Babies Placed in Supine Position Have Flat Spots on Heads: Study

Placing sleeping babies on their backs reduces the risk of sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS. A new study has found that the practice led to many children developing flat spots on their heads.

Flat spots or "positional plagiocephaly, is caused when the skull is deformed due to the baby being placed in a supine position for a long time.

The study was conducted on babies aged between seven and 12 weeks from four Calgary community health centres in 2010.

The latest study has found that over 46 percent of two to three year olds enrolled in the study had "positional plagiocephaly", although most, about 80 percent, cases were mild. The study was based on a sample size of 440 healthy babies.

"If they've got a flat spot on one side, what that likely means is that they've got the forehead protrusion on the same side and they also have a bit of ear shifting forward on the same side," said Aliyah Mawji of the school of nursing at Mount Royal University in Calgary, Calgary Herald reported.

Experts say that most of these deformities are cosmetic and need no surgical interventions. Serious cases of the condition may affect brain development.

"There are no functional problems that I know of, except for a distorted head," said Dr. S. Anthony Wolfe, head of plastic surgery and director of craniofacial surgery at Miami Children's Hospital, who reviewed the study, Huffington Post reported.

Mawji added that parents must continue to place babies on their backs as it lowers the risk of SIDS. However, parents can vary the sides that the baby is turning to.

"So, for example, if you're putting your infant to sleep on their back and they automatically turn their head to the right, because that's comfortable for them, the next night what you want to do is turn their head to the left, and then alternate back and forth," she said, reports Calgary Herald.  

The American Academy of Pediatrics and National Institutes of Health recommends placing the baby on its back to avoid SIDS, according to USA Today. Flat spots risk can be minimized by placing the baby on its tummy for some time during waking hours; changing the baby's sleeping position; cuddling the baby by holding it upright during daytime and changing the position of the crib so that the baby has to turn his/her head is different directions.

The study is published in the journal Pediatrics.