Pregnancy Signs & Symptoms, Week by Week Pregnancy Guide

When you ask how to avoid flat head syndrome you should know that this occurs when the baby has a flat spot on his or her skull as a result of mechanical factors that acted during pregnancy or in early childhood. As a result the head of the baby will be misshaped.

Information on avoiding the flat head syndrome

The good news is that this problem doesn’t affect the function of the brain and the effects can be reversed. There are a lot of parents who are afraid to put the babies on their tummies. In the same time there are a lot of products that encourage babies to spend time on their backs and so more and more children are affected by the problem.

Tummy time

In order to avoid the flat head syndrome you should allow your baby to spend some time on his or her tummy. It is best if you put the baby on the tummy for a few minutes after each diaper change. It is better to have short but frequent sessions than long and rare ones.

Alternate

The truth is that changing the baby happens quite frequently and this might be the answer to how to avoid flat head syndrome. The parents should alternate the direction on which they put the baby on the changing table. This short period also affects the shape of the baby’s head.

Switch the arms

When you are holding the baby, his or her head is pressed against your chest. This is why in order to prevent the flat head syndrome you should alternate your arms when holding the little one. This way both sides of the head will be pressed and there will be a balance.

Rotate the head

In case you are asking how to avoid flat head syndrome you should know that it is alright for the baby to sleep on his or her back. However you should try to rotate the head of the little one while sleeping, so that he or she will spend the same amount of time with the head on both sides.

See a doctor

If you think about how to avoid flat head syndrome and you think that your baby has problems of this kind, it is best to see a pediatrician. It is possible that the little one has an underlying condition that needs the attention of a professional.