Your baby's head shape (10:26)

Welcome to this video about your baby's head shape.

My name is Tanya and I'm a pediatric physiotherapist with Alberta Health Services.

Many babies have differences in their head shape when they're first born but this usually evens out in the first 3 weeks.

In this series, we'll talk about head shape differences that don't go away in the first few weeks or that show up after this time.

When we talk about a baby's head shape, we sometimes talk about flat spots on your baby's head.

It can be stressful when you discover that your baby has a flat spot on their head.

These flat spots are common, especially in the first 4 months.

So, why do some babies develop a flat spot on their head?

A baby's skull bones are softer than an adult's skull.

The joints between the bones make it easier for your baby to be born and allow your baby's head to grow.

These softer bones can be affected by pressure against them as your baby grows.

This pressure is usually from your baby's head resting against surfaces in the positions they spend the most time in.

However, there are other things that can affect your baby's head shape as well.

Some of these are things you can change, and some are things that you can't change.

Some babies have some differences in skull shape from the time that they're born.

Some babies are more likely to develop head shape changes than other babies.

After they're born, a baby's position when they're asleep or awake can lead to too much time with contact on one area of a baby's soft skull.

The positions your baby spends time in are something that you can change.

In this video series, we will be focusing on the things that you can change to help improve your baby's head shape.

Think about your baby's position when they're sleeping.

The safest way for your baby to sleep is on their back.

This position helps prevent SIDS, or sudden infant death syndrome.

Hopefully your baby is sleeping a lot!

This adds up to a lot of time with pressure on the back of your baby's head, especially if your baby sleeps facing the same way every night.

Your baby should sleep lying on their back every sleep but there are some things that you can do to help your baby's head shape while they're sleeping.

We'll talk more about these in the videos about positioning suggestions in this series.

What about the things you can change while your baby's awake?

One thing to consider is having your baby use many different positions when they're awake.

Spending time playing on the floor helps your baby get stronger because they can move around more than if they're in a swing or a seat of some kind.

Baby containers, like car seats used out of the car, swings, and bouncy seats are commonly used by parents.

They have their time and place, and they are very convenient.

But they also have some drawbacks.

They put pressure on the back of your baby's head.

They can also cause other problems for your baby.

Babies who are placed in baby containers often don't develop strength as quickly as babies that don't spend as much time in baby containers.

We'll talk more about changes you can make to help your babies in the videos about positioning for common head shape changes.

First, let's talk about what those head shape changes are.

The 2 most common changes in head shape are:

Plagiocephaly, which is just a fancy word for a flat spot on one side of the back of the head.

And brachycephaly, which is a flat spot in the center back of the head.

Sometimes these are called flat head syndrome.

All of the information in this series relates to preventing and managing these two, most common, baby head shape changes.

If your baby has a different head shape change, some of these strategies will still be helpful to you, but you'll need to see your doctor for more specific advice for you.

The most common head shape change we see in babies is plagiocephaly.

With plagiocephaly, when we look down at the top of your baby's head, their head shape is not the same on both sides.

Let's look at this head shape with a drawing to make it a little easier to see the changes.

There's a flat area on the back on one side.

Their head is not as rounded on this side.

On the flat side, your baby's forehead and ear may also be more forward as these softer bones shift position away from the pressure on the one side of the back of the head.

You might also notice a spot on the flat area where the hair is worn away.

When you look at your baby's face, you may notice a difference in your baby's eye and cheek on the same side as the flat spot.

Let's look at face shape changes on a real baby.

In the picture on the left, notice the larger cheek and eye on one side.

The second head shape change we often see is a bit different.

In brachycephaly, looking down at the top of your baby's head, we can see a flat area across the entire back of your baby's head.

Let's look at this head shape with a drawing to make it a little easier to see the changes.

The skull bones shift away from the pressure on the centre back of their head to cause widening across the back of the head.

When you look from the side, you might see your baby's head sloping upward from the front to the back.

You can also see that flatter area on the back of the head.

This head shape is called brachycephaly.

Now that you know what the two most common baby head shape changes are, how can you look at your baby's head shape?

The best time to check your baby's head shape is after a bath when the hair is wet and close to their head.

It can be difficult to hold your wiggling baby and look at their head shape at the same time.

If you're not sure that you're seeing any changes or flat spots, you can also take a picture to compare later.

Look from the top down, the sides, and the front.

If you have concerns about your baby's head shape, take these pictures every month to track your baby's progress.

Correcting your baby's head shape will take time.

When you see your baby every day it can be really hard to notice small changes.

Pictures give you a visual record of the changes over time.

In the next few sets of pictures, the image on the left shows you a typical head shape and the image on the right shows you a head shape change.

Is the back of your baby's head rounded, or is it flat across the back of the head?

Are both sides equally rounded, like the picture on the left, or does one side look flatter?

Does the ear and forehead appear to be further forward on one side?

Is the cheek and eye shape the same on both sides, like in the picture on the left?

Most flat spots return to normal after a few months when your baby gets stronger.

They typically spend less time with their head resting against surfaces, and the strategies that we're going to show you in these videos will help too.

As your baby grows more hair, any small changes in their head shape won't be noticeable.

We don't believe that your baby's head shape affects their brain or their development.

If your baby has bigger changes in their head shape, there may be other things happening.

You'll see here pictures of babies with small changes and some with bigger changes in their head shape for plagiocephaly.

Here are some pictures of babies with small changes and some with bigger changes in their head shape for brachycephaly.

If your baby has a bigger change in their head shape, your baby might be having other developmental concerns that could be causing this.

It's important to make sure you're getting advice from your doctor and pediatric physiotherapist to help with your baby's overall development if you notice changes in your baby's head shape.

Your baby will have the best results if we notice any changes early and we deal with them right away.

It's possible to make changes to your baby's head shape as they get older, but it's harder and it takes longer to see results.

As your baby grows and develops, the joints between the bones of the skull start to close and start forming a solid piece of bone.

Even by the time your baby reaches 8 months to 1 year of age, the bones are harder and the joints are smaller.

We want to correct any changes that we see early because head shape is the easiest to reshape when your baby is young.

We hope this information helps you understand your baby's head shape.

You'll find more information about how to treat brachycephaly and plagiocephaly in 2 separate videos in this series.

You can watch the one that best fits your baby.

If you're just wanting to prevent any head shape changes in your baby, we'd suggest you watch the video about brachycephaly for some positioning tips to get you started.

If you're worried about your baby's head shape or they have larger head shape changes, please talk to your doctor and your pediatric physiotherapist for more one-to-one help.​