Supervised, active tummy time, as discussed in my previous blog, encourages the baby to look up and is more effective in helping with the correction of Deformational Plagiocephaly.Įarly diagnosis and intervention is best, as the majority of cranial growth is in the first 12 months of life and the greatest amount of improvement is achieved during this time. One of the things I always recommend is for parents to provide tummy time opportunities for their baby. Management will vary depending on the nature and severity of the deformity. 2,3,4,5 It is very important to have your infant appropriately assessed and managed. There are studies which suggest infants with a Deformational Plagiocephaly have neuro-developmental delays. They may also feed better on one breast and tend to not like tummy time.

What you may notice is they keep their head turned to one direction both while sleeping and playing and refuse to turn the other way or when counter positioned, will move back to their preferred position. The skull (cranial system) of babies is soft and heavy, a lack of active movement and head turning encourages flattening at the back of their heads.ĭeformational Plagiocephaly, “Flat Head”, can easily be observed when you look directly at the top of your baby’s head when they are laying on their back (best to bring your eye level down to be in line with baby’s head). 1 Whilst this has helped reduced the incidence of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), infants are now developing “Flat Head” or Deformational Plagiocephaly 1. Since the American Academy of Pediatrics introduced the “Back to Sleep” Campaign in 1992, where children are placed on their backs to sleep, there has been an increase in infants spending less time on their tummy.

Misshapen baby head