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My baby has been in my family for more than three months. I accidentally touched the baby’s fontanelle before, but only afterwards did I hear that the fontanelle cannot be touched. Touching the baby’s fontanelle has serious consequences. Will it be harmful to the baby’s what? Will it affect the baby’s brain development?
Answer
First, let’s explain that this [mysterious] fontanelle is made up of what.
The human skull is composed of two parietal bones, two frontal bones, two temporal bones and occipital bones. When the baby is born, these bones are not well developed and the bone suture is not completely closed. There is a water caltrop gap in front of the head, which is the anterior fontanelle. There is also a [herringbone] shaped gap in the occipital, which is the posterior fontanelle.
The anterior fontanelle is about 2.0 × 2.0 cm in size at birth. As the baby grows, it is usually closed between one year old and one and a half weeks old. The posterior fontanelle is very small at birth and usually closes at 2-4 months old.
Fontanelle is a normal phenomenon in the process of human growth. When touching the anterior fontanelle with your hand, you sometimes touch the pulse-like movement. This is caused by subcutaneous blood vessel pulsation. There is nothing mysterious. Touching the fontanelle when touching the baby’s head will not produce what consequences, so you need not worry about touching the baby’s fontanelle.
The fontanelle is a bone gap, touching it will not affect the development of the mind.