Sleeping babies on their back is best
13 July 2003
Flattening of the back of the head has been an unexpected and increasingly common side-effect of laying infants on their back to sleep, US doctors say.
But they urge doctors to continue to recommend sleeping babies on their back as an anti-SIDS measure, and for doctors to counsel parents about simple measures to reduce the risk of positional infant skull deformities (Pediatrics 2003; 112: 199-202).
Australian paediatrician Dr Melissa Wake agreed. She said while there also seemed to be an increase in unilateral (one-sided) flattening of the back of the head in Australian infants, placing them on their backs was the 'right thing to do'.
'There are always going to be a number of children who get positional moulding due to the fact that they are spending a lot of time lying down with pressure on their heads,' said Dr Wade, director of research and public health at the Centre for Community Child Health at Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital.
She added that the problem often corrected itself in children with mild cases as they became older, simply because their heads were still growing and they were not spending as much time lying down.
'Babies should be put down to sleep on their back, but when babies are awake, they should be given lots of different opportunities to explore from a very early age and that means time on tummies, time in back packs,' said Dr Wade.
Reducing the risk
- A certain amount of 'tummy time' while the infant is awake.
- Alternating the head position between the left back of the head and the right back of the head during sleep.
- Regularly changing the direction of the infant in the cot so as to change the direction of the focus of their attention, such as the door to the room.
Last Reviewed: 14 July 2003
- 1. Medical Observer Weekly 11/7/03
