50% of babies grow up with a Flat Head

Up to half of babies and young children today are growing up with abnormally flat heads. But it can be easily prevented. Tell all your friends and spread the word - this is how you can stop your child developing a flat head.

Since the Back to Sleep campaign, launched more than a decade ago, which encourages parents to put their babies to sleep on their backs to help prevent cot death, the number of cases of babies with severely misshapen heads has increased in line with the 70% reduction in the number of cot deaths.

There are no figures for occurrences of Flat Head Syndrome in the UK, because GPs and health visitors tell parents it is purely a cosmetic problem and will rectify itself in time and therefore do not record cases. However, Great Ormond Street Hospital believes up to half of all infants under one year are affected.

Although parents are advised to put their babies on their tummies for playtime, studies show that only 22% of mothers with babies under six months do this regularly. One in five mothers never put their babies on their fronts.

"...cannot scientifically prove it is physiologically damaging without research, neither can you prove that it is not" Madeleine Lewis-Pearson Craniosacral Therapist

Craniosacral Therapist Madeleine Lewis-Pearson said parents aren’t told of the simple techniques that could minimise the risk of any flattening to their baby’s head.

She said: “Health visitors do tell parents to give their babies supervised tummy time, and may say that it’s okay to put them in a side lying position when supervised, but none of them seem to stress the importance of varying positions regularly, or more importantly, warn of the consequences if they don’t.
“In an ideal world some research in to the possible long-term effects would be brilliant, because while you cannot scientifically prove it is physiologically damaging without research, neither can you prove that it is not, although any craniofacial consultant worthy of the title will be able to confirm the harmful effects of a compressed skull on the associated physiology.

“In some mild cases of flattening, it may sort itself out once the baby is sitting and spends less time on it’s back. But you only have to look around when you are out and about, or watch older children in the parks and playgrounds to see that many of these misshapen heads remain severely distorted.”

"Many parents are told to ignore the problem and that it will go away on its own, this is not always the case" Norman Waterhouse Head of the Craniofacial Unit  (Chelsea and Westminster Hospital)

Norman Waterhouse, Head of the Craniofacial Unit at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London, has called for more research into the condition.

“There is not enough education on this subject. Many parents are told to ignore the problem and that it will go away on its own, this is not always the case.

“I believe that better understanding of the condition will help Paediatricians and General Practitioners to advise parents appropriately and offer simple strategies for prevention and improvement.

“I see many babies in my practice with some degree of flattened skulls. With early recognition, this problem could be reduced by simple measure – such as special pillows designed to support infants’ heads in the first six months of life. This would reduce the need for more complex treatment such as moulding helmets and surgery.”

In Sweden, Flat Head Syndrome has been virtually eliminated since parents were advised to use special pillows seven years ago.

A leaflet given to all parents in Sweden when they leave hospital with their newborn babies states:
“All newborn babies should sleep on their backs and use a soft pillow. Babies’ heads are soft and are easily deformed due to one sided pressure when lying on their backs, which leads to asymmetric head shapes. Help your child to alternate the sides of the head left to right. Please note it is only the baby’s head that should be turned, the baby should always remain on its back while sleeping."

A related condition is Torticollis, or wry neck as it is sometimes called. This is a spasm of the muscles in the neck and occurs for a variety of reasons. In babies it is usually due to the twisting and turning that occurs in the birth process – particularly common where there has been ventouse or forceps intervention – although sometimes their necks can become contracted on one side due to their position in the womb. It can also occur in a multiple pregnancy when babies are more likely to be squashed together.

Whatever the cause, the effect is that the neck muscles on one side are stiff and contracted which then limits their range of motion. Typically they will lie continually with their heads rotated in only one direction. Over time this causes more pressure on one side of the head only, leading to plagiocephaly.
It is important that parents continue to put their babies on their backs to sleep. The Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (FSID) launched a campaign in 2006 to remind mums and dads that babies who were not sleeping on their backs were at an increased risk of cot death.

They found that increased awareness of Flat Head Syndrome was one of the reasons why 21% of parents were not always putting babies to sleep on their backs.

"Parents often wrongly think they should not let their baby be on the front at all" Clare Jolly Health Visitor advisor to FSID

Joyce Epstein, FSID’s director said: “We are really alarmed to see that a fifth of babies are not being placed on the back to sleep.

“This campaign is to remind parents they must not abandon back sleeping for babies. Parents may be able to avoid or minimise the effects of flat head syndrome simply by having fun with their babies when they are awake, not by jeopardising their safety when they are asleep.”

Clare Jolly, health visitor advisor to FSID said: “We are seeing more babies with flattened heads because they are spending so much of their waking time lying flat on the back.

“Parents often wrongly think they should not let their baby be on the front at all. When a baby is awake they should enjoy different positions from the very beginning.”

So remember, Sleep on the Back, Play on the Tummy and Prevent Flat Heads.