Baby's head always turned to one side: should I do anything?
My 7 weeks old baby always looks to one side. He always looks to his right, irrelevant of whether he's on his back or front.
When he does look to the other side it looks like he's make an effort and kind of flops back to that one side.
Is it normal? Should I do anything about it? (what can I do?)
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Please check with your pediatrician because that could be symptom of torticollis (speaking from personal experience with my second child which had shortened neck muscle on one side). Don't be afraid, but do not postpone seeking of diagnosis. It is treatable with some physical therapy. After few months of it, symptoms went away completely for my child.
It's pretty common for infants to have a 'favorite side', and it may resolve on its own. You can encourage this development by placing nice things to look at on the disfavored side to entice the baby to spend more time looking in that direction. You may also have success in alternating which end of the bassinet or crib you place baby's head at, since some children seem to have a preference to sleep facing toward or away from a particular side of the room.
There is also no harm in asking your child's doctor or health visitor, as persistent looking in one direction, particularly with a sort of twisted position of the neck, can be a symptom of the common and treatable condition torticollis. Torticollis is not dangerous, and is usually treated by stretching or physical therapy. Some parents and popular parenting blogs recommend chiropractic care as a treatment, but I feel that this carries significant risks, is largely unproven, and should only be attempted on an infant if the chiropractor specializes in pediatric care and under a pediatrician's advice.
The only issue with this that I am aware of is the possible risk of plagiocephaly (or flat head syndrome), described here as more of a cosmetic issue than a medical one.
This is when the baby is on its back. At least in my country, the current recommendation is that babies always sleep on their back, despite the risk of plegiocephaly, to decrease the greater risk of SIDS, but spend a lot of their time awake on their stomach, to decrease the risk of plegiocephaly.
If you are referring to the baby always turning to look in the same direction when it's on its stomach, I am not aware of any such risks.
What I've found with my kids at that age, at least when they were on their back but I can see that it might be the case on their stomach as well, is that they'll turn towards the light, typically a window. If you find that your child in its crib is always turning towards the direction of a specific bedroom window, you could simply alter its sleeping position, so that it's head is where its feet usually are, and it might turn the other way, in order to still face the window.
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