The fontanelle in babies is a common cause of concern for young mothers. This soft, gentle, throbbing spot on the baby's head is always thrilling and thrilling. It doesn't matter if you have your first child or third: every mother feels calmer when the baby's fontanel is finally overgrown. Normally, this happens in a year and a half. Moreover, there are situations when the fontanelle remains open for up to two or more years. This may be an individual characteristic of the child, or it may indicate the presence of some health problems.
Why does a child need a fontanelle
Fontanelle or crown - part of the child's head on the vertex, temporarily not covered by the bones of the skull. This is a physiological feature with which absolutely all children are born. In fact, a newborn child can have as many as six fontanels. Temechko is the largest, it is also called the frontal fontanelle. Besides him, there is one fontanelle on the back of the head, and four on the temporal parts of the skull. They usually close at the time of the baby's birth, but can be open in the first month of life.
The fact is that the skull of a baby in the womb is not a solid bone, like that of an adult. It consists of several parts that merge together after birth and in the process of growth. This is an ingenious idea of nature so that the baby's head can freely pass through the birth canal. In addition, in the first months of life, the human brain develops very intensively - much faster than bones grow. The fontanelles allow the brain to form freely. And the large fontanel, among other things, also participates in thermoregulation, which in a child gets better only after a year.
When the crown of the baby is overgrown
There are some averaged norms, according to which the soft crown should ossify by the first year of life. Grandmothers say that an open fontanel is already a deviation at a year and a half. Remember that all terms are individual: both later and earlier, the closure of the frontal fontanelle for a particular baby may be his personal developmental feature. Pediatricians give the following statistics: only 40% of healthy children have a crown overgrown by their first birthday. In general, the overgrowth of the fontanelle up to two years is considered normal, and even this is not the deadline after which one must panic.
Each baby's fontanel is different in size and overgrows at different times.
Likewise, the size of the crown: normal sizes can vary from 0.5 to 4 cm. Therefore, the panic about the "too big" fontanel most often has no basis. Please note that in the first months of life, the frontal fontanelle may not decrease (as many mothers expect), but, on the contrary, may increase. This is due to the active development of the baby's brain.
What should be the care of the fontanelle
The fontanel does not require any special piety. Caring for him occurs automatically - while washing and combing the child's head. Until the bones of the skull have grown together, the fontanelle is covered with dense connective tissue, so it is impossible to damage it with gentle mother's touches. The only important point: this area should never be massaged or pressed on it. therefore milk "crusts" on the fontanelle we clean as delicately as possible. Before bathing, lubricate the baby's head with baby oil, and then gently comb out flaky skin.
If the fontanelle of the child pulsates during crying - this is the norm.
In all other respects, it is enough just to periodically monitor the "behavior" of the fontanel. In a calm state of the child, he should be at the level of the bones of the skull. During sleep, the crown may be slightly sunken, this is an absolute norm. During crying, the fontanelle pulsates - and this is also a normal state of affairs. But even if the opposite happens (you see the pulsation of the fontanelle when the baby is asleep, or note that the fontanelle has sunk inward when the child is awake), this is not yet a sign of a dangerous illness. For example, a sunken fontanelle can be a sign that your baby is not eating enough. Be sure to contact your family doctor or pediatrician, who can determine the cause of the "malfunction" of the crown.
Why does the fontanelle grow badly?
There may be several objective reasons why the fontanelle overgrows, in your opinion, for too long:
- prematurity of the baby (in premature babies, the crown, as a rule, grows a little later)
- heredity (mom or dad of the baby was born with a large fontanelle, which did not close for a long time)
- type of feeding (mixtures in cow's milk bind calcium well, which is why it is absorbed by the body longer, so the baby's bones may grow a little slower)
- lack of calcium and vitamin D3 (bone formation slows down)
Take your baby to a neurologist every three months for up to a year
You can't get away from heredity, and the lack of vitamin D3 can be corrected with special drugs. If the pediatrician noticed any serious deviations during the examination of the frontal fontanelle, he will refer the child for an unscheduled consultation with a pediatric neurologist. A neurologist, if necessary, can prescribe an ultrasound of the brain (neurosonography). This examination is completely safe, while giving a complete picture of the development of the brain and helps to detect possible disorders in the early stages.
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How to remove crusts on a baby's head
Why is a newborn baby crying?
Do I need to wake up a newborn for feeding: pediatrician advice
