The whole "Back to Sleep" movement....

[astrid]

was just reaching a hyper-frenzy when dd (our first and only) was born in 1997. The mantra "Back to Sleep" was even printed on the waistbands of disposable diapers, for crying out loud. BAAAAD momma that I am, I never put dd to sleep on her back or side; only her tummy. She slept all night long, even though I nursed, and has continued to sleep like a champ to this day. For whatever that's worth. Maybe it was a fluke, but since she's my only, I've got no others to whom

I can compare her sleep pattern.

 

Over the course of the last ten years, I've seen so many babies with completely flattened heads in the back or on the side, I presume a side effect (no pun intended) of laying on their back or side during sleep. So now they've got REALLY misshapen melons, and some are often required to wear a tiny helmet to form the skull back into a round shape.

 

I can't help but wonder--- what's happening to that little developing brain from all that movement? SOMETHING must be getting "re-arranged." I KNOW that infants' skulls are very soft and pliable, but still..... :001_huh:

DISCLAMIER: IF YOUR KID HAS A MISSHAPEN SKULL, PLEASE DO NOT TAKE THIS AS ANY KIND OF A SLIGHT OR INSULT!

 

Thoughts?

[kaylk in tx]

and the medical experts attribute it to putting them on their back. i know that my ds7, born in 2000, literally would not sleep on his back. he would doze for a little while and then wake up... :tongue_smilie: in desperate search of sleep, i started putting him on his tummy and just lied to the pediatrician when she asked how he slept!

[astrid]

I heard recently that researchers had found a link with some chemical not being secreted in the brain. Can't recall the details now but I heard about it on the news, I think.

[Jennifer in MI]

I think that the back to sleep has something to do with it, but I also think that those car seats do too. I see people carrying the babies around IN the car seat through the store. That cannot be more comfortable than just taking the baby out of the seat! Babies now go from the car in the seat to the stroller in the seat and then back to the car, still in the seat. They get home and the seat comes inside with the babe still lying in it with his skull getting misshapen!

 

My kids slept with us from the time they were born. They slept on their sides mostly.

[abbeyej]

I have really mixed emotions on this.

 

My brother died of SIDS, and there's a pretty clear correlation (across populations!) that "back to sleep" reduces SIDS deaths.

 

That said, my kids just plain slept better on their tummies.

 

As for the misshapen heads, I blame that much more on those car seat-bucket things where babies seem to spend so much of their lives now. I'm all for safe car seats being used in cars. But babies don't get taken out of them to be put in the stroller any more -- the buck just fits in the stroller. They don't get taken out to be put on a blanket on the floor to play, someone just sets the bucket on the floor. They don't get taken out of the bucket to be carried in arms or a sling or a backpack, they just stay in the bucket.

[beansprouts]

I think the decline in SIDS has more to do with the awareness created by the "Back to sleep" campaign than the sleeping position. I can tell you that when baby #2 was a newborn, he spit-up while lying on his back and had begun to choke. I (the irresponsible co-sleeping mama that I am...) saw it happen and turned him on his side. In his case, back-sleeping created a potentially dangerous situation. I think it is probably more natural for babies to sleep on their tummies.

[MichelleWI]

We prop Baby slightly on their sides (which was the recommendation in 1994, with our first). We co-sleep and nurse throughout the night. Baby never stays on one side any longer than the other, really.

 

I have a niece and nephew who spent all their time in carseats and swings, for their first year of life and beyond. Both have a pronounced flat area on the back of their head (at ages 5 and 9). That was a lack of parenting, though, and not the fault of the Back To Sleep campaign.

 

At our OB pre-registration last week, the nurse stated that they practice "Back To Sleep" and I told her that was fine, but not with my baby. ;) I was gentle, but firm. We don't allow them to touch our babies, anyway. 100% rooming in and all that. :)

[unsinkable]

Not to hijack...but related to babes in car seats in stores...I see so many parents who do not undress their babies in winter once they are in stores! The poor little things are sweating up a storm b/c stores are so hot and mom won't take the baby out of his snow suit! You can't dress a baby for 20 degress and leave him that way in a 70 degree store!

[mommylaw]

I don't think the "Back-to-Sleep" campaign is to blame.

 

The flat heads also come from the carseat-stroller combos. Too many little guys are strapped into their carseats for hours at a time. The carseats snap right into the strollers and baby is strapped in.

