Once you've seen one flat-headed baby you'd rather prevent the problem

I may have been in need of a magnesium bath when I wrote the last post or I may have seen too many babies with flat heads or with little plastic helmets during my career. Their poor little heads weren't flat on top, they were slightly flattened at the back where normally you have a curve.

I helped approximately 10,000 children and 3000 babies and their parents during a fifteen year career in prenatal health education, so Back to Sleep was an educational public health campaign that I had to talk about regularly at work. And then as helmeted babies became a regular sight talking about Tummy Time during the day and support pillows for necks and heads was added to the job.

To find out later that more than 2000 infants a year might be saved from SIDS by simply using an inexpensive mattress cover or switching to a mattress made with organic material is either exciting or devastating news. Or both.

Disclosure: One of my work-my-way-through-college jobs was sewing covers for all natural organic cotton futon mattresses -- they smell great and feel like you're sleeping on a cloud -- while still new, then they get kind of matted down but they still smell good -- but they can mold if you have them on the floor and they can't air out. So I may have some predisposed bias against synthetic crib mattresses that are treated with fire retardant or mattresses that are ruined with mold -- Disclosure: mold gives me very severe migraines.

/Disclaimer: Opinions are my own and the information is provided for educational purposes within the guidelines of fair use. While I am a Registered Dietitian this information is not intended to provide individual health guidance. Please see a health professional for individual health care purposes./