Torticollis: Does your child prefer look to one side?

Check the pictures you have been taking of your new baby. Does your child always tend to look to one side in the pictures? Have you noticed a preference for a certain side when they sleep? Do they not like breast feeding or prefer to do it only on one side? Do they get uspet when they are held a certain way?

Some children are born with a condition called torticollis. It is usually caused by the position of the baby in uetero. There are other reasons that the muscle can be involved such as a difficult delivery. The muscle (the sternocleidomastoid muscle (SCM)) in the neck which extends from the bone behind the ear (the mastoid) to the same side collar bone (clavicle) where it joins the breast bone(the sternum) becomes tight because the baby is unable to move out of this position in the last months of pregnancy. The muscle on both sides of the neck, therefore, do not develop equal length-tension ratio. The one on the opposite side is often a bit weak. Sometimes facial and cranial asymmetry, where the face and the skull are abnormally shaped, will accompany torticollis.

In this picture it is very subtle but if your child has torticollis you will know this posture. Her tight neck muscle would be on her left side.

This is important: it is unlikely that your child has torticollis if you see the tilt/rotation to one side as much as you see it on the other side or if the ratio is close.

Everyone has a sternocleidomastoid muscle on each side. This muscle, when it contracts on just one side, produces two movements. It turns the head opposite that side and tilts the head toward that side. (The tight muscle is on the right side for this little guy.)

A doctor should be seen if you are concerned that your child has torticollis. The earlier it is diagnosed and treated the better the outcome. A pediatric physical therapist should treat the condition. The treatment for this condition is stretching of the tight SCM and strengthening of the weak SCM. There are ways to incorporate the treatment into your day and to do it without a lot of discomfort to your baby.

Other reasons for this same posture to present in your child exist so be sure to have a pediatrician evaluate your child. Less common reasons for torticollis can be a tumor, infection or visual problem. These conditions will require other treatments.

For information on treatment techniques, plagiocephaly and more on torticollis watch for next week's blog.

Diapers, Calming, Strollers, Bjorn, Slings

Here are five of the best tips I was told as a new mom:

• When the diapers start to leak through - get the next size. They may seem big but the absorbency also increases with the size so go up the size and overlap the tabs.

• The Miracle Blanket. If you don't buy it learn how to swaddle well. http://www.miracleblanket.com/

• If your child is uncontrollably crying, try doing deep knee bends while holding them and either shushing or singing softly. It is a work out but when they fall asleep it is worth it!

• If you can test drive a few strollers before purchasing one, do it. I didn't follow this advice and ended up with 6 strollers!! No kidding - granted a few were double strollers after our second child!

• Figure out if you are a Bjorn person or a sling person. My husband was a Bjorn person but I was not so we had both. Fortunately, you can make a sling out of 4-5 feet of material. http://www.nandu.hu/english/practical/babycarrier.htm There are also a few on YouTube.

Mommy Relief

When you come home with your first child you know, because everyone has told you a THOUSAND times, that your life is gong to change. You accept that that is true because everyone has told you, but really how much can it change. You will have a baby, you babysat for the Smith kids a bunch and there were 3 of them, and Joey was like a month old when you started. Ok. You know the parents always came home to get them but you are competent. You are good with babies and you get at least 6 weeks off work. You know that you are up a few times a night to feed the baby and they sleep more than are awake in the beginning so you can nap when they nap. You can catch up with a few projects while the baby sleeps. Right?

Now before I help with the reality check, I do want to confirm that the babies are wonderful and snuggly and smell good and are so wonderfully cute. They can grab you hand and lift their head which they have no control of which is cute in and of itself. There is nothing better than having a baby sleep in your arms (if you have nothing else you need to get done) and you get lots of attention because people love babies.

Here are a few things that you may not have heard enough about which you might want to plan for. One, breast feeding, if it works for you, hurts! Some people tell you that the baby isn't latched on well or something. They tell you to feed the baby every three hours. To you, that means you might get 3 hours of sleep between feedings - that's all you need, right? But they forgot to tell you that the three hours is from the time the baby starts feeding not from the end of feeding. You may have a child that feeds in 15 minutes (like my second child) or you might have one that likes to take his time - 45 minutes - like my first child. THAT cuts into the sleep.
They don't tell you that while you love to sleep you are terrified of SIDS and so you watch them breath every breath for a few nights. They don't tell you that you can't sleep during naps because the laundry, the housekeeping and the shopping won't get done. So now you are sleep deprived.

And we were too! My sister and I are moms and after our second children were born we were lucky to find a nanny that we shared to help us out because we couldn't afford a full-time baby nurse. We recognized that it wasn't fair that it is really hard to enjoy newborns, so we started our mommy-relief program. The Mommy-Relief Program www.mommy-relief.com allows you to do the same thing. We provide a mommy reliever to give you some time. We like to say that you are not asking for a week in Paris, you're just asking for a shower. You can schedule any amount of time from 4 hours to 24 hours. We provide overnight care, mornings, evenings, three days a week, and any other combination you can come up with. Look for more information at our website and check back here for information regarding colic, jaundice, developmental milestones and more.

Our company is a medical staffing company so our background is medical. The information you will read here will come from that point of view as well as the point of view of a mom. I hope you find our blog interesting and enriching.