A desperate young mother is locked in a race against time to make sure her baby’s head is not deformed for life.

Shanielle Tawney, 25, from Caringbah in southern Sydney, gave birth to Adaliya in mid-December last year.

Weighing 3.023kg, Adaliya was a healthy, happy baby and mother and daughter were out of hospital within 24 hours.

But when she was around a month old, Ms Tawney noticed that Adaliya could not turn her head to the left and was only sleeping on her right hand side.

‘She was a very long baby which meant that when she was in the womb she couldn’t move her head very much so her neck muscles became very tight,’ Ms Tawney told Daily Mail Australia.

‘This meant she could hardly turn her neck to the left so I had to go to a physio for six months and we now have full movement in the left hand side. But all that time lying on her right has left her with a flat head on that side. 

‘It’s been explained to me that a baby’s head is like Play-Doh, so when they press down and sleep on one side more than the other it can cause their head to go flat.’

Shanielle Tawney, 25, from Caringbah in southern Sydney , gave birth to Adaliya in mid-December last year (pictured: mother and daughter together)

Weighing 3.023kg, Adaliya was a healthy, happy baby and mother and daughter were out of hospital within 24 hours. But when she was around a month old, Ms Tawney noticed that Adaliya could not turn her head to the left and was only sleeping on her right hand side

This is because of a baby’s fontanelle, which is the name for the soft spots on an infant’s head where the bony plates that make up the skull have not yet fused together. 

It is normal for infants to have these soft spots, which can be seen and felt on the top and back of the head.

Adaliya’s condition, which is called deformational plagiocephaly, does not usually affect the development of a baby’s brain but, if left untreated, it can leave them with an misshapen face and head.

Varying a baby’s head position can help balance it out but if this is not achieved by four months, then a specially-moulded helmet is required.

Adaliya, who is now eight months old, has been categorised as an ‘extreme’ case but Ms Tawney has been told that a helmet is not available on Medicare.

Adaliya, who is now eight months old, has a flat side on her head

Her case has been categorised as an ‘extreme’ case but Ms Tawney has been told that a helmet is not available on Medicare 

The single mother, who used to work as a cafe manager but now relies on Centrelink, is desperately trying to raise the almost $3,000 it costs for a helmet to be made for Adaliya – and only has a three-month period in which it can work.

Ms Tawne, who has started a GoFundMe page to try to cover the costs, said she was unwilling to countenance the idea of not providing her daughter with the treatment she needs.    

‘I’m not trying not to think about what will happen if I don’t raise the money,’ she said.

‘I’ve raised $700 so far and I can probably put some of my Centrelink money in there and just leave myself short of food. I’d do anything for her.’

Adaliya would have to wear a helmet like the one pictured but it costs close to $3,000

Ms Tawney encouraged other mothers to be alert to their babies lying on one side – and to act quickly if they discovered they were.

‘Go and see a private specialist straight away instead of trying to fix it yourself,’ she advised.

‘You will then have a time frame to save up the money required because the treatment can only work in a very short window, up until about 18 months at the latest.

‘It‘s really until the little soft spot on their head, the fontanelle, closes.’

Deformational plagiocephaly is quite common, affecting up to one in five babies to varying degrees.