Baby's Got A Flat Head

By Sora Song

Since 1992, when the American Academy of Pediatrics launched its Back to Sleep campaign, U.S. rates of sudden infant death syndrome have dropped 40%. But doctors have also seen an increase in flattened heads, a side effect of sleeping on one's back. Prevention is easy, with a few precautions taken in the baby's first few months of life. Doctors suggest alternating the position of the head nightly, to left or right, when putting the infant to bed. Changing the crib's location helps too, so that the baby isn't always peering out the same side. A stretch of "tummy time" while the baby is awake--also good for arm strength--helps, as long as the child is returned to his or her back by sleepy time. --By Sora Song