Samenvatting

Since the recommendation from the American Academy of Pediatrics in 1992 to have infants sleep in supine position, as it may decrease the chance for the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) was published, there have been a lot of infants spending less time in prone position because of the fear
of SIDS. With the overall increased use of the supine position, health care workers have questioned whether this has an effect on the acquisition of infant motor milestones.
Objective
The objective of this study is to determine the effects of prone versus supine position on motor development in infants.
Methods
In order to examine this question, there was an online literature research conducted. This search was conducted in four databases: PubMed, PEDro, CINAHL and Science Direct. English full-text articles about a population of healthy infants under the age of 12 months, who were exposed to both prone and supine position and were measured on motor development were included in this review. The quality assessment was conducted through the “Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology” (STROBE) and the data synthesis was done by using a Best Evidence Synthesis.
Results
There is moderate evidence that some motor milestones were attained earlier in a group of infants that have spent increased time in prone position. There is insufficient evidence that spending increased time in supine position will have a negative effect on motor development.
Conclusion
This literature review demonstrates that there are beneficial effects of increased prone positioning on motor development, while there is inconclusive data about the effects of supine position, as there is limited evidence that focuses on the effects of supine position.