Living and Loving – September 2019

24 | SEPTEMBER 2019 | L&L

1

Fontanelle or

soft spot

Your baby actually has four soft spots

at the meeting places between the

skull bones. The biggest is the anterior

fontanelle on top and slightly to the

front of the head, and the second

biggest is the posterior fontanelle,

situated on the midline of the curved

rear surface of the skull. There are two

much smaller ones on the sides of the

head, but to most people these are

not even detectable. The sutures that

join the fontanelles enable the skull

bones to mould over each other for an

easier birth and to enable the brain

to continue its rapid growth after birth

without hindrance by a set structure.

Run the pads of your fingers

gently over the anterior fontanelle

to acquaint yourself with its size

and how it feels normally.

SOME FONTANELLE FACTS:

● Don’t be scared when washing

your baby’s hair, just be

gentle over this area.

● The anterior fontanelle will close

between six and 18 months.

● If closure of the anterior fontanelle

happens very slowly, your baby may

need the tissue salt calc phos.

● Babies with extremely big

heads, a large fontanelle and

scrawny bodies often require

the tissue salt silicea (12).

● Should the anterior fontanelle ever

bulge in a pronounced way and

your baby has a fever or seems ill,

see your doctor immediately.

● If the anterior fontanelle is particularly

sunken and your baby is not drinking

well, vomits or has diarrhoea,

immediate medical attention

for dehydration is necessary.

2

Your baby’s breasts

These might well be swollen – this

has nothing to do with pressure during

the birth process, but is simply due

to exposure to your hormones during

pregnancy. Don’t prod or squeeze

your little one’s breasts and simply

clean them as you would the rest of

her body. Sometimes, there might

even be a little discharge, which

will soon clear. These symptoms

need not concern you and they will

settle down within a week or two.

● Both newborn boys and girls mostly

have hard nodules under their

nipples and the area might even

appear swollen to the naked eye.

● A little girl’s labia (the lips around

the vagina) and a boy’s scrotum

are usually amazingly enlarged in

proportion to their overall body size.

● There might be a slight bloody

vaginal discharge in the case

of a baby girl, and a slight

blood smear might even be

seen in a baby boy’s nappy.

3

Breastfed baby’s

bowel action

Once the meconium phase has passed

(that’s the thick, greenish black, sticky

stool of the first few days), a breastfed

baby is likely to have a bowel movement

at every feed and often more than once

E

ven if you’ve had

babies grow up close

to you, read all the

books or listened to all

your friends who’ve “been there,

done that”, there are many little

things about your own special

bundle of joy that will surprise

or even concern you a little.

Knowing and understanding

what to expect will ensure you

aren’t caught totally unaware

and will put your mind at rest.

Here’s 13 surprising and informative

facts about your newborn

you’ll want to know about.

A whole

new

world