 

In the late 90's, when I first became a parent, the carseat carries were just becoming popular. I don't remember any babies with flat heads. Now I see babies nearly a year old still being carried in the "buckets".

 

My kiddoes all slept on their backs and none of them had any flattening to their heads. I typically used a sling or Bjorn instead of a stroller and I never carried the carseat around. We also used the Bumbo from 6 weeks on with the little ones. My guys never liked lying flat unless they were asleep.

 

As a side, I do think that I'd continue to put my babies on their backs even if they had a flat head. I'm too pariniod to risk SIDS.

 

"As of 1998, more than 75% of babies were estimated to be put to sleep on their backs, in contrast to 25% in 1992. Over this same period, there was a dramatic decline in the number of SIDS deaths — by some estimates as much as 40%."

[Jennifer in MI]

I think I remember reading somewhere that SIDS may be caused by the offgassing of the mattress. So, if babes are on their backs, they aren't as close to the offgassing. I don't know if it's true or not!

 

I also remember reading that SIDS may be caused by vaccines. Apparently, in countries where they wait to vaccinate until the babe is over 6 months of age, they don't have SIDS.

 

Whatever the cause, it's just so sad.

 

Abbeyej - I'm so sorry your family went through that. I cannot even begin to imagine . . .

[beansprouts]

I have a niece and nephew who spent all their time in carseats and swings, for their first year of life and beyond. Both have a pronounced flat area on the back of their head (at ages 5 and 9). That was a lack of parenting, though, and not the fault of the Back To Sleep campaign.

 

I agree with this.

[anewday]

 

Over the course of the last ten years' date=' I've seen so many babies with completely flattened heads in the back or on the side, I presume a side effect (no pun intended) of laying on their back or side during sleep. So now they've got REALLY misshapen melons, and some are often required to wear a tiny helmet to form the skull back into a round shape.

 

 

Thoughts?[/quote']

 

Yep. Mine was flat on one side because she sucked her thumb and always turned the same direction...

 

Thankfully we caught it early and could prop her on the other side.

 

She's now 9 and while you can't tell by looking at her, the one side is still not as rounded as it should be.

[anewday]

I tend to think the reason for the lower death rate on their backs is due to the chemicals from the mattress that they breathe in. It just does not make "sense" to me that simply by being on their tummies they are more at risk for SIDS. :confused: There has to be a causative factor because they do not define SIDS as "suffocation"....

 

JMO....

[jmgconner]

I think the flat head syndrome is more from children not being held rather than the back to sleep campaign - too much time spent in the car seats or swings - especially in daycares!

[LizzyBee]

This is the reason that "front to play" was added to the campaign. Back to sleep, front to play.

 

I put all 3 of my kids on their tummies, too. One of my oldest sister's colleagues went to Australia to participate in the study that was used to kick-start the campaign. She left the study before it was over because (she says) it was so flawed that the results were not valid.

 

At the same time the Back to Sleep campaign started, it was also publicized that sheets on baby beds should fit tightly, excess blankets should not be used, babies should not be laid on soft surfaces that they "sink" into, etc. The theory was that the wrinkles in loose sheets and blankets could collect gases so that the air the baby was breathing did not have enough oxygen. Because of this, I'm not sure that the decrease in SIDS can be attributed to the change in sleeping position alone.

[Holly IN]

The hospital have told me to put my kids on their tummies due to them getting choked on spit up. My oldest was born right at the beginning of the whole Back to sleep movement. He is now 13 years old. They told me he needs to sleep on his tummy due to his reflux issues. The other kids they said the same thing but my dd was a back/side sleeper.

 

So I do see it has to be a case by case basis. My oldest would get choked really bad if he slept on his back.

 

Holly

[astrid]

This is the reason that "front to play" was added to the campaign. Back to sleep, front to play.

 

I put all 3 of my kids on their tummies, too. One of my oldest sister's colleagues went to Australia to participate in the study that was used to kick-start the campaign. She left the study before it was over because (she says) it was so flawed that the results were not valid.

 

At the same time the Back to Sleep campaign started, it was also publicized that sheets on baby beds should fit tightly, excess blankets should not be used, babies should not be laid on soft surfaces that they "sink" into, etc. The theory was that the wrinkles in loose sheets and blankets could collect gases so that the air the baby was breathing did not have enough oxygen. Because of this, I'm not sure that the decrease in SIDS can be attributed to the change in sleeping position alone.

