Community Update

ROYAL OAK  – Efforts to reduce deaths from SIDS are paying off but there maybe a side effect parents weren’t counting on. 

Canadian researchers found close to half of two-month-olds have flat spots on the backs of their heads, a condition also known as plagiocephaly.

Reprinted from WWJ 

Beaumont Neonatologist and Huntington Woods resident, Judith Klarr says those flat spots aren’t a problem medically unless they interfere with development.

She tells WWJ’s Health Reporter Sean Lee that parents need to make sure they’re not relying too heavily on gadgets that could contribute to the problem.

“Car seats, bouncy seats, strollers, play pens, swings – people are not holding their babies and developing their head control and their neck control and getting the weight off the back of their head,”said Klarr. “They are using all these other devices.”

Doctor Klarr says flat spots on the skull that aren’t resolved by six months of age usually require a corrective helmet.

If you’ve got concerns, talk to your pediatrician.