Just got a really upsetting phone call-What does it mean?

My really good friend just called.  She said when she took her baby to his 4 month check up his head measure too big.  They watched it for 3 weeks and it grew some more.  They are sending her to a neurologist for a cat scan.  She said he weighs 14 pounds and his head was 17 inches three weeks ago and 17 3/4 inches now.  What does this mean?  She is really upset.  She said he seems to be developing fine, but they think he may have fluid on the brain.

[1nana]

It sounds like his soft spot already fused together. Normally it closes completely at around 14 months or so, but when it closes this early it can cause the symtoms (symptoms) you just described. Of course, there are a numerous amont of things that can cause these symptoms.

[1nana]

Read the post above titled "Please pray for Brody". This is the condition I was talking about.

[pcarsey]

When my son was born 10 1/2 years ago, his head circumference was HUGE.. 18 when he was born! Yeah it hurt having him! But anyways, he also had wiggly eyes. His pedi thought he had Hydrocephalus and told me he would have to have a shunt put in his head and most babies don't make it past a year and with his head size the way it was when he was born she thought he wouldn't make it 6 months or so... I took him to Columbus Children's Hospital where they did an EEG when he was 3 weeks old. I don't know if you have ever seen this procedure but it is not fun for the baby at all. They super glued 36 probes to his head to do the test for 2 hours straight. They wanted him awake and a sleep.. Yeah right!! As it turned out his head and brain were just fine and told me some babies are just born with big heads. We did discover that he has what is called Nystagmus, where his eyes move all the time.. but that is another story...

Not all babies are born being 20 inches long... not all babies have the same size head. I do agree he should have tests done, but tell your friend not to try not to worry too much, it could turn out to be just fine.

I will keep them and you in my prayers!!

[mum2beagain]

My son has hydrocephalus (water on the brain) at his worst point (before his shunt) his head was growing about 1/3- 1/2 an inch per week. Large heads on thier own are not necessarilly indicative of hydrocephalus, some people do just have bigger heads, rapid head growth (as in the case of your friends child) can however indicate a problem such as hydrocephalus. The cat scan will clearly show if this is the case. If it is it is likely that surgery to place a shunt (it is a permanent thing that helps drain fluid from the brain) would take place pretty soon. If his soft spot was fused (as in Brody's case on the other post) his head wouldn't be growing at the rate your friends child is, infact it probably wouldn't be growing much at all.

[1nana]

I stand corrected. I had Brody's condition confused with another.

[mum2beagain]

That's okay, so many different things out there. All the other symptoms would be the same though if it got bad enough; sleepy, vomiting, not meeting developmental milestones as both hydro and craniosynstosis put pressure on the brain.