Since 1992 it has been recommended to all parents that their babies sleep on their backs, that is, with their backs resting on the mattress and the head tilted in order to prevent sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), since that to date the recommendation was to put them to sleep on their stomachs and the number of deaths was very high.
The problem is that putting babies to sleep on their backs is affecting the shape of babies' heads to the point that almost half of two-month-old babies have plagiocephaly to a greater or lesser degree.
These data come from a recent study conducted in Alberta, Canada, where they have studied 440 two-month-old babies looking for them head points that were flat, both at the back and on the side.
Of the 440 children studied, 205 presented some type of plagiocephaly, which they represent 46.6% of the total of children studied. If we look at children with plagiocephaly, 63.2% had the right part of their head affected and in 78.3% of cases it was mild plagiocephaly.
How plagiocephaly occurs
The postural plagiocephaly It occurs when babies spend a lot of time with their heads resting on a flat surface, which is usually the bed or crib, but which can also be the stroller or a stretched hammock.
In most cases (78.3% commented) flat points were observed in the head which, according to the researchers, are a aesthetic problem I shouldn't change the recommendation to keep putting the baby to sleep on his back.
How to prevent plagiocephaly
According to the researchers, and as we have already commented on Babies and morePlagiocephaly can be prevented, and even treated, when it is mild, by taking measures so that the baby does not spend so much time with the head resting on a surface.
These measures are those that can be done when a baby is awake, above all, to be able to turn it upside down for a while or avoid using the stroller to use other "transport" methods such as backpacks, scarves or scarves or even the arms of dad or mom (there are children of those who are called "very good", because they barely cry, sleep a lot and hardly ask for arms that are serious candidates for plagiocephaly if parents do not take it into account) .
Doubts in the figures
Regarding the figures of the study, and although I do not want to downplay the issue, I must say that it is a study conducted in four health centers in the same city that shows a very high number of children with plagiocephaly, but that offers doubts because other previous studies show an incidence that varies from 3 to 61 percent. This dance of figures comes to say that more research is needed, with larger studies and with children from different populations, in order to define a little what the real extent of plagiocephaly in infants can be.
How to treat plagiocephaly
In any case, it should not be denied that it is very possible that many children at two months have plagiocephaly because the different bones that make up the head are not yet fused (my middle-aged son, in fact, was born with a plagiocephaly more than obvious, for having been in the same position for a few weeks).
As the days and weeks pass, if the child is sleeping alternating the side of the head, flat points disappear. Let's say that if the baby has something flat on the right side of the head, it is necessary to place more emphasis on sleeping on the left side than on the right side (get, for example, that 60% of the time spent asleep is on the left side and the remaining 40% on the right).
In addition, during the day, we can put the toys, the crib mobiles and everything that is fun, including dad and mom talking to him and singing, to the left side of the baby, so that that side attracts more attention. Obviously, and as I explained, whatever it is to get the head to have no pressure will be positiveSo preventing plagiocephaly is another good reason to spend a lot of time with our baby in our arms.
What if plagiocephaly is more severe?
According to the data, 21.7% of children who had plagiocephaly had a more severe deformation. In such cases some doctors indicate wearing a corrective helmet It helps redirect the growth of the baby's head. Researchers insist that plagiocephaly is an aesthetic problem only, however some studies seem to show that Children with severe plagiocephaly may have worse psychomotor development that children who do not suffer from it, or who suffer it in a mild way.
In these cases, and although the social security does not subsidize it, I would look for a professional who works with these corrective helmets, because although it does not seem that there is any involvement in the areas of development of thought and language, the mere fact that they are suspected alterations in the development of gross motor skills seem to me reason enough to treat plagiocephaly. In addition, you get the head to take symmetry before and that brings more security and peace of mind to parents.
