The way the head of the newborn looks and is formed before and after childbirth is thought out by nature. Medicine has tracked the main trends in the development of this part of the child's body, and has developed a number of rules, any deviation from which should be alarming.
Immediately after giving birth, especially if they were the first, mom is surprised at how the baby's head looks - disproportionately large, slightly elongated upward. As the baby grows and develops, the parents may be concerned about the size of the fontanelle, the rate of its overgrowth. So that nothing distracts from the joy of motherhood and fatherhood, it is necessary, long before the birth of a baby, to learn about all the nuances of its development, including the principles of skull formation, possible deviations from the norm and the dangers to which they entail.
Newborn head shape and size
The skull of a newborn before delivery and for some time afterwards is fastened, practically, only by the skin membrane. And this is not a pathology, but a kind of trick of nature - thus it facilitated the baby's process of passing through the birth canal. If a child is born naturally, and not during a cesarean section, then the shape of his head can be round or oval, slightly elongated upward, flattened, ovoid. Do not be alarmed if the newborn's head is not symmetrical or has a characteristic postpartum edema.
Another feature is the size of the newborn's head. The head is disproportionate to the body, its girth is greater than the girth of the chest, at least 2 cm. Such indicators are the norm, and deviations are called hydrocephalus and microcephalus. Both should be the reason for a detailed examination of the baby, for a number of diagnostic measures.
Why hydrocephalus is dangerous
Too large a newborn's head (hydrocephalus) may indicate a build-up of cerebrospinal fluid in the skull. In the first months of life, this does not entail any danger, since most infants up to 3 months of age experience its outflow through special channels. After being examined by a doctor of narrow specialization, the child is prescribed therapy, and the problem is easily solved, without having time to develop into a serious pathology.
What is myrcocephaly
Microcephaly is the most dangerous for a newborn. A small head is a sign of her underdevelopment, which can affect the formation of the brain long before birth. The reason for this pathology is the mother's alcoholism or drug addiction, intrauterine infections, birth trauma, hormonal diseases.
What is fontanelle
The fontanelle is a non-ossified part of the skull in a newborn, protected by connective elastic tissue. It is needed so that the baby's skull during childbirth can adjust to the shape of the mother's small pelvis and the birth canal. There are six fontanelles on the head of a newborn, but only one, the largest of them, can be observed. It is located on the top of the baby's head and is completely overgrown by bone tissue only by 12 months. Its main functions are:
Facilitating the process of childbirth, Providing optimal space for brain development, Regulation of heat exchange, cooling of the brain during the period of increasing body temperature, · Depreciation in the event of a fall.
It is very easy to find the largest fontanelle, diamond-shaped, measuring about 2 by 2 cm, on the baby's head - it is located in the middle of its parietal part. Another fontanelle that can be felt is located at the back of the head, and its size does not exceed 0.5 cm.
During that period, until the fontanelle is overgrown, it is necessary to monitor how it looks. If the fontanelle protrudes too much above the surface of the skull or is too fused, this may be a signal of problems in the development of the child. The fontanelle can sink in against the background of dehydration, provoked by diarrhea, high fever. Having noticed this, you need to provide plenty of drink and call a doctor. If the fontanelle bulges, and this is accompanied by changes in the baby's behavior, high fever, vomiting, convulsions, if the bulging is observed for a long time, it is necessary to urgently deliver the baby to a medical institution.
How to care for a fontanelle
The shape of the head, its size and the general development of the baby in the first year of his life are directly related to the fontanelle. Medicine does not put forward special rules for caring for him. The most important thing is to ensure safety, to eliminate the risk of injury to the newborn's head in the area of the large and small fontanelles.
In order for the child's head to form correctly, it is necessary to put the baby periodically on the back, one and the other barrel. This measure will not allow parts of the skull to move to one side and will provide minimal stress on the fontanelle. In addition, there are several rules for caring for the fontanel:
When combing, do not touch the teeth of the comb, Wash the baby's head with neutral means and very carefully, After bathing, dry your head with blotting movements, Never put pressure on the fontanel, There should be no seams on the caps in the fontanel area, Before removal, soften the parietal crusts with baby oil or cream, · Do not rely only on the pediatrician and independently track the rate of overgrowth of the fontanelle.
The parietal crusts can be distressing to the baby and affect the rate of ossification of the fontanel area. If they form intensively, represent a dense layer on the baby's head, then you need to lubricate them with cream not only after bathing, but also before it - in 20-30 minutes.
What to do if the fontanel does not overgrow
Not only slow, but too fast bone formation in the fontanel area should be a cause for concern. If the fontanelle does not overgrow, and the baby is already more than a year old, then this may indicate the presence of the following problems:
Development of hydrocephalus, · metabolic disease, Rickets, Bone tissue disease, Hypothyroidism (violation of the functionality of the thyroid gland).
It is impossible to determine the reasons on your own, and you need a consultation with doctors of narrow specialization - an endocrinologist, a geneticist, a neurologist.
If parents note the rapid overgrowing of the fontanel, this should also serve as a reason for contacting a doctor. It is not necessary to wait for a scheduled examination, which is carried out monthly for children under one year old, you can come to the clinic and ask for diagnostic measures - to do blood and urine tests, ultrasound of internal organs, MRI of the head, if there are indications for this. This is necessary if, against the background of rapid overgrowth of the fontanelle, symptoms appear:
Nervousness, Bad, short-term sleep, · lack of appetite, Low rates of weight gain, Thinness, Unstable work of the digestive tract, Pallor or cyanosis of the skin.
The rapid overgrowth of the fontanelle can be a signal of the development of disorders in the formation of bone tissues - craniosynostosis, microcephaly, which entails abnormalities in the work of the central nervous system and the formation of the brain. Ossification of the skull in the area of the spring is considered early if it occurs at the age of three months from the date of birth. Parents have the right to insist on diagnostics aimed at identifying the listed developmental problems. But to refuse preventive measures, even if there are no other symptoms of violations, is unreasonable.
In no case should you rely on the opinion of grandmothers, girlfriends or neighbors if the shape of the baby's head, the rate of its growth or overgrowth of the fontanelle cause concern for the parents. It is important to realize that folk methods or self-prescription of vitamin-mineral complexes in such cases can be not only useless, but also very dangerous for the baby.
