Caring for your newborn's head

Newborn baby’s head is pretty different from that of an adult. Parents freak out by feeling the softness of skull and when they notice visible pulsations over anterior fontanelle (soft part of skull lying in front of scalp).

• Skull’s Shape: I must let everyone know at this stage is that none of us have absolute round regular shape but because of hair on our head, the shape is not visible.
• Using Pillows: Parents ask this question very frequently about using pillows in a newborn and my simple answer is that they can use any pillow.
• Sleeping on one side: They are also disturbed by the fact that child sleeps only on 1 side resulting into compression and flattening of skull on that side. This should not be a reason to worry mainly because the development of skull takes place by the growth of 4 different islands of bone which increases in size and then meet together. The inner table of anterior fontanelle closes at 1 year and outer table closes around 2nd birthday. A large part of development happens when a child starts sitting and standing, therefore, you should not stress yourself out by the shape at 4 months.

I tend to reassure the parents and once they understand the process, stress levels go down. In case you still have any questions regarding your newborn baby’s head/skull shape, do not hesitate to ask your baby’s paediatrician.