Lack of Awareness

[Guest guest]

Hi (and group),

It is more than sad that doctors endorsed on AAP's website and who

are members of the AAP are not very knowledgeable about

plagiocephaly. All of the doctor's at my son's pedi practice are AAP

members and AAP endorsed. Even worse, there is nothing on the AAP's

website regarding plagiocephaly and the only 2 related articles when

I did a search for plagio on the website were on the " Back to Sleep "

campaign and the firm implementation of it - no exceptions! There was

a small section on how to avoid plagio in an article that was put out

in Nov. 2005 that basically said to encourage " tummy time " and

alternate the side of the head the baby sleeps on by turning the head

to the other side every week. I have a real problem with the

more " tummy time " suggestion, because even if the baby was on his/her

tummy for all waking hours, a newborn still sleeps 2/3 to 3/4 of an

entire day. My son still sleeps 2/3 of the day (12 hours at night and

2 naps of 2 hours each) at 6 mos. My point is that if your baby

sleeps the majority of the time over a 24-hr period, and he is

supposed to be strictly on his back with NO props or positioners (as

firmly suggested in the article), he/she is very likely to develop a

flat spot. No repositioning techniques are endorsed by the AAP,

except manually turning your baby's head to the other side every

week, which is hard to implement 100% of the time.

I feel very strongly that this issue needs to be addressed further

with the AAP, and their " Back to Sleep " campaign has some holes in

it. Not even once, was anything mentioned to us by his pedi or the

NICU doctors and nurses about plagio and ways to avoid it. Even when

I brought up the possibility of tort and the flatness that was

developing at his 2 mo. appt, it was dismissed. Because my son is a

preemie and spent time in the NICU, he was at even greater risk of

developing plagio. My son was lying on the back of his head for 2 mos

when he should have been still developing in utero. Again, why wasn't

this discussed with us in the NICU or at his first pedi appt?

I saw in the files section of our group a letter that was written to

the AAP in 2000, attempting to make them more aware of positional

plagio and the correlation of plagio to their " Back to Sleep "

campaign. That was 7 years ago and it seems that no more progress or

awareness has been made in that amount of time. Ian's regular

pediatrician in our practice is fairly young and graduated from

medical school in the last 5 years. I would think that he especially

would be up-to-date on the plagio issue. It seems that the real

problem is total lack of awareness and refusal of the AAP to

acknowledge how big a problem plagio is because it will compromise

their " Back to Sleep " campaign and enforcement of it.

I am really considering ways in which plagio can be brought into a

new light by having some kind of national awareness campaign. Maybe

if we can accomplish that, the AAP and pediatricians around the

country will be forced take greater steps to EDUCATE and PREVENT

plagio. Does anyone know if this has been attempted before besides

the letter written to the AAP by group members? Does anyone know if

there was a response from the AAP to that letter?

Sorry to rant, but I am really amazed at how big of an issue this

really is and that the AAP refuses to do something EFFECTIVE about

it. I know many of you share my frustration.

Proud Mommy of Ian - 6 mos (4 mos. corrected age_

Northern VA

> > > >

> > > > Hi Everyone and Happy Easter!

> > > >

> > > > Thanks to all of you for your very helpful answers to my

question

> > > > last week about aggressive repositioning for my 6 mo (4 mo

> > corrected

> > > > age) preemie. He is developing like a typical 6 mo old and is

> > very

> > > > mobile. I have been attempting aggressive repo for 5 days

now,

> > and I

> > > > can reposition him during the day and at nap times to keep

him

> > off of

> > > > his flat side, but not at night. He insists on moving off the

> > > > repositioner or rolling back onto his flat side, so

aggressive

> > > > repositioning seems like it won't be an option for us.

So...this

> > > > leads me to many questions about getting started with the

banding.

> > > >

> > > > My DS, Ian has his 6 mo vaccinations and well-check tomorrow

with

> > his

> > > > ped. We have a Cranial Technologies 30 min. from where we

live in

> > > > Northern VA (I feel extremely blessed). What do I need from

my

> > ped.

> > > > in order to get an appt. with Cranial Tech or can I just call

> > Cranial

> > > > tech directly to make an appt? I want to get this process

started

> > > > ASAP, because the hot summer months are coming soon and Baby

> > Ian's

> > > > head is still so small yet and growing rapidly.

> > > >

> > > > If anyone would like to share their process and/or hints on

how

> > to

> > > > get him in a DOC helmet as quickly as possible, I would LOVE

to

> > hear

> > > > them! I should mention that my insurane is Aetna, so I don't

> > think I

> > > > will run into any issues there (praying).

> > > >

> > > > Thanks to all for any input, advice and help!

> > > >

> > > >

> > > > Proud Mommy to Ian - Her Miracle Baby

> > > > 6 mos (4 mos corrected age)

> > > > Northern VA

> > > >

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > > ---------------------------------

> > > TV dinner still cooling?

> > > Check out " Tonight's Picks " on TV.

> > >

> >

>