Doctors are concerned that my babies head is too big: Advice?

I went to the doctors the other day for my five-month-old. She was born at 32w and since then has done absolutely amazing. She’s 13lbs 3 oz and was born at 3lbs 10oz. She’s meeting all milestones for a normal five-month-old baby and is very smart. My concern is she needs a sonogram on her head because it’s too big and her doctors concerned. Her dad and I both have big heads, so I’m not really sure where the concern is coming from. Has anyone else had to get a sonogram for their baby’s head because it was too big? Was it fine?

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Obviously you first want to make sure all is well with your baby. But, my son had a very big head. An infant hat would not fit on him. Needed toddler size!!! He turned out to be 6’4" and head is normal…

Unless they are saying things like encephalitis I wouldn’t be to concerned. Probably more precautionary than anything.

My kid was a 31weeker and had a brain bleed, on top of being a pound under sized at birth. Her head was on the growth charts 6months before her body. Nothing wrong, just had a really big head lol

When in doubt, be safe. This is your KID!!!

Dr who be sure are the good ones

They told me 1000 things with my second child, including that she had a cyst in the brain, Missing a foot etc, big head. She came out perfect and she is the healthiest child. :slight_smile: Dont worry too much.

MRI done for big head. It was fine!

There are many reasons a child’s head is measuring big. It’s best to rule out health issues. My son has a big head and he’s healthy. A friend’s baby had a tumor…cancer. He is now cancer free but the treatment has damaged his hearing. But he is a happy toddler.

I’d rather have a Doctor that’s overly cautious than passive.

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Sounds like you have a good doctor who just wants to be sure everything is ok. Haven’t experienced this myself but I hope the tests come back fine. Praying for your little one momma!

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I’d go with the Dr. He has the degree. It’s better to be informed.

Definently get it done. My son had a scan done and they found he has hydrocephalus. Better to be checked out and find there is no cause for concern.

Dont worry a lot of kids have above average heads…they grow into them.

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Sometimes encephalitis but is also sometimes an indication of being on the autism spectrum. Could also be nothing. I’d wait for testing. My daughter was literally nicknamed big head but has since grown into her head at age 3 1/2. She is also however high functioning autistic and extremely intelligent. No matter what your baby clearly has love and support and so will be ok. Good luck and stay strong.

My son’s head was 14.5" when he was born. Always big. We did all the tests and even a 4 hour developmental test. He is fine. And grew into his head just fine.

If you don’t trust your doctor go see another one. You really don’t need medical advice from fb

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My daughter and other family members had a big head. The Dr’s said it is fine and she will grow into it. She is 25 now and perfectly proportioned. So Maybe your doctor is just weighing on the side of caution.

Rule out health concerns and then tell the doctor that she’ll grow into her head. She needs it that big since she’s smarter than the doctor and has to store all those bedside manners the doctor doesn’t have! :slight_smile:

He just wants to check for swelling in the head. There’s a lot of babies that have big heads.

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Neurosurgery nerd here. No reason to worry just yet. They have to check the sutures and make sure they don’t have hydrocephalus. Most of the time these scans are normal and they just have to rule out things

Sonogram is radiation and most likely unnecessary

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When my daughter was 6 months old her head was in the 99th percentile. We were sent to a children’s hospital to have an ultrasound done and they called 2 days later letting us know she was perfectly fine, she just had a big head! She’s very small for her age, just has a big head lol

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  1. sonogram is not radiation, but anyways, all my kids had giant heads and are perfectly fine (6 & 6 preemies, and 4 yr old) my aunt used to joke that my mom’s children (me and my brother) had ginormous heads. It’s just to make sure there’s no swelling or enlargement in or of the brain, doesn’t hurt to have checked out, but it’s probably nothing.
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My son was born at 6lbs 11ozs and had a 15in head. He had one on day two and he is perfectly normal.

My kids all have/had ginormous heads lol my son is 6 and wears adult hats and helmets. They are all perfectly fine! I tell them more room for brains!!!

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Some kids just have big heads. My son didn’t need a test, but at age three his head was just two centimeters smaller than my own. I am sure your child is fine.

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Do what the doctor says

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I think given the preemie history their are certain concern in connection to what your Dr wants to check for. I get a lot of people have big heads, but better safe than sorry. Id trust your babies Dr.

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I would assume that they are being cautious and just making sure that baby doesn’t have water on the brain. It can cause some serious long term problems, but it’s easy to prevent the future issues by putting in a shunt that would drain the fluid directly into the body. More than likely your little one just has a large head, especially if family members do as well. All 3 of mine had huge heads and still do, so I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Doctors are probably just being cautious.

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Honestly I would do what the doctor says if she’s recommended that you get a sonogram of her head and you don’t do it it could almost look like child endangerment even if everything is fine so I would take your daughter to the specialist that your doctors recommending worst case scenario something is wrong but if you don’t go he won’t know

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I wouldn’t worry , most of the time it’s just a variant ,like you and your husband having larger heads. Always good to be cautious :slightly_smiling_face:

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My daughter has a big head and has a chari malformation

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Yes, my son was diagnosed with chiari malformation. Get the sonogram done.

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My son has always had such a big head! He out grew children’s hats super early and can fit the same size hats as me!

