Disclaimer: This is not a medical advice and I’m not a medical professional. This blog is purely my experience – a good one though.
I was on cloud nine after the delivery of my cute li’l baby boy, well I still am. He was such an adorable, co-operative li’l soul who started sleeping through the night without much issues, of course with minimal feeding through the night.
After the completion of second month, my mom and I noticed that his head was flatter on his right side. It wasn’t that way when he was born. It was a gradual thing over the two months and it was difficult to notice the progress in the flattening of the head given the amount of thick black hair he had. I knew the reason though. During most of his long uninterrupted sleep, he sleeps facing me and I’m always on his right side.
Popular therapy:
I alternated my sides every day, with more emphasis on making him sleep with his head turned left side. My mom massaged his head every time she gave him a bath – just little pressure like she’s molding some soft dough. I read a lot of articles and blogs and people spoke about the importance of tummy time. I tried putting him on his tummy but he wasn’t comfortable on his tummy for more than 10 minutes. This meant someone had to alternate him between tummy and back every 10 minutes and as I was away on work, I couldn’t demand so much from my parents especially with my dad who had a hernia operation recently. They did their best but the baby was more comfy on his back.
During his third monthly visit, the doctor confirmed my fears. She referred me to a cranio facial expert for an analysis of the baby’s head and said he may have to wear a helmet for 24 hours a day until it corrects. The condition is called Plagiocephaly.
I was upset but I convinced myself that if it has to be done for baby’s good, it has to be done. But my husband couldn’t take it lightly. He couldn’t bear the thought of his li’l baby wearing a helmet for 24 hours a day. He didn’t sleep that night.
Indian Traditional Cure:
When the topic came up in office, a colleague of mine from Northern part of India suggested making a pillow at home with soft cotton cloth and filling it with mustard seeds. She said it is a norm in North India to make these pillows to ensure baby’s head shape is well-rounded. I saw the logic behind it. Mustard seeds are small balls and filling a cotton pillow will allow the baby’s head to form its shape without the pillow imposing any pressure on the head. More of a massaging effect. The other alternative she suggested was to get a jelly bean pillow from bed bath and beyond and reshape it to fit the baby. I wanted to go with the mustard seed option after googling “mustard pillow for baby”.
I looked for mustard seeds in costco but no luck. I bought two packs of Mustard seeds from an Indian store (Costs less than $5). Took an old soft thin cotton cloth from closet and made it into a rectangular pillow by stitching on all three sides and 80% on the 4th side. I used the 20% opening to fill the pillow with the mustard seeds and then stitched it. It turned out to be of 1.5 inch thickness with some space for the mustard to move around when the baby’s head is placed on it. I covered the pillow with another layer of soft cloth to prevent the mustard seeds from spilling – just in case.
I fixed the appointment with Morristown Memorial Hospital’s Cranio Facial Centre for after a month. I gave one month for this treatment to work. If it doesn’t, then I’ll go with whatever the experts suggest. And yes, when I took him for the appointment, the doctors examined his head and wondered why I had fixed this appointment in the first place. When I told him about the history and about my miracle pillow, they weren’t very happy as that was the first time they heard about it. But whatever, IT WORKED FOR ME !!
