Ben at 6 Months

I can't believe that Ben is six months old! He had his checkup at the pediatrician's last week and he weighs 18 1/2 pounds! He is a big, beautiful, healthy baby boy. Unfortunately, it seems that he has torticollis and acid reflux. Ben's head has been leaning to his left shoulder lately. It is most apparent when he is sitting in his new highchair. Although, even when he is lying down his head leans toward the left. Now we are going to have to squeeze physical therapy appointments in with the County Early Intervention and AVT sessions. The only odd thing is that torticollis is usually present at birth, and Ben never showed any indications of it until a few weeks ago. The pediatrician said that sometimes children with acid reflux will react to the pain and discomfort by tilting their head to one side. We have been giving Ben Zantac and we have noticed a big difference in that he doesn't spit up after every feeding and is sleeping much more peacefully at night. His neck is still tilting so we are going to pursue the physical therapy. Torticollis is corrected by doing exercises that strengthen the neck muscles. We have already started working with him on our own and have noticed some improvement. All of the rest of his development is right on target - he rolls over and pushes up on his stomach and scoots a little bit. He is completely engaged with all of us and babbles and coos - quite loudly! We are working with his AVT listening sounds and toys when we can and he loves it. He is a sweetheart and we hope and pray that this little quirk will be "straightened" out soon.