 

And there is a lot of evidence that many of the studies were flawed. I remember one in particular-- there were too many factors surrounding the sleeping habits/patterns of infants to point to the sleeping position alone, independent of all the others (mattress gasses, loose sheets, blankets, etc.)

[beansprouts]

I tend to think the reason for the lower death rate on their backs is due to the chemicals from the mattress that they breathe in. It just does not make "sense" to me that simply by being on their tummies they are more at risk for SIDS. :confused: There has to be a causative factor because they do not define SIDS as "suffocation"....

 

JMO....

 

That is possible. I think it may also be possible that lying face down into fluffy bedding could lead to suffocation. I always made sure my babies had only a sheet under them if they wanted to sleep on their tummies.

[Danestress]

DISCLAMIER: IF YOUR KID HAS A MISSHAPEN SKULL' date=' PLEASE DO NOT TAKE THIS AS ANY KIND OF A SLIGHT OR INSULT!

 

Thoughts?[/quote']

 

My children both had misshapen skulls and had to wear the DOC bands you are talking about. It was not because of sleeping on their backs, however. They both had congenital torticollis and needed the helmets, braces (one of them) and phyical therapy. One may still need oral surgery, but we are crossing our fingers he won't.

 

I just wanted to chime in to say not to assume that children with cranio-facial problems are necessarily that way because of sleeping on their backs.

 

Not sure about the "back to sleep thing." I was terrified of SIDS and I did follow the doctor's orders on this, but actually, because of the torticollis, my children did some pretty weird things with head positioning anyway.

[Tracey in TX]

"Back to Sleep"--where was I? We have 1996, 1997 and 1999 babies and I've never heard the phrase. Was it national, or was I just oblivious?

There is an increase in flattened heads dx, but wonder if that's b/c peds now look specifically for this, and have a readily available solution.

 

Now, can we go 'back to sleep"?:D

[OH_Homeschooler]

I think the flat head syndrome is more from children not being held rather than the back to sleep campaign - too much time spent in the car seats or swings - especially in daycares!

 

I'm sorry but I've spent some time running an in-home daycare business and I take offense to this. It isn't true. I've had babies come to me from mothers who were returning to work after a year off (starting a new job) and the heads were flat already. I've had babies come to me from other daycares with perfectly round heads. I think your statement is an over-generalization and I really hate statements like this that aim to get the mommy wars going.

[Jennifer in MI]

My children both had misshapen skulls and had to wear the DOC bands you are talking about. It was not because of sleeping on their backs, however. They both had congenital torticollis and needed the helmets, braces (one of them) and phyical therapy. One may still need oral surgery, but we are crossing our fingers he won't.

 

I just wanted to chime in to say not to assume that children with cranio-facial problems are necessarily that way because of sleeping on their backs.

 

Not sure about the "back to sleep thing." I was terrified of SIDS and I did follow the doctor's orders on this, but actually, because of the torticollis, my children did some pretty weird things with head positioning anyway.

 

I have a friend whose ds has this same problem. He's now 3 and you'd never know his head was so misshapen when he was a babe.

[CookieMonster]

Over the course of the last ten years' date=' I've seen so many babies with completely flattened heads in the back or on the side, I presume a side effect (no pun intended) of laying on their back or side during sleep. So now they've got REALLY misshapen melons, and some are often required to wear a tiny helmet to form the skull back into a round shape.

 

I can't help but wonder--- what's happening to that little developing brain from all that movement? SOMETHING must be getting "re-arranged." I KNOW that infants' skulls are very soft and pliable, but still..... :001_huh:Thoughts?[/quote']

 

I have noticed flattened heads too - but I don't think it's from the back-to-sleep thing. In my experience, it's from infants being kept in the carseat too often and too long. Perhaps this is what you're noticing?

 

I have experience with a couple of families who use the carseat as an all day seat. It's easy to know where baby is, you can prop-bottle feed pretty easy, baby won't get stepped on by older siblings, and it's just plain handy. Never mind that their children develop flat heads and can't hold their own head up until they're six months old. Also, if baby isn't in the carseat, then he's in a swing or stationary baby seat.

 

FWIW, my children were back-to-sleep babies. They did not develop flat heads. They moved their head around while they slept and they had tummy time each day. My daughter slept through the night like a dream. They both rolled over at about the right developmental time, and if they rolled over onto their stomach then, I let them.

 

(Edited to add: apparently a lot of people are saying the same thing I did. I should have just read, quoted, and said I agree.)

[CookieMonster]

Wow, a whole bunch of people answered while I was typing my response. I'm on page three!

