BEIJING, Aug. 15 (Xinhuanet) --
Parents have been warned since 1992 that infants who sleep on their tummy may be
at risk of dying from sudden infant death syndrome, but now a new study suggests
infants who spend too much time sleeping on their back have an increased risk of
developing a misshapen head along with certain developmental delays, according
to the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA).
The 1992 "Back to Sleep" campaign,
which educated parents on the importance of putting their infants to sleep on
their backs, rather than their stomachs, led to a dramatic reduction in the
number of deaths from sudden infant death syndrome.
"As a result though, new parents
were afraid to put their babies on their bellies at all, even when awake,"
Colleen Coulter-O'Berry, a physical therapist at Children's Healthcare of
Atlanta noted in an interview with Reuters Health. "I see new parents all the
time that, by 4 months of age, have never put their babies on their bellies
because they are afraid the baby is going to suffocate."
The combination of babies sleeping
on their backs, as well as spending long periods of time in infant carriers that
double as car seats, puts pressure on the head, which can flatten the skull, she
explained.
"As a result, we've seen an alarming
increase in skull deformation," Coulter-O'Berry said.
Babies who do not get enough time on
their tummies can also develop tight neck muscles or neck muscle imbalance ¡ª a
condition known as torticollis. "If a baby doesn't get early tummy time, they
don't push up on their elbows, they don't get their heads up and looking around,
and they don't gain strength in their neck and back muscles," she explained.
So, what's a parent to do?
"Don't be afraid to put your baby on
their tummy for short periods of time while they are awake," Coulter-O'Berry
advised. "After a nap, diaper change or feeding, roll the baby onto his or her
stomach and encourage the infant to find, focus, and follow your face or a toy
with their eyes looking up."
(Agencies)
