Sunken fontanelle- no other symptoms.....

[Beach Mama]

Isabelle's fontanelle is quite sunken at times, on and off during the day and at night when I get up to feed her and not just a little bit - the edges are quite obviously felt, even DH the other day said - oh she has bashed herself with something (uuum in her cot with what exactly???!!!!) You cant see it as she her hair has grown quite well over the top!
I called the MCH line and they reassured me that as long as she has no other symptoms there is nothing to worry about .....but...

Im still worrying!

Has anyone else had this with their little one??

She has no fever, lots of wet and pooey nappies, not grizzly, and literally no other symptoms!

[{sarah}]

Is it getting hotter where you are? It might be the start of dehydration, so make sure she has lots of BFs when it's hot or if you want to she can have some drinks of cooled boiled water in a sippy cup.

[Beach Mama]

Sarah - there have been some warmer days here so I have been giving her the breast more often on those days - seems to be even when the days arent that warm though, and sometimes even after a feed. I thought it was dehydration too - thats why I was surprised that the MCH line seemed very unconcerned, although a symptom of dehydration is also no wet nappies so Im confused, she seemed to say that it normal unless she has other symptoms and on its own its not a symptom as such

[Rouge]

Seth was the same, it was like that for a while. I learnt not to fret over it... eventually LOL!

[{sarah}]

Well there ya go, I didn't know that!

[Rouge]

I was really worried it was dehydration but my Dr assured me it wasn't. Sometimes it just does that, apparently if its sticking up its more of a concern (ie. Bulging)

[Beach Mama]

Nah no bulge - just sinks in and out at times, and sometimes more than others. Maybe I should just stop worrying!!!! Any advice on how to do that?

[Rouge]

Hmmm... when you figure that one out can you let me know

[{sarah}]

Zander used to throb with his heartbeat on occassions, now that was gross!! I ended up putting hats on him when it happened LOL!

[Tanya]

LOL Alecia thinks it's gross when it pulses too...

What are the 'syptoms' the MCHN spoke of?

[Beach Mama]

Yeah I can feel it pulsate when I put my hand on it to check it - eewww - glad the hair covers it!! Tanya the MCH didn't say what symptoms I should be looking for but I looked up dehyrdration in Kid Wrangling and Baby Love and they mentioned runny poos, dry skin or cold clammy, dry mouth lips and tongue, face and eyes sunken, less wee and few nappies than usual, darker coloured wee, foul breath AND sunken fontanelle, and from Baby Love

a sunken fontanelle is not a sign of impending illness in a healthy baby unless there are other signs and symptoms that there is something wrong.

Doesn't mention what those are either though, so there it is! Mmm this mothering gig is tricky!

[Schmickers]

A sunken fontanelle is a quite normal variation for some babies.

The earliest sign of dehydration, and the easiest to measure, is how many wet nappies your baby is having. If they are usually weeing eight times a day and you notice they are only weeing four, then this can be a sign of dehydration. BF babies generally only get dehydrated in extreme weather conditions, though, or when they are unwell with gastro or any other illness that limits their feeding or makes them sweat more (ie. anything that gives them a fever above 38 degrees). So it is almost unheard of for babies to become dehydrated without parents seeing signs. Don't worry - you'll know.

A change in the fontanelle is more important to us when we are assessing the baby - is it markedly more sunken than it normally is? Or is it bulging? A bulging fontanelle is a big cause for concern because it is a sign that the pressure of the fluid around the baby's brain has increased. this can result from an infection of the lining of the brain - meningitis. This is also usually associated with fevers or other signs of illness, but it IS an emergency, and requires an urgent trip to hospital.

Hope this helps.

[Beach Mama]

Thanks Michael, it is more sunken than usual when its down -but then half an hour later it will be normal again. Its been like this for about 3 days and there are definately no other symptoms involved.
Thanks for your help!

[Liz]

DS's still pulses! LOL. And coz he has spikey hair, you can see it!! His has always been quite visible and a little sunken.. I've never really worried about the dehydration thing, coz he's had NO problems giving me wet nappies to change! hehe.

Bit of a sidetrack - but does anyone know when it closes up? I've read it's a couple of years.. but then I've also heard it doesn't 'really' close up until the teen years! (might be similar to the bones in your wrist that don't join up until you've finished growing).

[Rouge]

It depends how much the plates move apparently. With Paris I had a c/s so hers took till she was about 3-4 with Seth his head was pretty squashed LOL and his closed over a little while ago. His head is also pointy along the ridge (Marc has this too), you can't see it but I can feel it.