Infant flat skulls can be avoided: U.S. doctors

Another article for the "Well, DUH!" file.   Amazing how some people
manage to walk without someone else (a physician?) telling them
(headphones?) how ("Left foot...right foot...left foot...right
foot...left foot...").

How many fights do you imagine this one little piece of advice--"Back to
Sleep"--has caused?  Husband:  "Aaah, honey?  The back of Bubba's head
is gettin' as flat as a pancake.  Whaddaya say we let him sleep on his
belly for a while to see if it helps?"  Wife (in a high-pitched, panicky
voice):  "NO! !!  No, no, no, no, NO!  He'll DIE of SIDS if we do that!
Dr. Imdeexpert said babies should sleep on their BACKS!   So what if
Bubba looks like some sorta weird doofus; at least he's ALIVE!!")

from www.reutershealth.com, Health eLine, 7/7/03...

Infant flat skulls can be avoided: U.S. doctors
Last Updated: 2003-07-07 10:54:37 -0400 (Reuters Health)

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Pediatricians told parents Monday to ****ft infants'
heads each night to avoid flattened skulls when they sleep on their
backs, the recommended position to avoid crib death.

The American Academy of Pediatrics issued a statement saying there had
been an increase of re****ts of children with flattened heads, probably
due to advice pediatricians have been giving for several years to put
children to sleep on their back.

Up to 48 percent of infants develop the deformity, the re****t said.

The head condition is basically preventable and treatable, the group
said, and can be addressed by placing infants on their stomach while
they are awake or by ****fting their head nightly to the right or left
side when they are put to sleep on their back.

The group also recommended changing the baby's orientation in the crib,
and turning the crib itself, so that the baby's attention is not always
focused in the same direction.

The doctors also said infants should spend only minimal time in car
seats since that position places the head the same way that sleeping on
the back does.

The re****t also said skull-molding helmets can be an option for infants
with severe deformity or skull shape that is resistant to therapeutic
physical adjustments and position changes.

It said surgery is rarely necessary to correct deformities though it may
be required in severe cases.