Repositioning Babies May Avoid Head Flattening
Plagiocephaly Usally Corrects Itself, Says Doctor
RALEIGH, N.C. -- The government's Back to Sleep campaign encourages parents to lie babies on their backs to avoid sudden infant death syndrome. And since the program started 10 years ago, the number of SIDS cases has dropped more than 40 percent.
But now there is a concern that babies are spending too much time on their backs.
Emma Coppedge (pictured, left) wears a little helmet almost every hour of the day. The 8-month old was born with congenital torticollis, a condition where one of the muscles on the left side of her neck stays tight all the time. As a result, Emma favors her right side.
Emma spent so much time on her right side that her head began to flatten and her features started to shift. The condition is called positional plagiocephaly.
Dr. Herbert Fuchs specializes in craniofacial disorders at Duke University. He said since babies spend more time on their backs now, their soft heads are starting to flatten.
He said he sees a lot of patients with the condition and cases range from mild to severe. However, he said most cases fix themselves.
"The normal history for this is to get better," he said.
To prevent it from happening, parents should reposition their babies at night so they do not always face the same way and avoid long stays in infant seats. Tummy time, placing an awake baby on his or her stomach, also helps.
"Many families come to us and say they hate that. I always tell them yes, they will hate it, but then they will get use to it," Fuchs said.
"We did that for a couple of months and we didn't see any improvement," said Amy Coppedge, Emma's mother.
The Coppedges decided to try something else -- a custom-fit helmet designed to "reshape" Emma's head.
While the helmets work, most doctors say there is no proof that it speeds up the process.
"There's no controlled study that shows for the mild to moderate cases the outcome is any different using the helmet," Fuchs said.
The Coppedges feel Emma's case is severe enough to try the helmet. They just want to spread the message to parents about the importance of repositioning.
"I think parents need to be aware of what plagiocephaly is and what they can do to prevent it so they don't have to go through all this," Coppedge said.
The helmets are expensive, costing around $3,000; most are not covered by insurance.
While plagiocephaly usually does not cause permanent damage, there are scull conditions that do. If you notice a baby's head is flattening or becoming mishaped, talk with his or her pediatrician.
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