Very Concerned About Flat Head And Too Much Sleep

[Mary Poppins]

So I have a 10mo almost 11mo who came to me a month ago and right away I noticed his head is very flattened on the back. He looks like a poster child for Plagiocephaly (flat head syndrome).

My biggest concern, though, is that he wants to sleep a LOT (and always on his back, which is I'm sure why the flat head thing). He wants three naps a day, which I try to discourage.

If I let him, he will sleep 2.5 hours in the morning, 1.5 in the afternoon and wants another 1.5-2 hours in the late afternoon.

At first, I thought he was just overstimulated (had never been in dc before) and needed extra sleep so I let him.

I brought it up to dcm, thinking he must not be sleeping through the night and needed extra sleep here. She said, no, it is normal for him to sleep 12 hours straight through the night AND 6+ hours per day for naps at home.

Hmmm... so he is getting 18 hours per day total sleep??

Does this seem "normal" to you? :confused:

[sharlan]

How is his behavior otherwise?

You may want to suggest to Mom to discuss this with her pedi.

[Mary Poppins]

How is his behavior otherwise?

You may want to suggest to Mom to discuss this with her pedi.

Well, he is overall a happy guy but I have noticed he wants to be a "loner" and seems to want to play off alone. He eats well and everything but he just tires out so quickly and wants to go back down to nap all the time.

He is also one that wants to stay in the playpen and cries when I take him out, which is odd, usually it's the other way around. I don't let them play in there, only sleep, but he will wake up from his nap and is perfectly content in there and does the "crib talk" thing for a few minutes. Then I pick him up and he cries and motions for me to put him back.

It seems to me like maybe he is left in a crib/playpen a lot or something so it is where he wants to be? I dunno...

[Heidi]

Is he meeting his milestones for the most part? Does he sit up? Creep or crawl?

If so, I would just keep an eye on him for now. If not, close to his first birthday might be a good time to give mom a developmental checklist, or do ages-and-stages, if you have that available.

[Mary Poppins]

Is he meeting his milestones for the most part? Does he sit up? Creep or crawl?

If so, I would just keep an eye on him for now. If not, close to his first birthday might be a good time to give mom a developmental checklist, or do ages-and-stages, if you have that available.

Yep, he is starting to walk, eats finger foods, sips from a sippy cup, says quite a few words, etc. so everything seems normal otherwise.

Do you guys think I should let him sleep? I've been trying hard to eliminate the 3rd nap but he becomes a total bear and even his momma said let him sleep as much as he wants but I just worry he is getting too much sleep!

Plus, I miss him while he's sleeping. He is such a cutie .

[Oneluckymom]

Do you think that maybe he has just been neglected? I mean only held for a bottle and put back in the crib? If that's the case it would explain his attachment to the crib. The exhaustion concerns me though he needs to see his ped. He may need a helmet also at this point.

Poor little guy!! Up date us please on what you find out.

[Mary Poppins]

Do you think that maybe he has just been neglected? I mean only held for a bottle and put back in the crib? If that's the case it would explain his attachment to the crib. The exhaustion concerns me though he needs to see his ped. He may need a helmet also at this point.

Poor little guy!! Up date us please on what you find out.

I really hate to think this but a few things about his behavior do make me wonder if he has just been left alone, lying on his back in a crib a lot. He is happy when he is either in there or alone in a corner away from everyone.

I agree about the helmet thing, and from what I read if it isn't done by 15 months or so, it's difficult to fix. It's definitely not the same as a newborn with a flat head, it's way beyond that.

I am not kidding when I say it is really, really, REALLY misshapen and flat.

[Mary Poppins]

I'm sitting here mentally examining his schedule. He arrives at 8am and she always says he "just got up" and they live 5 minutes away. So let's say he wakes up at 7:45.

By 8:30, 9 latest he is out for morning nap. He will sleep until 11ish. I wake him up if he tries sleeping longer. By 12:30 he is dead tired and goes back down. He will sleep until 2 easily. Usually he awakes on his own though but wants to stay in the playpen the most at this time it seems. Then by 3:30-4 he wants to go back down until mom picks up at 5 - 5:30 and I always have to wake him up if I let him have a third nap.

That means he has 2-2.25 hours with her before bedtime at 7:45 if he is really getting 12 hours at night.

This just seems wrong!

[Meyou]

I have a 10 month old here. I find she sleeps alot but it's similar to your DCB. She gets here at 7am and is back in bed by 7:30am at the latest (cranky). I wake her at 10am. She is DONE by 11:45. I often still feed her first because she so ready to go back to bed it isn't funny. I wake her again at 2:30pm. I don't let her go back to sleep again since Mom comes at 4ish but I know she goes down for another nap at home and then eats dinner after. She's waking once at night but she goes to bed at 9ish and gets up at 6:30am.

She eats well, is happy, likes to play and is hitting her milestones so I think she's just tired. ??? The flat head is concerning with your DCB though. My DCG doesn't have that but she's a bum in the air sleeper.

[sharlan]

Where was he before he came to you?

[Mary Poppins]

She's waking once at night but she goes to bed at 9ish and gets up at 6:30am.

See, that's the part that worries me. Yours is getting 9-9.5 hrs at night.

IF this little guy sleeps 12 hours at night, then I think all the sleep during the day is a red flag. So either she is exaggerating his night schedule, there is something amiss, OR, he just loves to sleep.

A lot. Some people are like that, I guess, genetically.

I know I loooove to sleep and wish I could sleep 12 hrs a night and another 6 during the day. That would be heaven!! ::

[Mary Poppins]

Where was he before he came to you?

He was with dcm's in-laws. She told me she got fed up one day when he ate bark chips and her SIL blew it off like it was no biggie. I told her we don't serve bark chips here.

I wonder now if he was just left alone in a playpen or crib a lot and ignored except to feed him a bottle. Except he does say a few words and his legs seem strong, he is attempting to take steps and everything so that seems counter-indicative? Then again, standing in a crib wouldn't necessarily make his legs weak, would it.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm........