Is it true that babies head gets deformed due to their sleeping position?

My mother told me once that when my brothers, my sister and I were babies she would lay us on our stomachs as well as our backs. She said she also would cup her hand around the backs of our heads, kind of like you're making a snowball and smooth her hand around our heads, just the back and top. Because a baby's skull is soft and possibly can be molded. I know that all our heads are rounded and nicely shaped. So there may be something to it. I did the same to my son, his head was nice and round when he was born but I did this too and he has a nicely rounded head. I think there's a possibility that a baby could develop a flat spot from always laying on the same part of it's head, since their skulls are soft. But I wouldn't go so far as to call it a deformity. That's my opinion.

Hello again Jureathome!! The best remedy for this problem is to put your baby in a swinging crib but do not make it hard for him to fit.This way he sleeps well enough but his head would be molded round by the soft blanket you make a SWING FOR HIM TO SLEEP WITHOUT DEFORMING HIS HEAD FORM.

Yes, there is a pillow design for that, I have them when my daughters still a baby. And their heads now are all well formed. I noticed too that my ex head was flat at the back, my mother in law told me that she is not aware of that before and no one told her as well. You can give her softly massage on her head every morning. I also told this to my daughter that to watch the head of my grandson try to turn it to the other way if she noticed that he was been in that side too long.

Well actually there is a possibility as the baby has a softer skull than adults plus their fontanels haven't closed yet. It is in the book. So to prevent these some mothers tend to make their baby sleep prone. But sleeping prone must be cautioned. You must watch your child at all times in that case as some babies end up drowning with their pillows.

Your mother is wrong for sure. The only way for a child's head to be deformed like that is if they are left laying in one spot for long periods such as days to weeks or even months. While they are sleeping is more then okay to leave your child sleeping on there back it won't hurt there head. Yes babies bones are very soft and can be easily change but you have to left that way for extremely long periods of time. My daughter hates sleeping on her back so she slept on her stomach or side nothing is wrong with her head. Now if she stayed that way from the time she was born throw the first year of life with out being picked up moved and put into other position throw out the day yes her head would be flat on one side. Your child is just fine. You have to learn to ignore our parents at time because they are from a different generation and what they where told when raising children is way different then it is today. Doctors will tell you the same thing if you leave a child for long extended periods of time in on position that it will cause a flat area on the head. But just over night while sleeping or even napping it won't happen that way.

My mom and my mom's sister believes it is true that sleeping position deforms the head of the baby. They would always remind my sister in law to check the position and change it from time to time whenever the baby is sleeping.

Yes it is true. My daughter was held and slept as much as my son yet never had a problem at all with the shape of her head. My son on the other hand got a flat head in the back. I bought him a bumbo seat so he could sit up instead of being held or laying down when he was awake. It helped immediately. I really should have had the doctor give him a helmet but I dont know I just didnt think about it. If there heads get flat and its not taken care of they will grow up and have a flat head because thats how the bones will form. My son is 4 and has a slightly flat spot in the back.

I've not heard about this, not with a normal baby, regardless of how they sleep. My daughter slept on her back most of the time and only started sleeping on her side after she got bigger. I don't think she ever really slept facedown except for the rare time she totally conked out unexpectedly with her butt up in the air lol. When she was born, she didn't even have a cone head, which surprised me because she had a BIG head and I am a SMALL person lol. I would voice my concerns to the doctor and then take whatever your mother says with a grain of salt. If your baby's head is not getting flat on one side, I am sure there's nothing to worry about. I know my daughter rubbed the back of her head in her carseat so much as an infant/young toddler that she rubbed a little round bald spot right in the center of the back of her head lol. It grew back

First I want to say, for some reason Doctors don't always comment on things that a mother might have a concern about,they may not notice it speaking from experience. Because we are closer to our children than a doctor is we need to speak up and say something and if you don't like the answer get a second opinion. If your baby is sleeping on one side more than the other you need to turn her head to the other side, she will resist this because she's comfortable sleeping on one side. If you don't do this she could end up with a square or lopsided head. When I was a kid one of the neighborhood kids head was deformed, it was kind of like a lopsided square because he always slept on one side only and his mother didn't rotate it, she didn't know better, however she learned and made sure to rotate her second childs head. Hope I didn't scare you, that's just what I know from my experience.

the babies head is still very soft so it is possible that it could get deformed when you let her sleep in one way only, you should try changing different positions. i also get this advice with my baby back then..her head was well formed when she came out and then got a bit deformed because most of the time she sleep with her back. it would be hard to prevent it when the baby's head gets hard already..so the first few months we must be careful with their sleeping positions when their head is still soft.

I also believe on this thing, that is why I bought a special pillow for my babies (that was several years ago). I would also change their sleeping position from time to time. I can see some people, especially the boys, who have a not-perfectly-shaped head especially if they are undergoing trainings wherein they are required to cut their hair short. So there is no harm in following the advise of our mother.