It affects males and females equally and there is no obvious racial element. Premature babies are more likely to get plagiocephaly than those born at term probably because the skull plates become stronger in the last few weeks of pregnancy.

In a baby the skull is made up of plates of bone which have not joined together. These bones gradually grow and fuse together over the first couple of years of life. In young babies these plates of bone are relatively soft and prone to moulding (or changing shape if pressure is persistently applied to them. Persistent pressure on the back or side of the head can cause the skull to become flattened in that area.

Remember the dangers of cot death far outweigh the dangers of plagiocephaly

When your baby is wake and you are present encourage tummy time and side lying. Both will reduce the degree of pressure on the back of the skull and therefore plagiocephaly

Make time to hold your baby or carry them around in a baby sling. Again this reduces time that pressure is placed on the back of the head.

Move your baby around their cot. Babies often focus on the same thing so place objects in different places out of their reach for them to focus on therefore reducing pressure on a single part of the skull.

Do not always feed your baby in the same position.

If your baby naturally always lies on one side of the head try to place them on the other side or encourage them to look in that direction by the use of hanging mobiles etc. don’t have anything that is exciting on the side that will further encourage them to lie on the side they already prefer.

If your baby has started to develop a flat head place a rolled up towel under the mattress on that side. This helps reduce the pressure on the flattest part of the head.

Try to vary the type of surface your baby lies on. In the literature both hard and soft surfaces have been implicated in the development of plagiocephaly.

There is no real evidence that helmet treatment benefits children with plagiocephaly and their use is controversial. If a decision is made that a baby requires a helmet then treatment needs to commence between 4 and 6 months of age while the skull is still compliant. In Grand Cayman, helmet treatment is coordinated through the hospital physiotherapy department and the orthoptist. The child will need to wear the helmet for 23 hours of everyday for several months. The aim of helmet treatment is to relieve pressure on the flattened area allowing it to grow and re-mould and to place pressure on the relatively bulging area.

Again there is no evidence that pillows work. The premise behind them is that they reduce pressure on the area of the head that is being moulded. If you are going to use a pillow do your research carefully. Only a Mimos pillow has met the proper safety standards for use in babies and to prevent smothering.