Flat Heads

Many babies have an uneven or misshapen head when they are born. In most cases this is caused by pressure on the baby’s skull while developing in the uterus, or during the birth. This is called positional plagiocephaly or more commonly known as flat head.

Babies can develop it during the first few months of life due to a positional preference of the baby’s head. If the baby’s head is always placed in the same position when sleeping, the effects of gravity on a soft, rapidly growing head may cause a flattening on one side.

Positional plagiocephaly is more common in

• multiple birth infants
• infants who are born prematurely
• infants who have not had the head position varied when sleeping on their back
• infants who have less than 5 minutes of
  tummy play time per day in the first 6 weeks
  of life
• Positional plagiocephaly doesn’t affect the development of the brain and in most cases,
  corrects itself over time.

PREVENTION AND TREATMENT
Flat spots may be prevented or treated by simple repositioning techniques and by relieving pressure on the head when baby is awake.  It is best to implement these simple measures from birth.

• Always sleep baby on the back, not on the tummy or side.
• Alternate the head position each time the baby is put down to sleep (left and right).
• Place baby at the head of the crib one day and at the foot the next day.
• Vary the crib position weekly so baby has new areas to look at.
• Hold and cuddle your baby in upright positions
• Avoid long periods in car seats, strollers, swings and bouncers because this causes pressure on the back of the head
• From birth, give baby increasing amounts of side lying and tummy time to play.
• Alternate the holding position when feeding baby i.e. hold in left arm for one feed and the right arm for the next feed.

Never use devices to position your baby while sleeping.  Never place your baby on their side to sleep.  Side sleep is very unstable.  Research has shown that baby who are not accustomed to sleeping on their tummy and are placed incorrectly or flip to the tummy from their side have an 18 to 20 times greater risk of dying of SIDS.  Coroners have reported deaths that have occurs the first or second time a baby is placed incorrectly.

If you have concerns about your baby’s head position, speak to your public health nurse and your doctor.

SIDS And Plagiocephaly -Flat heads
Used with permission
http://www.sidscenter.org/Plagiocephaly.pdf