 

I tend to think the reason for the lower death rate on their backs is due to the chemicals from the mattress that they breathe in. It just does not make "sense" to me that simply by being on their tummies they are more at risk for SIDS. :confused: There has to be a causative factor because they do not define SIDS as "suffocation"....

JMO....

 

Dawn, the latest research on SIDS that I heard about referred to the fact that the child, for completely unknown reasons, stops breathing while laying on their stomach. A switch in the brain is turned off. And even if you're right there to resuscitate, you can't turn the switch back on.

 

I have no problem with parents choosing to tummy sleep their infants. It's such a personal choice. Some parents have no choice due to medical issues. But I don't believe that the back-to-sleep SIDS campaign is a misled one.

[CookieMonster]

I'm sorry but I've spent some time running an in-home daycare business and I take offense to this. It isn't true. I've had babies come to me from mothers who were returning to work after a year off (starting a new job) and the heads were flat already. I've had babies come to me from other daycares with perfectly round heads. I think your statement is an over-generalization and I really hate statements like this that aim to get the mommy wars going.

 

 

OH_Homeschooler, I really don't think you should take offense to this statement. I, unfortunately, have had lots of contact with less-than-stellar daycare establishments who do what the poster described.

 

I do not think she meant to say that all daycare centers are this way. I'm sure yours was not. But, the fact remains that too many are - and I believe these are the ones she was referring to.

[Alice]

I also remember reading that SIDS may be caused by vaccines. Apparently, in countries where they wait to vaccinate until the babe is over 6 months of age, they don't have SIDS.

 

 

 

I don't want to get into a vaccine discussion war but in my opinion, that kind of statement should have something to back it up. I'd like to see the evidence or source on that...

 

In 1992, the AAP first published its recommendation that infants should sleep in a nonprone position to reduce the risk of SIDS, and a national public education campaign, "Back to Sleep," was launched in 1994. Since that time, the percentage of infants sleeping prone has decreased from 70% to less than 15%, and the rate of SIDS has decreased from 1.2 deaths per 1,000 live births to 0.57 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2002 (from Moon and Fu, Pediatrics in Review 2007;28)

 

Most studies have shown that since the "back to sleep" campaign began there has been about a 50-60% reduction in SIDS deaths. It's pretty well accepted in the medical community that the cause of SIDS is likely multi-factorial and that sleep position alone is not the only answer. However, it is a simple thing to do. The back to sleep campaign does include the firm mattresses and lack of soft bedding in the crib so it isn't "pure" science. However, at this point those studies can't be done. (You can't put babies on their tummies or backs on firm or soft bedding and see what happens for obvious reasons. )

 

Other things that have been shown to decrease the risk are: not smoking (both pre-and post-natally), breastfeeding and most recently and perhaps most interesting pacifier use. Pacifier use in some studies was shown to have a 90% reduction in risk (in babies already sleeping on their backs).

 

There has been no concurrent increase in babies aspirating or choking since the advent of the Back-To-Sleep campaign. Healthy babies wake up and clear their airway.

 

Many people say that babies sleep better on their tummies. This is probably true. One of the more intersting theories about SIDS involves "arousal". Meaning that a baby who is sleeping too deeply may not arouse even if suffocating. Sleeping on the stomach on a firm surface is thought to still be a problem as carbon dioxide may pool around the mouth and nose and become trapped. The baby then re-breathes the carbon dioxide which can lead to hypercarbia (high CO2 in the blood) and hypoxia (low oxygen) , and apnea and death. Interestingly, the theory behind why pacifier use decreases the risk of SIDS is that it may increase arousal.

 

And finally, in answer to the original concern...I think the medical community sees the increase in plagiocephaly (the asymmetric flat heads) as pretty much due to the Back-To-Sleep campaign. The thought is that the outcome of a flat head is desired over the outcome of SIDS. We try and watch carefully for the development of plagiocephaly and to tell people how to intervene (positioning, tummy time, etc).

 

One more thought....SIDS is a horrible horrible thing for anyone to have to deal with. I don't at all mean to suggest by anything I said above that if you "do the right thing" that it can completely be avoided. We defintiely don't understand all the factors that may increase the risk which probably include genetic and environmental factors. Back-To-Sleep gives our best understanding right now but it is not at all the end of the story.

[Ravin]

There's also cross-cultural correlation between co-sleeping--particularly with the baby's mother--and lower SIDS rates, but you don't see promotions on that because it doesn't require spending money on more baby gadgets, cribs, etc., though there is the AAP recommendation that babies sleep in the parents' room in the early months.

