Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 18, 2026
Assessment and Evaluation of the High Risk Neonate: The NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale
Published on: August 25, 2014
The Effect of Positional Support on Tolerance of Wakeful Prone in Infants
Jaclyn Guidetti1, Jenna Wells1, Annalise Worsdall1
1a Occupational Therapy, Doctoral Program , University of Toledo , Toledo , Ohio , USA.
Insights
Positional support, like a pillow, significantly increases infant prone time, aiding motor development. This helps infants tolerate tummy time better, regardless of their size.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric physical therapy
- Infant motor development
- Tummy time interventions
Background:
- Supervised wakeful prone positioning is crucial for promoting infant motor milestones.
- Many infants struggle with prone tolerance, limiting essential developmental experiences.
- Positional support is frequently recommended to improve infant tolerance during prone activities.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how different levels of positional support impact the duration infants spend in prone.
- To assess the influence of positional support on prone tolerance in relation to infant size.
Main Methods:
- Thirty-two healthy infants (average age 3.3 months) participated in a randomized controlled trial.
- Infants were placed in prone with three counterbalanced conditions: a flat blanket, a rolled blanket, and a pillow (Boppy).
- Duration of prone time was measured across repeated trials for each support condition.
Main Results:
- The pillow (Boppy) condition significantly increased prone duration by up to three minutes per trial compared to other conditions.
- No significant interaction was found between the type of positional support and infant size measurements.
- Infants demonstrated improved tolerance for prone positioning with increased levels of support.
Conclusions:
- Increased positional support, exemplified by the Mini Boppy®, effectively enhances infant tolerance for prone positioning.
- These findings support the use of specific positional aids to facilitate prone time for infants of all sizes.
- Optimizing prone tolerance is key to supporting healthy motor milestone achievement in infants.
Abstract:
Supervised wakeful prone promotes motor milestones. Indications are that many infants do not receive adequate prone, with poor tolerance as a contributing factor. A common suggestion is the use of positional support.
Aims:
This study has two main purposes: (1) To determine whether varied levels of positional support affect the duration of time spent in prone, and (2) to determine the effect of positional support with respect to infant size.
Methods:
A convenience sample of 32 healthy infants ranging in size, aged 3.3 ± 0.04 months, were placed in prone in three counterbalanced randomized levels of positional support: a flat blanket (Blanket condition), a rolled blanket (Roll condition), and a pillow (Boppy condition).
Results:
There were significant differences in time spent in prone with the Boppy condition affording infants up to three more min in prone across three repeated trials. There were no significant interaction effects between condition and infant size measurements.
Conclusions:
These results provide evidence for increasing positional support, such as through use of a Mini Boppy®, to facilitate tolerance for prone for infants of all sizes.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
01:11Anatomical Positions
The body is upright, facing forward, and standing erect.
The feet are parallel and flat on the floor.
The arms are hanging by the...
01:15REM Sleep Behavior Disorder
RBD is significantly associated with...