When I was pregnant with my first daughter, my partner and I became aware of a growing problem called Plagiocephaly, or Flat Head Syndrome.
These days we're told we must place babies on their backs to sleep, to greatly lessen the danger of cot death. But because their young bones are still so soft, the skull can flatten due to constant pressure on the same spot, leading to an obvious deformity.
We forked out £75 on a fancy mattress to lessen the effects of Flat Head Syndrome, and it really did work, but this time we just can't afford to buy another one AND a brand new cot mattress as well.
Which is why I was keen to try out the Theraline Baby Pillow, which costs just £19.90, and promises to achieve pretty much the same thing. The anatomically designed pillow has a special hollow which supports your baby's head in the right position, and distributes the weight evenly, so there's no excess pressure on just one point of the skull.
The pillow is made from a porous fabric which regulates the temperature around the baby's head. Even if your baby happens to turn in the night - my biggest concern - they'll still be able to breathe freely.
The birth of my little one is still 11 weeks away, so I tried this out with my baby nephew. He seemed really relaxed, and his neck and head were softly cushioned in the hollow, rather than pressed against the flat mattress. I'll definitely be using the Theraline Pillow with confidence once the new bubs arrives.
* The Theraline Pillow was supplied this review. Visit Theraline for more details.
I wish I had known about this. My baby had a ventouse delivery and although there was little visual evidence at the time, she had a slightly stretched neck tendon on the left side meaning that she had a bias to the right. She now has a flat head on the right because she always lay that way. As her hair gets longer it is much less obvious but if it could have been avoided through the use of this pillow I would have definitely made the investment.
ReplyDeleteLouisa: It's quite frightening how many parents don't know much about Plagiocephaly - we only knew because my sister's baby developed flat head quite badly, otherwise we would have been oblivious too!! I'm surprised it's not mentioned by midwives - maybe they don't want new parents to worry too much about something that is essentially cosmetic?? Mind you, I found that they don't really offer much advice past the actual birth and first few weeks. Then you're suddenly left on your own to cope, aren't you?
ReplyDeleteThat's a very familiar problem. My first born had this condition, we spent a fortune on a helmet and visits to specialists. In the end he was so miserable wearing the helmet that we decided against it. For my second second son, who's almost 6 weeks old, we bought a similar cushion, only heart-shaped from JoJoMamanBebe.
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