What is plagiocephaly in babies?

Since we've had babies sleeping on their backs, we've had a new phenomenon called plagiocephaly, or flat heads. The problem is babies are spending so much time on their backs that their bones and their skull, which are still movable, are molding into a flat position. What can happen is babies can get asymmetry in their faces, and they get very flat in the back of their heads.

The problem with this is mostly cosmetic, but obviously not appealing to most parents and most people. So some babies are having helmets placed. In order to prevent this, we are encouraging parents to put babies on their bellies for most of the time when they are awake. When they're asleep we want them on their backs for sure, but when they're awake, the belly time will help prevent that molding of the skull.