 

DD slept with me and I could hear her breathe all night. She was able to regulate her breathing by hearing mine, and I slept better because I didn't have to get up in the night to nurse her, though I slept lightly. She slept on her side a lot, but also her tummy. Only rarely did she sleep on her back.

 

Like other primates, humans are a carry-along species with our infants, not a cache-ing species (that leaves them in the den while going elsewhere to bring back food, etc.). Human infants are hardwired by nature to expect to have mama or another caretaker close by, holding them much of the time. Crib-to-bucket-to-changing table-to crib isn't healthy or natural.

 

That said, judging by my baby brother (who as a foster child was required to sleep in a crib, on his back), the carseats are probably the big factor more so than the crib.

[Danestress]

I have a friend whose ds has this same problem. He's now 3 and you'd never know his head was so misshapen when he was a babe.

 

 

That's awesome. Most cases are more easily resolved than ours, but we are glad it was caught early enough to do something about it. One child was pretty much normal by that age, but the other just was more affected, and needed more extensive therapy.

 

I'm really glad I didn't know then that when people see children with flattened heads or molding caps, they make judgments about whether the parent is holding the child or just leaving him in a car seat all day. I would have been so so so upset if I had know that people make that assumption. There probably is a lot of truth in it too, but I am just glad I didn't know at the time that anyone would be thinking that way.

[Marie in Oh]

There have been studies done in cultures which postpone vaccines or don't do them at all and the SIDS rate. The two studies I am most familiar with are Japan, who doesn't vaccinate until children are 2 years old, and the Amish, who don't vaccinate at all. In both of these cases, the SIDS rate is much lower than when a traiditonal vaccination schedule is followed. Is it directly realated? Who knows, but. . .

 

it made sense to me. When I brought my first son home from his 2 month shots he took a 4 hour nap. This was the boy who NEVER slept. I thought, that was weird. Same thing happened with his 4 month shots. I am not saying this is scientific in any way, but in my experience as a mother of 6, there were many times I brought my babies home from their shots and they were difficult to arouse. Couple this with lots of blankets, smoking in the home, tummy to sleep, etc, who knows. There could be a connection.

 

By the way, I have let my last 3 sleep on their tummies from the get go. Back to sleep was especially big with my #4 and 5 but we lived in a bigger metropolitin area and I think there was more campaigns as such in bigger city hospitals. My first 3 had flatter heads on one side as I propped them on their side with a rolled up blanket. It never required any intervention, but I noticed.

 

PS. Just Google Vaccinations and SIDS and the Japan study will come up. I just did it before I posted and it was there. I can't remember where I read the Amish one.

[cin]

While picking up our dd in China, I'm gonna tell you, those orphanage babies have FLAT heads!!!!! Some of them, you could sit a glass of water on the back of their heads (if they were laying face down, of course!)

[anewday]

Wow, a whole bunch of people answered while I was typing my response. I'm on page three!

 

 

 

Dawn, the latest research on SIDS that I heard about referred to the fact that the child, for completely unknown reasons, stops breathing while laying on their stomach. A switch in the brain is turned off. And even if you're right there to resuscitate, you can't turn the switch back on.

 

 

 

That may be what the research has found, but what I think they need to go further. What is it that causes the switch? SIDS isn't "new" per se, but in terms of it reaching the "epidemic-like" proportions it has (in relation to history) it makes me think there is something in the environment, possibly vaccines etc. that cause or contribute to the switch, kwim? *shrug*

 

Like autoimmune diseases where the body just "turns on itself" - the body just doesn't "do" that when it's functioning properly. It's not that dumb. LOL So with SIDS, there has to be something that makes the body stop breathing :( .... I don't think that in most cases it's just that the brain "forgets" to tell the body to breathe....

[anewday]

And I do want to add here that I cannot imagine the pain of losing a child to SIDS and hope none of my comments have caused any dear moms who have any further pain. Friends in our previous church home lost their sweet dd to this and it their grief was indescribeable :(.

 

:grouphug:

[angela in ohio]

Mine all slept really well very early on, and they were on their backs at night. I think sleeping well has more to do with other things. Mine never had flat heads, but I did have them on their tummies or in my arms most of the day. I don't know if that makes a difference or not. Even at night, they don't sleep looking straight up; they lay their head to one side or the other.

