2006 Press Releases

Saint Barnabas Department of Pediatrics Reports that Tummy Time is Essential for Head Development

Livingston, NJ -- Putting babies to sleep on their backs is credited with cutting the rate of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) in half. While “back to sleep” has positively reduced the rate of SIDS, physicians are reporting that babies need more time spent on their stomachs for proper development of the head and neck.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has issued new recommendations for preventing and treating skull deformities in infants. These recommendations are needed because there has been an increase over the past several years in the number of babies with positional skull deformities.

A positional skull deformity, or flat spot on the back of the head, can develop when a baby continually rests his head in the same place, such as in a crib, a car seat or an infant carrier.

“Children should be placed on their stomachs for a period of time while awake in order to develop strength in their neck muscles and arms and to assist them in learning to turn from belly to back,” says Susan Margolin, M.D., MPH, Chief of General Pediatrics at Saint Barnabas Medical Center.

In 1992, the Academy of Pediatrics began telling parents to put babies to sleep on their backs to reduce the risk of SIDS. While the AAP still recommends placing babies on their backs to sleep, they now offer additional guidelines to prevent cranial problems.

Preventing Positional Skull Deformaties

The following are suggestions for parents to prevent flattening of the baby’s skull:

• Providing "tummy time" allows the baby to develop proper skull formation, as well as the upper body strength needed to push up and crawl when the time comes. Whenever a baby is on his tummy, however, a parent needs to be with him at all times and make sure he is on a flat surface and awake.
• Vary the baby’s sleeping position by alternating which side you turn the head to each night at bedtime and naptime. For example, the first time you put him to sleep, turn his head to the right side. Next time, turn it to the left, and alternate sides thereafter. Also, periodically move the crib around so he has to turn his head in a different direction to see what's going on.
• The AAP also recommends limiting the amount of time your baby spends in a car seat when he is not riding in a vehicle. The same goes for other types of infant seats, such as swings, carriers or bouncy seats, where the back or side of your baby's head rests against them.
• Be aware that how you carry the baby and how you place him in the crib affects his head position. Most right-handed parents carry infants in the crook of the left arm so the infant must rotate the head to the right to look at the parent. Likewise, most right-handed parents lay infants down with the head to the parent’s left, so the infant has to rotate the head to the right to look out into the room.
  

To find an attending Saint Barnabas Medical Center pediatrician, please call 1-888-SBHS-123.

Date: May 19, 2006

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