Many parents are afraid to touch these soft spots, but you can rest assured that, despite their lack of a bony layer, they are well protected from typical day-to-day baby handling. These soft spots, referred to as fontanelles (anterior for the larger one in the front, posterior for the smaller and typically less noticeable one in the back), are normal gaps in a newborn’s skull that will allow your baby’s brain to grow rapidly throughout the next year. You will notice 1 if not 2 areas on your baby’s head that seem to be lacking bony protection. Fortunately, over the next several weeks the bones of your baby’s skull will almost assuredly round out and the ridges will disappear, assuming, that is, that your baby doesn’t spend too much time on his back with his head in any one position-a common but easily avoidable cause for the development of a flat back or side of the head known as plagiocephaly. If you run your fingers over your newborn’s skull, you may also find that you can feel ridges along the areas where the bony plates of the skull have overlapped. Let us just say that for anyone who has gone through or will experience vaginal delivery, it is nothing short of a blessing that a baby’s skull is made up of soft bony plates that are capable of compressing and overlapping to fit through the narrow birth canal-a process referred to as molding.įor some babies-such as those who “drop” well in advance of being born (in other words, settle themselves head first deep into their mother’s pelvis well in advance of delivery), or those who must endure long labors and narrow birth canals-the result is often a newborn head shape that more closely resembles a cone than a nice round ball. This topic is particularly directed toward those of you who have been mistakenly led to believe that all newborns are born picture perfect with pretty little round heads.
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