Nearly 20 years ago, the chief activity in a baby's life — sleeping — got a radical makeover. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) launched its “Back to Sleep” campaign in 1992, urging parents and caregivers to put sleepy infants on their backs rather than on their stomachs, as had been the norm.
Researchers had learned that back-sleeping cuts the risk of sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS; the rate of SIDS has been halved since the campaign's inception. But back-sleeping appeared to simultaneously increase the likelihood that babies might wind up with a flat head, a condition known as plagiocephaly, which means “oblique head” in Greek. Instead of a sweet, round orb, an infant might find himself — as mine did — with a lopsided noggin.
While the AAP believes that back-sleeping has increased the prevalence of flat heads,
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Researchers had learned that back-sleeping cuts the risk of sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS; the rate of SIDS has been halved since the campaign's inception. But back-sleeping appeared to simultaneously increase the likelihood that babies might wind up with a flat head, a condition known as plagiocephaly, which means “oblique head” in Greek. Instead of a sweet, round orb, an infant might find himself — as mine did — with a lopsided noggin.
While the AAP believes that back-sleeping has increased the prevalence of flat heads,
