Baby Health Pillows prevent head deformation

Supine position of the baby can cause deformities on the skull and spine

03/20/2014

Parents usually place their babies in a supine position in the cot. Many doctors recommend this position because it reduces the risk of sudden infant death syndrome. However, the supine position can cause health problems. Physicians therefore recommend a positioning cushion, through which the head of the child floats freely.

Supine reduces risk of sudden infant death syndrome
Sudden infant death is the most common cause of death after the neonatal period in industrialized countries. Most children are affected in the first year of life. The risks include a low birth birth weight, passive smoking, overheating and sleeping in prone position. Therefore, parents are advised to put their child in supine beds in the cot.

Professor Guido Fitze, director of the Department of Pediatric Surgery at the University Hospital Dresden, however, reports that the supine position also carries health risks. This could lead to deformations of the skull and spine. The skull of babies is still soft and therefore easily deformable. In severe cases, even permanent damage to the jawbone and cervical spine can occur. Fitze reports that about every 200th child is affected by deformations. „Every week, I see three to four new cases in my office hours“, so the doctor. „That's a common problem. "

Positioning pillow helps against deformities on the skull and spine
To prevent deformation, parents can put their baby on a special pillow (pillow) at night so that the head floats freely in the air. „With this simple measure, a head deformation can be avoided“, informs Professor Joachim Jähne, President of the German Society for Surgery (DGCH), in the run-up to the 131st Congress of Surgeons in Berlin. „It is also helpful if the parents address the child from different directions in order to avoid preferential side posture of the head“, supplements Fitze.

„If it comes to a flattening of the back of the head, therapy should be started early. "Osteopathy, chiropractic or other manual therapies in the first year of life with mild deformations are usually very effective. „The treatments extend over several months“, explains Fitze. If it is a greater deformation of the skull help a helmet therapy, in which the baby a specially adapted helmet is placed. The best time is around the sixth month of life. „In this growing season, the helmet can best correct the deformation“, so fitze. „If the child wears this orthosis 23 out of 24 hours a day, the results are very good.“

Deformations can grow back to about preschool age. „Heavy deformations that also affect the face are not just a cosmetic problem, "informs the doctor, which could lead to premature wear of the cervical spine and incorrect loading of the temporomandibular joints that cause permanent damage.