Head-Shaping Pillows Not Protected for Infants – SheKnows

Does your child sleep with a so-called “head-shaping pillow”? It’s time to toss that factor to the curb, based on new steerage from the U.S. Meals and Drug Administration (FDA).

In a warning issued final Thursday (November 3), the FDA suggested dad and mom to cease utilizing these pillows, that are marketed as instruments to change an toddler’s head form or symmetry. The company mentioned it’s “not conscious of any demonstrated profit with using toddler head shaping pillows for any medical objective.” Quite the opposite, these pillows can “create an unsafe sleep setting for infants” and will contribute to an elevated threat of suffocation or sudden toddler dying syndrome (SIDS).

“In the event you personal an toddler head shaping pillow, throw it away; don’t donate or give it to anybody else,” the FDA continued.

Head-shaping pillows often comprise a gap or indentation to cradle a child’s head. They arrive in numerous shapes, together with hearts or ovals, and are generally marketed as head cushions, child help pillows, or flat head pillows. There aren’t any FDA-approved choices available on the market.

Mother and father ostensibly buy these pillows to fight flat head syndrome, or positional plagiocephaly, which generally happens when an toddler sleeps in the identical place for prolonged durations of time. This situation could cause an toddler’s head to have a flattened look on one facet. Since infants have such tender skulls, their heads are way more delicate to extended strain.

Flat head syndrome could look regarding, however it is rather widespread, not linked to any developmental points, and simply treatable with particular workouts, corrective headbands, or assorted sleep positions.

“Remember that, typically, flat head syndrome will go away by itself as an toddler grows, it isn’t painful, and it doesn’t trigger any developmental considerations,” the FDA added.

The usage of head-shaping pillows may inadvertently delay “crucial analysis” for considerations like flat head syndrome — or worse, “extra critical situations” like craniosynostosis, a beginning defect wherein a child’s cranium bones be part of collectively too quickly.

So, when you’re frightened about your baby creating flat head syndrome, discuss to their healthcare supplier about physician-approved prevention methods…not a head-shaping pillow from a random web site on the web.

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