Tv and Torticollis

When Max was three months old we started noticing that his neck always tilted in the same direction and he made no effort to turn it the other direction. We let it go for a few weeks and tried to see if he could fix it on his own but when we realized it wasn't working we turned to PT.


Max on the Fourth of July. 3 months old.

Max Was diagnosed with Right Sternomastoid Torticollis which basically means his trap muscles woulnd't let his neck turn left. The easiest way to explain it is that the muscle on the right side of his neck is to short, causing him to tilt to the right and also preventing him from turning his head to the left. It also keeps him from being able to lift his arms over his head. not getting this fixed could lead to life long issues. After I got over calling him baby Zoolander (he couldn't turn left) I had to figure out how to get my THREE MONTH OLD how to exercise. I'm 25 years old and hate to exercise.. How do you make this tiny person do it? Easy Peasy actually, You bribe them with television.



Max on August 4th. 4 months old and still tilting his head


I always thought that I would be one of those moms that outlawed TV and bad books and high fructose corn syrup.. turns out I'm not. The only way to get Max to exercise his neck during tummy time was by letting him watch TV. Now I'm not going totally out of line with this, All he's allowed to watch is PBS... and Teen Mom. I can't help it if he's in love with Maci. After tonight though he is actually banned from Teen Mom as well. Who would have thought that Elmo and Big Bird would help him with his neck?



Tummy Time helping him hold his head up (This is Sesame Street)




So now the only problem we have is that he is ADDICTED to TV. He's only allowed to watch it during tummy time IF he's having a hard time.. but if he even sees a TV screen he's addicted. He even LOVES my iPhone. Crazy Boy.




It's hard to believe that he's going to be six months old on Monday. Its been more that six months since I was put in the hospital on bed rest and this almost six months since this miracle boy made it into the world. He's such a great kid. I only hope the next six months are just as much fun.