Help: Question about the soft spot

[Guest guest]

We have a son that's 16 months old, and we're considering banding

him, even though it's late in the game. Does anyone know the answer

to these two questions about the soft spot (he still has a small

one):

1. when does it go away?

2. once it goes away and it fuses, does that also mean that the

head has completely fused and that it can no longer really change

shape (even though it will continue to grow)?

Thanks for your help!

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I just searched on the web and this is what I found:

http://toddlerstoday.com/experts/answers/20.htm

There are actually six fontanels (soft spots) when infants are born:

the anterior (front) and posterior (back) are the easiest to feel and

identify, since they are on the top of the head. There are also four

smaller and less important fontanels, two on each side of the head.

The anterior fontanel is the largest and is a diamond-shaped

structure located just forward of the top of the head. The posterior

fontanel is a triangular-shaped structure located at the " crown. "

These fontanels are formed by fibrous tissue which loosely connects

the seven skull plates. It is important at this stage of life to have

the skull plates formed, but not fully fused. The reason for the

hard, bony skull plates is pretty obvious: protection for the brain.

However, when the infant is passing through the birth canal, the

skull needs to be able to conform to the contours of the canal. The

result of this is the molding (conehead!) we see when infants are

born vaginally. This molding resolves spontaneously within a few

days. The second reason for not having the skull plates fused is

brain growth. The skull plates grow along with the brain, and only

fuse together when brain growth slows. This generally happens at

about two years of age. The brain and skull continue to grow slowly

until about 15-16 years old, but the majority of the growth has been

accomplished by two years of age.

In the case of the two most obvious fontanels, the posterior

(smaller) fontanel usually closes by about four months of age. The

anterior fontanel may sometimes get larger for the first month or so,

but generally will diminish in size after six months, and usually is

no longer noticeable after 9-18 months. Note that it is still open

for a few months after it is no longer noticeable.

There are some rare abnormal conditions which may result in a

persistent open fontanel, but there are usually other signs such as

an excessively large head or other noticeable abnormalities; almost

never does an open anterior fontanel by itself mean something serious

is wrong. An infant with a persistent fontanel should be checked by

measuring head circumference regularly, as well as by monitoring

development and growth in other areas. If these are normal, an open

fontanel is generally not something to worry about. As always, one's

physician is the best qualified to discuss specifics

--------------------------------------------------------

My baby's soft spot (the one on the top of her head) was closed when

she was banded. At 9 months it was about the size of a dime. She was

DOCbanded at 11months and one week old and it was closed.

Hope this helps.

--- In Plagiocephaly , " dgast2000 " <dgast2000@y...>

wrote:

> We have a son that's 16 months old, and we're considering banding

> him, even though it's late in the game. Does anyone know the

answer

> to these two questions about the soft spot (he still has a small

> one):

>

> 1. when does it go away?

>

> 2. once it goes away and it fuses, does that also mean that the

> head has completely fused and that it can no longer really change

> shape (even though it will continue to grow)?

>

> Thanks for your help!