Many parents worry and wonder whether supine sleeping causes
baby’s flat head.
Does
supine sleeping cause baby’s flat head?
Newborn
babies have soft skull that bends easily. If they spend too much time lying
supine with their heads at the same place, they will be more likely to flat the
head part that contacts with cushion. This state is called plagiocephaly symptom.
Plagiocephaly almost
occurs to ‘kings of sleep’ (babies sleeping throughout the night with the same
posture), to babies having abnormally big heads, or to premature babies having
weak muscles. Do not think that prostrate sleeping will helps babies avoid plagiocephaly since it increases
the risk of sudden infant death syndrome for babies while they are sleeping.
Prostrate sleeping increases the risk of sudden infant
death syndrome for babies.
After
babies are born, change lying posture each time they sleep (babies’ skull is
very soft in the first days, so plagiocephaly is easy to occur to newborn babies if they are laid
at the same posture for many days.)
After
the first weeks, babies can turn heads, so you should lay their heads towards a
different corner of the cradle for each night. Babies tend to turn face towards
door or place with toys on the cradle. Therefore, you should diversify the
turning so as for babies not to turn to one way only and to limit the fact that
one part of their heads always weigh down on the cushion.
Lying
prostrate is a chance for babies not to flat their heads. Train them to lie
prostrate a few times. Begin with 1 to 2 minutes of prostrate lying so that
they will enjoy this posture.
Lying
prostrate also encourages babies to develop neck muscles at the first stage of
life. As a result, they can comfortably turn heads when lying, and this limit
their heads from lying with one posture all the time.
Restrict their lying on baby stroller, cradle or other
places that make them turn heads to one way.
Change postures of holding babies when giving them
milk (especially when they are bottle-fed). Adjusting babies’ suck postures
will help prevent pressure from always being on one part of their heads.
Note: if you see that their heads are seriously flat,
take them to the doctor. In some cases, babies need doctor’s early
intervention.
