Unless parents take preventive action, the problem will gradually worsen during the course of several months. These “positioning” problems are often seen by the time an infant reaches two months of age, observes Joganic. Too much time spent with one side of the head facing down can cause a flat spot as well. It’s not uncommon for a baby who spends most of his or her time in a supine position (lying on the back) to develop a flat spot at the back of the head, says Joganic. Most cases of deformational plagiocephaly occur when infants spend too much time in any one position. In some cases, these infants need physical therapy and parents are taught specialized exercises to perform on their child at home. Premature birth increases the risk of this condition because cranial bones strengthen and harden during the final weeks of pregnancy. Much more common, according to Joganic, is a condition called “deformational plagiocephaly.” This can occur for several reasons, including extremely tight neck muscles that cause the infant to favor tilting or turning the head in a particular direction (“muscular torticollis”). In extreme cases, a child’s brain may be affected, and surgical correction may be necessary. When an infant’s head is asymmetrical at birth and fails to resolve within the first few months, pediatricians may suspect a condition called “craniosyntosis” in which the sutures, or “soft spots,” of the child’s brain fuse prematurely. Others can be traced to a tight fit in the womb (“uterine constraint”), most often caused when a mother is carrying multiples.įor most infants born with seemingly misshapen heads, the problem resolves in just two to four weeks, according to Edward Joganic, M.D., co-director of the Southwest Craniofacial Center in Phoenix and section chief of Plastic Surgery at Phoenix Children’s Hospital. Some “asymmetrical heads” result from forceps or vacuum-assisted deliveries.

Sometimes a small maternal pelvis or breech position in utero is to blame. Oddly shaped newborn heads are usually the result of a tight squeeze in the birth canal (officially known as “intrapartum molding”).

Misshapen head infant