Baby's sleep position major factor in 'flat-headedness': Study
Washington: Parents wanting their
newborns to have a round and good shaped head must now pay
attention to its sleeping posture as a recent study points out
that an infant's sleep position is the major factor in a
misshapen skull or 'flat-headedness'.
According to Arizona State University scientists, an
infant's sleep position is the best predictor of a misshapen
skull condition known as deformational plagiocephaly -- or the
development of flat spots on an infant's head.
Analyzing the largest database to date, over 20,000
children, the researchers found that the number of babies who
have developed flat-headedness has dramatically increased
since 1992, the journal Pediatrics reported.
"We looked at a number of risk factors, but the
largest factor was the sleep position of the baby," said said
Jessica Joganic, who led the study.
The condition is thought to occur when babies spend
too much time in one position. The research team found that
sleep position, and specifically, head position, are linked to
flat-headedness. Babies who slept on their right-side or
left-side tended to have right-side and left-side flat spots,
respectively.
The study, also found that boys were twice as likely
as girls to have the condition (a nearly perfect 2-to-1 ratio)
and also more common in firstborn infants, babies with low
birth weight, in breech and transverse positions in the womb,
and in multiple births, specifically fraternal twins.
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