Torticollis

Why is it that my kids always get flat heads? Isaac had to wear a helmet for a few months and it killed me. I don't want to go down that road again, but here we are.

At Alex's two month doctor visit, I told his pediatrician that I noticed he always liked to turn his head to the right side. She checked him out and diagnosed him with Torticollis, which is Latin for "twisted neck". She said that the ligaments (or something) on one side of his neck are shorter than on the other side, causing him to favor one side, making that side flatter than the other and pushing that ear forward. I'm not sure if this is what caused Isaac's flat head. It's hard to tell because we didn't notice Isaac's until he was about 6 months old. The doctor said it's good we caught it early, and gave us some neck stretching exercises to do after every diaper change. She said if the stretches don't help, we'll need to bring him to physical therapy, and if that doesn't help, he'll need a helmet.

So is it working? I don't know. I want to think it is, and sometimes I feel like it is, but other times he goes right back to sleeping on his right side. I think I'm going to schedule a doctors appointment for the near future so she can look at it again, and if it's not satisfactory, go forward with the physical therapy.

I seriously loathe the thought of another one of my babies wearing a helmet. Please say a prayer for him.