Head Turning and Tilting in Infants
Does your baby favor head turning or tilting in one direction?
Positional preferences like this are very common. This is generally something that can be quickly resolved when addressed within the first couple of months. Unnoticed and unaddressed, favoring one side can quickly turn into harder to treat conditions.
Newborns do not have adequate strength to hold their head in the center of their bodies (midline). Positional preferences are easily exacerbated and prolonged when baby spends time in baby gear. When in infant equipment they have to work against gravity to hold their head in the center of their body and can easily fall to their side of preference. This one of the reasons we recommend moderation for use of baby equipment- not longer than 10-15 min at a time.
Why is this a problem?
If your child continually spends time looking to one direction they can develop a flat spot on the side that has the most pressure. With the back to sleep campaign babies are spending very little time on their tummies since they sleep so much as infants. It also can lead to decreased use of the side of the body that they do not look toward, decreased visual abilities, and unbalanced motor skills (such as only rolling to one side, unbalanced sitting postures and more)
How do I know if my baby has a head turn or tilt preference?
We take so many pics of our babies- scroll through photos on your phone and see if you can find a consistent trend. You also may notice that when you move toys to the other side baby does not follow- or only briefly looks to that side.
What can I do to help my child?
You can help your child with simple modifications in how you play with your baby. They love watching you and interacting with you so being on the more difficult side for them to look- encourages baby to look toward you while you talk or sing to them. We use active movement to encourage turning to the side that is difficult. Move rattles, toys or your face slowly to encourage looking to the more difficult side. Baby should be happy and content with this – that will make it pleasurable and encourage baby to want to continue.
We do not recommend stretching a baby’s neck away from the side of preference. This is uncomfortable and may cause more harm than good.
Simple positioning ideas to help
Alternate head turn when sleeping- when your baby is sleeping on their back gently reposition their head to the middle or the opposite side of their preference. A gentle swaddle may help to maintain midline How to swaddle
Following toys- when in supported sitting, on back or tummy time move toys slowly for them to follow from side to side. See our blog post link to Tummy time!
Alternate the arm you hold your baby when feeding or nursing. Baby loves to look at your face when feeding this will encourage symmetrical use of either side.
Play in side lying on either side. This will provide counter pressure and input to the side of the body that is not being used as much. Link to our previous post on Side Lying Play
ProActive can help! If you feel your child may have a head tilt or turn preference even after you have implemented these strategies, we are here to support you! It is always best to be proactive in intervention and to start early! That is when we can make the biggest change.