 

Ds was going to have to wear a helmet, but it was because of birth, not sleeping on his back (he was only a few days old, too young for any effects.) I haven't ever seen a baby with a helmet on IRL. Ds didn't have to wear one for two reasons: (1.) it got better over the next few weeks, and (2.) I convinced them to take a really good look at dh's head, which has a similar flat/bump as ds. :001_smile: Not everyone has a perfectly round head to begin with.

 

Also... If SIDS were caused by vaccines, why the drastic drop in SIDS even while there is an increase in vaccines given? I must be missing something.

[Mamagistra]

I have really mixed emotions on this.

 

My brother died of SIDS, and there's a pretty clear correlation (across populations!) that "back to sleep" reduces SIDS deaths.

 

That said, my kids just plain slept better on their tummies.

 

As for the misshapen heads, I blame that much more on those car seat-bucket things where babies seem to spend so much of their lives now. I'm all for safe car seats being used in cars. But babies don't get taken out of them to be put in the stroller any more -- the buck just fits in the stroller. They don't get taken out to be put on a blanket on the floor to play, someone just sets the bucket on the floor. They don't get taken out of the bucket to be carried in arms or a sling or a backpack, they just stay in the bucket.

 

Aargh! I hate the bucket thing! I refused to use them again once I discovered the sling. LOL

 

I'm so sorry about your brother. :grouphug:

[Mamagistra]

but you don't see promotions on that because it doesn't require spending money on more baby gadgets, cribs, etc.

 

:iagree:

[Ellie]

Aargh! I hate the bucket thing! I refused to use them again once I discovered the sling. LOL

 

Back when I was pregnant with my dd in 1975, I went in for my first prenatal visit; as I was waiting, I noticed a mother with a young baby, the baby sitting in an infant seat. The baby was facing away from his mother, and he was cooing and making all those cute baby faces. Was his mother watching and interacting with him? No. She was reading a magazine, totally oblivious to her baby. I decided right then that I would NOT use an infant seat, ever.

[jmgconner]

I'm sorry but I've spent some time running an in-home daycare business and I take offense to this. It isn't true. I've had babies come to me from mothers who were returning to work after a year off (starting a new job) and the heads were flat already. I've had babies come to me from other daycares with perfectly round heads. I think your statement is an over-generalization and I really hate statements like this that aim to get the mommy wars going.

 

 

I apologize. It was a generalization and I should have thought first.

 

No Mommy wars from me - I've been on all sides in my 12 years as a Mom: Stay-at-home Mommy, working Mommy, single Mommy, married Mommy. I should have said that the time I saw the most flat-headed children was during the time my oldest attended a nationally-run daycare. My experience might have been quite different if I had an in-home personal daycare for my son.

[Alice]

There have been studies done in cultures which postpone vaccines or don't do them at all and the SIDS rate. The two studies I am most familiar with are Japan, who doesn't vaccinate until children are 2 years old, and the Amish, who don't vaccinate at all. In both of these cases, the SIDS rate is much lower than when a traiditonal vaccination schedule is followed. Is it directly realated? Who knows, but. . .

 

it made sense to me. When I brought my first son home from his 2 month shots he took a 4 hour nap. This was the boy who NEVER slept. I thought, that was weird. Same thing happened with his 4 month shots. I am not saying this is scientific in any way, but in my experience as a mother of 6, there were many times I brought my babies home from their shots and they were difficult to arouse. Couple this with lots of blankets, smoking in the home, tummy to sleep, etc, who knows. There could be a connection.

 

By the way, I have let my last 3 sleep on their tummies from the get go. Back to sleep was especially big with my #4 and 5 but we lived in a bigger metropolitin area and I think there was more campaigns as such in bigger city hospitals. My first 3 had flatter heads on one side as I propped them on their side with a rolled up blanket. It never required any intervention, but I noticed.

 

PS. Just Google Vaccinations and SIDS and the Japan study will come up. I just did it before I posted and it was there. I can't remember where I read the Amish one.

 

I did Google Vaccinations and SIDS. I didn't see a specific study from Japan, although I saw a lot of websites referencing Japan. Indeed the Japanese did raise the vaccination age to 2 yrs in the 1970's (from what I could see they have again lowered it and vaccinate as young as 3 months...although with a different schedule from us.) One study I saw showed that the definition of SIDS in Japan specifically was "vaccine associated" or was tied to compensation for "vaccine injury". They also defined SIDS as being under 1 yr. Therefore, when raising the age of vaccinatin to 2 yrs....SIDS disappeared as a diagnosis. However, they still had something they called SUD (sudden unexplained death). The rates of SUD didn't change. They did however, have an increase in pertussis and pertussis-related deaths. Interestingly, Japan also pulled MMR after the concern about a link with autism was reported in 1993. They have had a continued increase in autism since then.

