A baby’s sleep position is the best predictor of the development of flat spots on an infant’s head, according to findings reported by Arizona State University (ASU) scientists in the December issue of the journal Pediatrics.
The ASU researchers analyzed more than 20,000 children and found that the number of babies who have developed flat-headedness (known as deformational plagiocephaly) has dramatically increased since 1992. According to an announcement about the study, this increase coincides with the American Academy of Pediatrics launch of its "Back to Sleep" educational campaign that recommends parents place their infants on their backs to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
The study was designed to statistically evaluate the independent and interacting effects of biological and environmental risk factors that lead to deformational plagiocephaly, in an attempt to provide future guidance for clinical treatment.
"We looked at a number of risk factors, but the largest factor was the sleep position of the baby," said Brian Verrelli, an assistant professor in ASU’s School of Life Sciences and researcher in the Center for Evolutionary Functional Genomics at the Biodesign Institute.
The condition is thought to occur when babies spend too much time in one position, note the researchers, who found that, specifically, head position during sleep is 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.
Boys were twice as likely as girls to have the condition (a nearly perfect 2-to-1 ratio) and the condition was also more common in firstborn infants, in babies with low birth weight or in breech and transverse positions in the womb, and in multiple births, specifically fraternal twins.
Independent of the biological and environmental factors, the findings showed that sleep position was the best predictor of deformational plagiocephaly, and one that could be addressed by altering behavior, according to Verrelli.
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