baby - Newborn Baby's Head Seems To Be Lopsided - What Can I Do?

Is your newborn baby's head lopsided? If so, do not be overly concerned. Many newborn babies are born with slightly lopsided heads. There could be two possible causes for this: 1. Their heads are molded unevenly in the birth canal. 2. The head shape is affected by spending too much time in one position. The two soft areas at the top of your baby's head are called "fontanels." The fontanels are designed to allow a baby's relatively large head to move down the narrow birth canal and to accommodate your baby's rapidly growing brain during the first 12 to 18 months of life. Too much time in one position can result in an uneven head shape past the time when birth-related lopsidedness evens out. When this occurs it is known as "positional molding." Positional molding is most common in babies who spend most of their time on their backs in cribs, car seats or infant seats. These sleeping positions are the safest for baby; however, there are some things you can do to keep your baby's head from becoming flat or lopsided while sleeping or resting in a safe position. When positional molding occurs you will notice it more when you are looking at your baby's head from the top down. The back of the head may look flatter on one side than on the other. The cheekbone on the flat side may protrude, and the ear on the flat side may look pushed forward. What you can do about positional molding: ? Change direction: First place your baby on its back for sleeping. Then alternate the direction your baby's head faces, or place your baby's head near the foot of the crib one day, the head of the crib the next day. Use these same varying positions in the car seat and other infant seats. ? Hold your baby: To relieve pressure on the head from swings, carriers and infant seats, routinely hold your baby when he or she is awake to help relieve this pressure. ? While you are there to totally supervise place your baby on his or her tummy to play. Be sure the surface is firm. If you leave the room, take your baby with you. Never your baby lying unsupervised to play on its tummy. ? Move the crib occasionally to give your baby the opportunity to turn away from the flattened side of the head to look at you or follow the sounds of movement in the room. Typically, changing the baby's head position will prevent or treat flat spots. If the lopsidedness does not improve the doctor may prescribe a special headband or molded helmet. Helmets and headbands are worn continuously during the treatment period except during times of cleaning the helmet and bathing; the devices are most affective from ages 4 months to 12 months. It is rare that anything more serious is wrong. However, at times two or more of the bony plates in a baby's head fuse prematurely. This is known as craniosynostosis and is usually treated with surgery during infancy. A similar condition called metopic synostosis causes a pointed forehead. It is also treated with surgery during infancy. Most of all do not spend a lot of time worrying about your baby's head shape. Most babies do not have a long term problem with improper head shape. Be sure to practice the varying head positions and your baby should develop normally and right on time. Source: Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research Disclaimer: *This article is not meant to diagnose, treat or cure any kind of a health problem. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Always consult with your health care provider about any kind of a health problem and especially before beginning any kind of an exercise routine. Author: Connie Limon, Trilogy Field Representative. Visit http://nutritionandhealthhub.com and sign up for a weekly nutrition and health tip. The article collection is available as FREE reprints for your newsletters, websites or blog. Visit http://www.healthylife27.com to purchase an array of superior quality, safe and effective products inspired by nature, informed by science and created to improve the health of people, pets and the planet. This article is FREE to publish with the resource box. Article written 3-2007. Article Source:http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Connie_Limon baby - Toddlers Gender Identity It's easy to recognize a baby boy from a baby girl when they are naked. If you see baby wearing nothing but a diaper, it's hard for you to identify their gender but for proud parents it's obvious for them. Boys and girls looks and acts the same and even pediatrician can hardly identify their gender. Even if we are conscious or not to the gender of our baby, we strongly feel their gender as parents.If someone calls he a she, we react to it defensively and immediately. We dress them in a way to remove the doubts. We put earrings or a clip in the hair to identify her as a girl.Even if we tend to avoid the similarity every time gender roles, we want the world to tell that she is a she or he is a he. More of what little children learn, they learn it by imitation.They imitate or follow the actions of adults. They are aware of things and copy it to their genders. This time their not baby any more. The opening time period of gender identity is part of defining change of being baby to becoming a toddler. By the time the baby reach the age of 19 months they already know their sex. They don't look like babies anymore. They already speaks and acts like little boys and girls.At the age between 18 and 30 months the children learns that gender prevail.They know that girls become women and boys become men. The like of imitating the same sex parents becomes quite strong. Almost all healthy toddlers will imitate and enjoy the behaviors of other genders.This kind of play is expected and desirable. Toddlers always copy some of the activities of the opposite sex. For most children,the best way to handle this is not to focus a lot of attention to it. Avoid punishing them. Don't criticize them for what they like. By the time comes that they will go to school, this experimentation will give way to a new interest. The following are warning signs that can help you advise that gender issues bear looking to: When your child still dont know her sex after the 3rd birthday, If your child persist that she prefer to be the opposite sex, if your child denies her sexual anatomy and if she maintain that the opposite anatomic structures will develop. In the absence of these signs such as a girl playing with guns and a boy playing with dolls, then this does not concern you anymore than a girl playing with dolls and a boy playing with guns, just relax and appreciate the innocent play of your child and soon he will already be able to open his mind to explore the world without concern for a period of time.