What should I do if my six-month-old baby's neck is a little crooked?

If you always find that your baby tilts his head to one side when he is sleeping, or his head tilts to one side when he is playing, and the flesh on the side of his neck is swollen than the other side, you should be alert, as this may be a phenomenon of torticollis, which is also known as a crooked neck. So what should you do if your six-month-old baby has a crooked neck?

What to do if your six-month-old baby has a crooked neck?

1. Postures for holding babies and feeding

For babies with right-side torticollis, the mother can hold the baby with her left hand. When the baby's head tilts to the right, the mother's left arm or chest can block his head and keep it tilting to the right. In short, whichever side the baby has torticollis on, let that side lean against the adult's body to correct it in the opposite direction.

2. When awake, the baby should lie on his stomach as much as possible

When lying on their stomach, the baby's head will naturally stand upright, which can stretch the sternocleidomastoid muscle on the affected side and strengthen the neck muscles. For example, my cousin's baby already has obvious symptoms of torticollis, and the doctor recommends that he lie on his stomach for an hour every day. Of course, this needs to be done in several sessions. Babies who are too young cannot complete an hour of tummy time training in one go. But try to stick to it for 5 to 10 minutes each time. Place toys in a place that can lure the baby to turn in another direction. The baby will be attracted by the toys and turn his chin to that side. This will be half successful in improving the baby's torticollis.

3. Change the baby's habit of looking at things while lying down

Place the baby's favorite or attractive things in the other direction of the baby's torticollis, and place something he doesn't like in the direction where he is used to torticollis. This kind of sleeping environment setting is very necessary and can help improve torticollis.