Question About Head Tilting

My little boy had a head tilt for a while, too. It was causing his head to get kind of flat on one side.I brought him to physical therapy because his doc said he had a condition called torticolis. Torticolis is when the muscles of the neck are tighter on one side than the other... All you have to do is practice some stretches with him and it clears up, but I'd look into it asap. You don't want it to go untreated for too long (if that's what it is).

My daughter had something called Tortacolis and she turned her head to one side a lot and it got to the point where it was flattening. We went to physical therapy and almost got a helmet to help round it out. I would talk to your doctor and see what they say. Do a lot of tummy time and try to do things that favor the other side. She also ended up with a a lot of ear infections and ended up getting tubes, I feel this was all related. Soem people told me to see a chiropractor, but my husband and my doctor was not really for that, but that may be worth a try as well.

Hope this helps...

I would say its just a thing. Both my boys had funky quirks like that, my oldest would tilt his head to the side when he was playing, or he'd be crawling or walking and just tilt his head to hte side... different view I suppose. My youngest tipped his head back.. he'd just be playing and then all of a sudden tip his head back, and then go about his business.

I believe that can be a sign of a vision problem. I was asked if my daughter did that several times by her opthamologist because her eyes are two different visions one eye is better than the other.

One of my grandson's had an issue with his head tilting, actually most of the time after he was born. They had a physical therapist come and do muscle strengthening exercises. I'd definitely ask the doctor about it.

My son was born with an extra triangular shaped bone in his neck that caused his head to tilt. This is probably not the case with your son but I recommend having it checked.

Talk to your pediatrician. If your son is always tilting his head to the same side then he could have torticolis(not sure how to spell this). My son had this when he was a baby. Physical therapy and stretches at home will cure this problem.

my advice would be to bring him to a chiropractor....even the youngest ones need this sort of attention.

My niece had a neck problem when she was born (she is now 1 1/2). She would always lay with her head to one side. She went to a therapist and they did some exercises with her and now she is just fine. She does, however, do what it sounds like what your son does - tilt her head to the side and smile. My sister says it's her way of being shy. She'll walk up to strangers and smile, and tilt her head to the side, as if she's saying, "Look how cute I am". She did have a lot of ear infections in the past and now has tubes in her ears, so it kind of rules ear infections out for her too. I think as long as you take him to the Dr. and have his neck checked out, and everything is okay, you have nothing to worry about.

Have you had his vision checked? My friend's son tilted his head quite a bit when he was young and it wound up being a vision issue. Good luck.

My friends little boy used to tilt his head to the right side for about a year and half to 2 years. She talked to his pediatrian about it numberous times and it was muscles and he eventually grew out of it. I would definately check with your doctor to rule out anything else but just know that sometimes this is common. Good luck!

just watch and see if things change. have you had his eyes checked

My son had torticollis and always tilted his head to one side. It wasn't something he did intentionally or had control over. I'm thinking that this may just be a quirk that your son is into right now. We went through a similar jag with squinting.

I am a head tilter...always have been, and for me, it's nothing more than comfort. I do it subconsiously, but have become aware of it over the years. It's just one of the things that I do when I concentrate. I do it when I watch t.v., read books, listen to people intently, or am concentrating. I find it a comfortable position for me, similar to those who cross their legs when they sit or children who suck their thumbs, etc. I also bite on the inside of my lower lip, which I do also at the same time my head is tilted. It's just a comfort. Maybe it is for your son as well. However, at 8 months, you never know. It wouldn't hurt to get something medically checked out.

I took my son to the Chiropractor at 7 months because he was twitching his shoulder. I am the only one who noticed it, but the chiro fixed it. We discovered that part of the problem was his car seat. There wasn't proper cushioning in it which put him out of alignment.

I would talk to your pediatrician about it. Did it just start happening? Many babies have a condition called torticollis, which is basically tilting the head to one side, but I think it usually starts early than 8 months. If he does have torticollis, he'd just see an OT or PT for a few months to work on evening out his muscles. Its hard to know without seeing him if this is just a preference that will work itself out or if maybe he'd benefit from some therapy. I'd take him in and ask for a referral to an OT just for peace of mind.

Don't worry too much though - torticollis seems to be relatively easily fixed!

Good luck,
B.