Mattress causes flat head !?

[beaufies]

An acquaintence of mine recently warned me about cot mattresses causing the baby to develop a flat head (in 50% of cases) and it was very noticable on her baby.

I know that it is not permanent damage but I really don't want this to happen to my baby when he arrives.

Is it a particular type of matress or is there something you can do to avoid it ?

You can buy a little heart shaped pillow from jo jo maman bebe, for this purpose, my friend swore by it.

My own babies have never slept for long enough stretches for this to be a problem

The best thing you can do to avoid this is to invest in a sling like a Coorie or a wrap sling so that your baby does not spend too long in a car seat/pram, both of which are also contributing factors to Flat Head.

It is not cot mattresses that cause flat heads, it's the amount of time in total your baby spends lying on a firm surface. DD had all the same things as DSs but spent most of her time in a sling, not a pram or carseat and she had the most perfectly shaped head with no flatness whatsoever..

Any flatness that your baby develops will go once they start sitting up / crawling. They should also be allowed plenty of supervised tummy time which will help. Pillows or any kind for under ones are not advisable. Please don't worry though, flat heads are very normal but do correc themselves.

Soupdragon is right - nothing to do with cot mattresses but the amount of time a baby spends on its back.

The flat head thing doesn't always correct itself (my friend has a ds who still has one, not noticeable as covered in lots of hair now he's older but it is still very much there.)

Have a look at the "Natures Amby Nest", it allegedly counteracts this issue and can be used instead of a traditional cot & mattress affair until the baby is over a year old.