The first months of a child's life are extremely important, because it is during this period that most of all the processes of growth and development take place. The kid changes literally before our eyes, grows and develops every day. But the neonatal period is also important for the diagnosis and treatment of many serious diseases and developmental abnormalities. In this article, we will talk about the structure of the skull of a newborn, possible deviations from the norms of development, how to detect deformity of the skull in newborns and what to do if you notice an uneven skull in your child.
The shape, size and structure of the newborn's skull
When the child passes through the birth canal, the skull bones are superimposed on each other, and after the appearance of the baby the skull is "straightened out", acquiring a more convex shape. The course of labor can significantly change the shape of the child's head. Thus, with severe childbirth, there are sometimes various deformations of the child's skull that can persist for quite a long time.
The most common genital deformities of the neonatal skull are:
- swelling of the soft tissues of the head (disappears after 2-3 days);
- cephalomatoma (resolves about a week or more). In case of its occurrence it is necessary to observe a neurologist, a surgeon, a neonatologist.
Parents should remember that newborns can not be constantly placed on the same side, press on the head, but you can touch and stroke it, even in the fontanel zone, and you will not cause any harm to the baby.
The average index of the circumference of the head of the newborn is 35.5 cm. Normally, the circumference of the baby's head should fit within 33.0-37.5 cm. It is important to remember that depending on the constitution or environmental conditions, the child may have physiological deviations from the mean indicators, which is not necessarily a pathology. The cranial cranium grows most intensively in the first three months, further growth slows down.
One of the main features is the presence of fontanels of the newborn's skull. Rodnichkami called soft places on the head of the child, they are located in the convergence of cranial bones. A large fontanel is located between the parietal and frontal bones. Its initial dimensions are 2.5-3.5 cm, by the half-year the fontanel is significantly reduced, and by 8-16 months it is completely closed. The second fontanel, the posterior small font, is located between the occipital and parietal bones. It is noticeably smaller than the front, and it closes already to 2-3 months.