 

I don't want to hijack the thread totally and I completely realize that intelligent people feel very differently than me on this topic. I'll just end with two quotes from sources smarter than me:

 

From CHOP (Children's Hospital of Philadelphia):

 

At the time of introduction of the hepatitis B vaccine for routine use in all infants, about 5,000 children died every year from SIDS. Within 10 years of the introduction of the hepatitis B vaccine the use of the vaccine increased to about 90 percent of all infants and the incidence of SIDS in that group decreased dramatically to about 1,600 cases each year. The cause of the decrease in SIDS cases was the introduction of the “Back to Sleep†program by the AAP.

 

However, since immunizations are given to about 90 percent of children less than 1 year of age, and about 1,600 cases of SIDS occur every year, it would be expected, statistically, that every year about 50 cases of SIDS will occur within 24 hours of receipt of a vaccine. However, because the incidence of SIDS is the same in children who do or do not receive vaccines, we know that SIDS is not caused by vaccines.

 

And from the CDC:

 

One myth that won't seem to go away is that DTaP vaccine causes sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). This belief came about because a moderate proportion of children who die of SIDS have recently been vaccinated with DTaP; and on the surface, this seems to point toward a causal connection. But this logic is faulty; you might as well say that eating bread causes car crashes, since most drivers who crash their cars had probably eaten bread within the past 24 hours.

 

If you consider that most SIDS deaths occur during the age range when 3 shots of DTaP are given, you would expect DTaP shots to precede a fair number of SIDS deaths simply by chance. In fact, when a number of well-controlled studies were conducted during the 1980s, the investigators found, nearly unanimously, that the number of SIDS deaths temporally associated with DTP vaccination was within the range expected to occur by chance. In other words, the SIDS deaths would have occurred even if no vaccinations had been given. In several of the studies, children who had recently gotten a DTaP shot were less likely to get SIDS. The Institute of Medicine reported that "all controlled studies that have compared immunized versus nonimmunized children have found either no association . . . or a decreased risk . . . of SIDS among immunized children" and concluded that "the evidence does not indicate a causal relation between [DTaP] vaccine and SIDS."

 

Ok...that's it I promise. :001_smile:

 

Just one of those things I feel passionately about...if you really want to see a group of pediatricians all excited come to a conference and start talking vaccines. :D

[OH_Homeschooler]

I apologize. It was a generalization and I should have thought first.

 

No Mommy wars from me - I've been on all sides in my 12 years as a Mom: Stay-at-home Mommy, working Mommy, single Mommy, married Mommy. I should have said that the time I saw the most flat-headed children was during the time my oldest attended a nationally-run daycare. My experience might have been quite different if I had an in-home personal daycare for my son.

 

Oh, thanks for the elaboration! I'm having a rough day and overreacting to everything, so I'm sorry too.

[CookieMonster]

One study I saw showed that the definition of SIDS in Japan specifically was "vaccine associated" or was tied to compensation for "vaccine injury". They also defined SIDS as being under 1 yr. Therefore, when raising the age of vaccinatin to 2 yrs....SIDS disappeared as a diagnosis.

 

However, they still had something they called SUD (sudden unexplained death). The rates of SUD didn't change.

 

Interestingly, Japan also pulled MMR after the concern about a link with autism was reported in 1993. They have had a continued increase in autism since then.

 

Thank you for this! (And the two quotes I cut off...) :bigear:

[Jenny in Atl]

I don't think either of mine slept on their tummy or back with any regularity... mostly they slept on me with breast in mouth. I can remember many nights with a baby sprawled across my chest, other times on their side next to me. Not sure if their heads are nice and round because they had no one set way of sleeping or not. I just know they never slept in a crib or sat for hours in a bucket (car seat, swing or bouncy chair). They were always in the sling or in bed with us. Heard that was considered bad too. :tongue_smilie:

[Karen sn]

OH_Homeschooler, I really don't think you should take offense to this statement. I, unfortunately, have had lots of contact with less-than-stellar daycare establishments who do what the poster described.

 

I do not think she meant to say that all daycare centers are this way. I'm sure yours was not. But, the fact remains that too many are - and I believe these are the ones she was referring to.

