Measuring Infants head

[hydrodad]

Hello everyone, This is my first post and may scare people but my intention is awareness. We have a good few children and have never had the importance of Head measurements explained and it does not feature in red book. However never been an issue having it done at 6-8 weeks and 1 year. Except for now, our one year old has a head off the scale but as they have grown it does not look big to us. We now know our child has Hydrocephalus commonly known as water on the brain. We have what looks to be a healthy child but with a condition that could cause brain damage until treated with surgery.

A large head can hide many things as we have found out this could have been tumor, bleed, anything.

Please when your weigh your child measure there head and plot it. for the price of a fabric tape measure so much worry can be avoided. every time our child wakes crying we have to do all the things like teeth or feed or nappy and worry is our child having a headache caused by pressure on brain.

The picture is a picture of our child's brain the dark areas are fluid so please spread the word to measure heads.

[NorfolkHealthVisitor]

Hi hydrodad

That must've been really scary for you, as parents. Thanks so much for your post, raising awareness of the importance of why we measure babies.

I'm really sorry to hear about the difficult experiences you have had with your child. It sounds like you are now receiving the right support and treatment, but if you still have questions or concerns about how best to manage your child’s condition, please do get in touch with the doctor who diagnosed this. You can also contact our health professionals on Just One Number - 0300 300 0123 – for support.

For parents or carers who are reading this post, it’s great to have an awareness of the importance of head measurements and to know how and when to ask for help if you have concerns.

The World Health Organisation produces guidance to show when children’s head measurements should be taken to identify any problems. They recommend that head measurements should be taken:

•Around birth

•At the 6-8 week check

•At any time after that if there are any worries about the child’s head growth or development.

Usually your midwife will take a head measurement around the birth of your child, and your health visitor will take a head measurement at the 6-8 week review and the 1 year review. If you are concerned about your child’s head growth or development, or your child didn’t have their head measurements taken at these points and you are worried, you can contact your GP or our health professionals at Just One Number – 0300 300 0123 – to discuss this and request that measurements are taken. We also do health visitor drop-in clinics when you can get your child weighed and measured, details are here justonenorfolk.nhs.uk/our-s...

There can be changes in your child’s measurements over time, but a health professional can tell you whether there is cause for concern and what to do next.

I hope everything goes smoothly for you and your child.

[Babypigeon Community Ambassador]

Thank you for the post hydrodad my baby is coming up to a year. She holds her head a lot but I've put that down to teething. But it's good to know just in case xx