes, we know a flat head isn’t the worst that can happen, but we were both feeling bad about it since we felt like we could have done more to prevent it. So before our first visit with the specialist, we did EVERYTHING we could to keep him off his back and help correct his head (I list out everything below). I seriously became CRAZY about it and wouldn’t let him be on his back unless he was on the changing table. We were determined to help round out his head as much as possible before our first appointment and I have to say in just a week, we saw HUGE improvements and the specialist wasn’t quite ready to recommend the helmet (Doc Band) to help round out his head just yet, YAY! She said it isn’t as severe as we thought but it’s still of concern so we are going back in a couple of weeks to do a follow-up.

“Yes, we know a flat head isn’t the worst that can happen, but we were both feeling bad about it since we felt like we could have done more to prevent it.”

I want to share my experience with other moms who may be struggling with flat head syndrome as well and share what helped us start correcting the problem. I’m no expert and mom life is new to me, but I’m happy to share with the hope it will help others! Like I said earlier, I became crazy about not letting him be on his back unless he needed to (we didn’t attempt to try diaper changes holding him lol!) so I held him a lot more! When we went out for walks, I was putting him on his back in either the baby bassinet or the car seat but I stopped doing that and used the LILLEbaby carrier instead. He loves playing on his back on his activity gym so we were doing that every morning (to give me some time to at least make coffee and grab something to eat) but we put that away and got a Baby Einstein Neptune’s Ocean Discovery Jumper so he can work on his neck strength and be entertained. He LOVES it and it’s so fun watching him bounce all over the place! The seat is still a bit big for him so bought a Huggapod to help stabilize him until he grows into it, it’s been a lifesaver! For the changing table or anytime he is on his back, we bought this head shaping baby pillow. For the car seat, bouncer, and swing (which we don’t use anymore), we got the Boppy Noggin Nest Head Support. Lastly, the Babocush has been a lifesaver for us!! Since he hates tummy time and just rolls over to his back, this keeps him in place, off his head, and working on his neck muscles. He actually started falling asleep on it for naps (with me watching the whole time) and has come to really love it so it’s been a saving grace. These have all made a BIG difference in the shape of his head, we can really see it changing everyday so all the hard work and extra money spent on these little things is SO worth it! I hope some of these help you as well if you are trying to re-shape your baby’s head without putting him in a helmet like us!!

As always, please reach out if you have any questions or need more information on any of the products. Cheers to new mom life and the amazing, crazy new adventures that come with it!! 🙂

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