 

 

Most in house day cares are different than big mass daycares. At least the ones I have seen.

 

There is a relation between SIDS and vaccines.

Unfortunately, the coroner does not have to write cause of death as vaccine related EVEN IF THE KID GOT IT THAT DAY, CRIED CONSTANTLY, AND DIED IN THE NIGHT. The coroner can list cause of death as unknown, or use some medical mumbo jumbo. It's how we are taught to document in the medical field. State the facts that keep US safe.

 

It would be like saying someone died from low blood oxygen saturation without mentioning the pillow over his head.

[Karen sn]

There's also cross-cultural correlation between co-sleeping--particularly with the baby's mother--and lower SIDS rates, but you don't see promotions on that because it doesn't require spending money on more baby gadgets, cribs, etc., though there is the AAP recommendation that babies sleep in the parents' room in the early months.

 

DD slept with me and I could hear her breathe all night. She was able to regulate her breathing by hearing mine, and I slept better because I didn't have to get up in the night to nurse her, though I slept lightly. She slept on her side a lot, but also her tummy. Only rarely did she sleep on her back.

 

Like other primates, humans are a carry-along species with our infants, not a cache-ing species (that leaves them in the den while going elsewhere to bring back food, etc.). Human infants are hardwired by nature to expect to have mama or another caretaker close by, holding them much of the time. Crib-to-bucket-to-changing table-to crib isn't healthy or natural.

 

That said, judging by my baby brother (who as a foster child was required to sleep in a crib, on his back), the carseats are probably the big factor more so than the crib.

 

Co-sleeper here. And a deep sleeper.

But one night, in a deep sleep, I heard my baby's breathing change. I was awake in a second - the sheet had been pulled over her face. Probably not life threatening - but I was impressed that in my sleep I would know the sound (loudness) of her breathing had changed and wake up instantly.

[CalicoKat]

was just reaching a hyper-frenzy when dd (our first and only) was born in 1997. The mantra "Back to Sleep" was even printed on the waistbands of disposable diapers' date=' for crying out loud. BAAAAD momma that I am, I never put dd to sleep on her back or side; only her tummy. She slept all night long, even though I nursed, and has continued to sleep like a champ to this day. For whatever that's worth. Maybe it was a fluke, but since she's my only, I've got no others to whom

I can compare her sleep pattern.

 

Over the course of the last ten years, I've seen so many babies with completely flattened heads in the back or on the side, I presume a side effect (no pun intended) of laying on their back or side during sleep. So now they've got REALLY misshapen melons, and some are often required to wear a tiny helmet to form the skull back into a round shape.

 

I can't help but wonder--- what's happening to that little developing brain from all that movement? SOMETHING must be getting "re-arranged." I KNOW that infants' skulls are very soft and pliable, but still..... :001_huh:

DISCLAMIER: IF YOUR KID HAS A MISSHAPEN SKULL, PLEASE DO NOT TAKE THIS AS ANY KIND OF A SLIGHT OR INSULT!

 

Thoughts?[/quote']

In the hosp. nursery they put them on their sides. So that's what I did. None of my kids would sleep on their back for very long. I learned how to wrap them like a baby burrito and I put them on their side. No flat heads here. But there were a couple who rubbed a bald spot on the sides and back of their head.

[Whisperlily]

I admit it. I think of the "back to sleep" and babies not being held/too much carseat when I see that flat head. I didn't know there were genetic conditions that could cause this... but my guess is the majority of babies with flat heads like this don't have a condition.

 

Also, FWIW, I've known three babies who have died of SIDS, including one of my good friend's babies. All of these babies slept on their backs and followed all the current recommendations. The three I've known were all different ages... one was 2 weeks old, one was 2 months and one was 5 months.

 

I don't think if they'd slept on their tummies they would have been any less likely to have died...

 

All my babies slept on their tummies, because they couldn't sleep on their backs.

 

I don't have the answers, but there's my .02 anyway. ;)

[A.D.]

There is a relation between SIDS and vaccines.

Source?

 

Unfortunately, the coroner does not have to write cause of death as vaccine related EVEN IF THE KID GOT IT THAT DAY, CRIED CONSTANTLY, AND DIED IN THE NIGHT. The coroner can list cause of death as unknown, or use some medical mumbo jumbo. It's how we are taught to document in the medical field. State the facts that keep US safe.

 

Are you aware that there is a difference between correlation and causation?