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Both of mine had it done because they had bigger heads. They’re both fine, they just have bigger heads than most children their ages.

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No sonogram but I mentioned the size of my newborns head (big) to his doctor and he said, “umm… Scott’s head isn’t exactly small”. The medical student that was in the room with us looks like: oh shit! Did he just say that?! And I said to the student, “Well, he’s not lying. My husband does have a big head”…lol. My guy was fine but, if a sonogram was requested, I would have done it just to make sure everything was ok.

2 of my babies had this done because there heads were bigger everything was fine they just had big headsj

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Yep! My son’s head was big too, still is. It’s just hereditary, nothing’s wrong with him :slight_smile:

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My cousin has fluid on her brain which caused her head to look big. Always good to go with what the doctors say. If nothing is abnormal that’s a good thing, but look at it as they care enough to look into it. :heart:

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My daughter had a GIGANTIC head. And she’s 10 now and the same height and size as me (still slim) and they did scans on her, too. My son’s whole body and his head is so tiny and hes 3 and wears 2t. Kids are freaking weird. Just let em do it, cuz they will do it multiple times then your baby will LITERALLY grow into it in the long run haha

My son was born with Hydrocephalus (water on the brain). Hydrocephalus can cause enlarged heads in babies. My son is just fine and got his shunt at a week old. He’s 17 months now.

My sons pediatrician said he had a big head at his 4 month checkup and always measures in the 99 percentile at his appointments… my son is a yr old now and still has a big head and is measuring at like 48cm :woman_shrugging:t2: his dr doesnt see a problem with it

That is common with preemies,most of the time the body catches up

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My baby had to have one at 5 months as well. His head grew too much between his 2 and 4 month visit. His sonogram showed a little fluid on the outside of the brain so he had to have an MRI (I was freaking out) and it came back fine. He just has my huge head ( I have a super big head lol) his dads head measures above average too. Some kids with bigger heads have extra fluid that usually reabsorbs by age 3… it’s not anywhere near his ventricles or spine it’s in the front between his forehead and skull! So don’t trip and worry, I know easier said than done! My boy reached every milestone and is still advancing beautiful! He is so smart and his doctor said there would definitely be signs if something wasn’t right! Prayers for you and your girl!!

I’d listen to the doctors momma. Better safe than sorry.

My son has always had a big head. He’s 10 months old and still >99th percentile

My son was also born early (36 weeks) and he needed a scan of his head at about 6 months. We also have big heads in the family and it turned out to be just that. Better to be on the side of caution, but it’s vey common at that age.

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Yes my daughter did. They checked it. She had extra fluid around her brain. She out grew it. Just had to get extra doctor appointments to keep a eye on the size.

When we took our baby in for his two month check up back in October - same thing - his head was measuring bigger than what it should have been and they are concerned he may have Hydrocephalus. We had an ultrasound done on him which that whole process was super easy and only took about 15-20 minutes and when they got the results back they couldn’t quite see everything but what they could see was perfectly fine. Because they couldn’t see everything though they scheduled us for an MRI just to be on the safe side which we’re currently just waiting for that appointment coming up. His doctor said it’s not totally uncommon, some babies just have giant heads and take longer to grow into them but if he does have it, it’s something that can be fixed with a shunt and he will go on living a perfectly normal life. I’m super nervous about the MRI though because that involves sedation and is just a whole other process in and of itself. Better to be safe than sorry though, most times it’s nothing more than just a big ol’ head :woman_shrugging:t3:

My biggest advice for the actual sonogram though would be to try and time it so you bring her to the appointment with an appetite. I currently pump and then bottle feed so we just had a fresh bottle ready and started feeding him as soon as we laid him down on the little table in there which helped keep him still. If you’re breastfeeding they may even let you nurse her and just do the sonogram while you hold her as long as you can shift her around so they can get around her whole head. If bringing her hungry isn’t an option though, just something to keep her distracted to keep her head as still as possible so they can get the best images. Part of the reason they couldn’t see everything in our images was because even when we fed our babe during the ultrasound, he was just too wiggly, per usual lol.

Best of luck to you! :two_hearts:

My son was always in the 99 percentile for his head size and our doctor had us go get an ultrasound. He is perfectly fine and nothing concerning was found! Our son just has a big head like his daddy! Good luck mama, I’m sure you’re little one is perfectly fine! She’s meeting her milestones so it doesn’t seem concerning to me!

My oldest had a huge head as a baby (like her dad did as a baby too). She eventually grew into her head. I wouldn’t be too concerned since she’s meeting milestones

No worries. My son is big headed too like his dad

Not a big deal. My grandson has a larger head than his brother. No effects-normal.

My sons head has been in the 100th percentile since the day he was born … my thoughts are better safe than sorry .

If yall have big heads too i wouldn’t worry yourself, but at the same time just get the sonogram to rule out anything!

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We went through this. They terrified us with every possible diagnosis, turns out he just has a big head. I’d want the testing to be safe, but try not to stress (I know its hard).

My daughter has been in the 92-93 percentile for her head (6th for length :joy:) the last two appointments and they haven’t suggested anything but she was full term and that was 11-12 months so maybe that has something to do with it?