‘Flat head syndrome’ now affects 47 percent of babies’
A study out Monday says that 47 percent of newborns have flat spots on their heads.
Called positional plagiocephaly, the frequency of the position has quickly increased just as another more dangerous problem in babies, sudden infant death syndrome, has decreased.
A Canadian study released today from Pediatrics indicates that reducing SIDS may come with the cost of flattened spots on a baby’s head.
Plagiocephaly: On the left, a child with flat head syndrome. The condition is now seen in some form in 47 percent of babies, a study has found. The picture on the left shows a child post treatment
The bones of newborns are soft and if they tend to lie in the same position all the time, the bones can flatten in the skull on whatever side is most frequently in contact with surfaces.
A 1992 guideline from the American Academy of Pediatrics urged parents to keep their newborns on their backs to prevent SIDS.
Since then, the unforeseen and mysterious child deaths have decreased by 50 percent.
Meanwhile, the flat spots have been on the rise.
Before and after treatment: Guidelines urging parents to lay babies on their backs to prevent SIDS may have increased likelihood of flat spots
Common: The results surprised researchers because previous studies had found far few instances of the malformation
According to the study out of Calgary’s Mount Royal University, nearly half of 440 babies studied between 7 to 12 weeks of age had the condition.
‘That was pretty surprising. I didn’t anticipate that it would be that high,’ the study’s lead author Aliyah Mawji, an assistant professor of nursing, told the Canadian Broadcasting Company.
Of the babies found to exhibit flat head syndrome, the study found that 78 percent had a mild form, while 19 percent of cases were classified as moderate and the remaining 3 percent were severe.
Well over half of cases of plagiocephaly–63 percent–occurred on the right side of the head.
Expensive: To treat flat head syndrome, some parents turn to head bands like the DOC band, which can cost upwards of $3,000
Although not thought to be medically dangerous, the flattened head shape can become permanent, researchers said – which can have psychological implications for kids as they grow up.
‘This is super common,’ said Dr. Lisa Stellwagen, a neonatologist from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, who has also studied the condition
‘With the Back To Sleep (SIDS campaign) and the overuse of car seats, and people not holding their babies like they used to, we’ve sort of rediscovered this problem with infants’ head shapes,’ Stellwagen, who wasn’t involved in the new study, told Reuters Health.
That campaign was ‘enormously successful,’ Stellwagen said – and the new findings do not mean parents should stop following that advice.
Once of prevention: Experts still warn parents to always keep babies on their backs while sleeping but now suggest holding the baby more to prevent plagiocephaly
But there are steps they can take – such as holding their baby as often as possible and having ‘tummy time’ when the baby is awake and supervised – to limit skull deformations, she added.
Prior studies suggested that anywhere from 3 percent to 61 percent of babies have a flat spot on their head, Mawji and her colleagues noted.
Some research has tied plagiocephaly to delayed crawling or rolling over, but babies tend to catch up by 18 months, Mawji said – so it’s the potential for being bullied as a child that’s more of a concern.
She said the deformation can be corrected with a helmet – but those typically cost $1,000 to $3,000, so they should only be a ‘last resort.’
Babies should always sleep on their backs, but increased supervised ‘tummy time’ is a suggested prevention for flat head syndrome
For young babies, treatment for a flat spot looks a lot like prevention, researchers said.
‘You want to vary the side of the head that you’re putting your infant to sleep on,’ Mawji told Reuters Health. ‘If their head automatically turns to the right … what you need to do the next night is turn their head to the left.’
Like Stellwagen, Mawji recommended parents keep their baby out of a car seat when they’re not driving. She also said they should alternate the hand they hold the baby in while feeding.
Parents might not notice a small head deformation because they get used to how their baby looks, Stellwagen said, so it’s important for doctors to take a close look at the skull at early well-child visits.
