The fontanelle is a bony space formed incompletely by the fusion of skull connections, divided into anterior fontanelle and posterior fontanelle, the posterior fontanelle is triangular, small or closed at birth, and closed at the latest around 6 to 8 weeks.
The anterior fontanelle is diamond-shaped, 1-2 cm at birth, enlarges as the skull grows, gradually ossifies and becomes smaller at about 6 months, and closes around 1 to 1.5 years of age.
The anterior fontanelle is important in clinical examination, if closed too early may be brain dysplasia, affecting intelligence; Delayed closure may be seen in hydrocephalus; Increased intracranial pressure can lead to anterior fontanelle fullness; The anterior fontanelle appears depressed during dehydration.
Fontanelle is the "barometer" of children's health, through the fontanelle to understand the baby's health, mothers should learn
Rumors about fontanelles
There are many rumors about fontanelles, the most typical of which is that fontanelles cannot be touched, and children become stupid, stupid, and dumb when they touch them.
This statement is not wrong, but it is a bit of an exaggeration, because simply touching the fontanelle will not have any health effect on the baby.
However, if the parents press the fontanelle with a lot of force, or the fontanelle is strongly impacted and squeezed, then the child's brain will be traumatized, and after the brain is injured, it is likely that the child will become stupid and stupid and dumb, and even some other bad problems will appear.
Therefore, as long as it is normal care, gently touching and cleaning the baby's fontanelle, there will be no problem, as long as it cannot be hit hard.
If there are these 5 manifestations, it may indicate that the baby has a health problem
Fontanelle deformation
The skin near the fontanelle is fragile and easily deformed. Normal fontanelles are smooth to the touch, and if they feel tender and convex, parents must pay attention. This is probably a reminder that the child is sick.
However, another possibility of the fontanelle depression is that the child is too hungry, and after feeding the child, the fontanelle returns to normal, which is a normal phenomenon and does not have to worry too much. But if the fontanelle does not recover, it is better to take the child to the doctor as soon as possible.
Close the fontanelle prematurely
Infant skull basically takes more than a year to grow up, if the fontanelle is closed before the child 6 months ago, it is the fontanelle to close prematurely, closing the fontanelle too early is likely to be a problem with the child's brain development, parents can measure the child's head circumference, between the normal head circumference, do not worry so much.
If the head circumference is abnormal, you need to see a doctor in time, if there is a child whose fontanelle closes early but is normal after detection, parents do not have to worry, after all, the development of each child is different, if there is a phenomenon of premature closure, parents take their children to do a check-up more assured.
Delay closing the fontanelle
Some children's fontanelles have not been closed at the age of one and a half years, which belongs to the late fontanelle closure. In the later period, fontanelle closure is mostly caused by physical problems in children, such as rickets or intellectual development problems.
Children with late fontanelle closure usually have too large a head circumference, which is likely to be a pathological condition of rickets, if parents find out, must seek medical treatment in time, otherwise it is likely that the child will grow up to have low intelligence and short stature.
The fontanelle is too small
Generally speaking, the fontanelle of normal children is about 2 cm to 3 cm long, and the fontanelle of children who are too small may be less than 2 cm long, and even some children's fontanelles cannot be touched at all.
To determine the size of the fontanelle, parents can touch the position of the fontanelle to see the size, or measure the child's head circumference. The head circumference is much smaller than normal for children. Basically, the fontanelle is too small, if it is found that the fontanelle is too small, parents must take the child to the doctor in time.
The fontanelle is too big
Fontanelle is too big for children, first of all, fragile, followed by fontanelle is too large, may be caused by hydrocephalus, hydrocephalus will make the child's head bigger, fontanelle will also become larger, so fontanelle is too big, parents should pay attention.
How to protect the fontanelle?
First, do not suffer external forces and trauma, because the fontanelle is soft, there is no skull protection, and local injury is easy to cause damage to the baby's brain tissue.
Second, pay attention to the warmth of the fontanelle, do not get cold, the fontanelle without closure is easily invaded by the cold outside, the cold evil will rush straight down from the fontanelle, the baby with poor resistance will not be able to resist, and the baby is prone to colds and other diseases.
Therefore, when nursing the baby's fontanelle, it is necessary to wear a hat outdoors, cover the fontanelle, so that the baby is protected from the risk of sun pain, sunburn, etc., and when cutting or shaving the baby's head, it is also beneficial to retain the hair in this part of the fontanelle.
Third, in the fontanelle daily cleaning, with infants and young children's special neutral mild soap or shower liquid, can not be washed with strong alkaline soap, in order to remove the dirty things on the baby's head do not use hands or nails to force the fontanelle, you can first use sesame oil to soak soft, with a small brush slowly and gently brush.