Flat head syndrome refers to a condition of the flattening of the back or side of a baby's head caused by pressure on that part of the head over time. (There are other serious medical issues that can cause flat head syndrome too, but I'm just going to be talking about the one not caused by specific medical issues.)
It's suggested that one of the contributing causes of flat head syndrome is because babies are spending more and more of their time on their backs, eg because of the convenience of carrying baby around in reclined carrier seats and the like, so there's more pressure being placed on the back of their head etc - so not only are babies spending snooze time on their backs, but awake time too.
It's still important that babies snooze on their backs (because of the whole cot death thing), but there are some things you can do to lessen the time baby spends with pressure on their head during awake time.
Prevention tip 1 - snooze time
One thing you can do is to turn baby's head to the left when you put them down for snoozing, and for the next snooze turn their head to the right, and then alternate this way for every snooze time. Apparently babies don't always move their head that much while they snooze.
Prevention tip 2 - tummy time
And the next thing you can do is to give baby more "tummy time" while they're awake. Tummy time should always be supervised. Since some babies don't always like the idea of tummy time, here are some ways to do it to make it more amusing for baby:- lay baby on your chest, tummy to tummy
- prop baby up with your leg or a rolled up blanket under their chest, and you could give baby a mirror to look into and other toys to play with while in this position
- lie down with baby on the floor as well so that they can see you
- have some snuggle time with baby
- after a bath, lay baby on their tummy while drying them
Prevention tip 3 - avoid unnecessary extended car seat time
Don't let baby spend unnecessary time in car carrier seats. It may be convenient to keep baby in the seat and just cart them from home, to car, to shopping etc without leaving the carrier, but letting baby snooze in that position causes baby to be in a slumped position for a long time, putting pressure on one area of the head. Very new babies are still too weak to keep their heads up and body upright, so it doesn't do them any good being in that slumped position longer than is really necessary.Also, when putting them in the car seat, vary the head position like you would do when putting them to bed.
Prevention tip 4 - how to carry baby
Carry baby in your arms instead of letting them spend all their time in some or other cute baby-carrying gadget - most of them keep baby in the same position all the time, putting pressure on the same areas on baby's head. Here are some different ideas on how to carry baby, so that your arms don't get tired of carrying in the same position all the time:- upright sitting on your arm
- on your hip, similar to how you often see parents carrying toddlers
- in a sling, and this will leave your hands free
- like a football (but no touch downs aloud, hehe)
- like an airplane
- lying on your arms facing outward
Prevention tip 5 - incorporating into daily activities
- make turns feeding baby in your left and then right arms
- also make turns feeding baby in your arms as above and resting baby on your legs facing up
- if you have a baby gym, vary the sides on which you hang the toys
- when baby becomes stronger, let baby sit between your legs, and if baby is able to sit up by themselves, let them do so (but assisted and supervised!)
- burp baby by leaning them forward (is there really any other way to burp them anyway...?)
I had no idea something like this even existed until I found it by accident . . . can't even remember how. But I'm glad I did! :)
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