Bulging Fontanelle: The Warning Sign of These Before and After Photos Every Parent Needs to Know
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A paramedic has shared the seemingly innocent sign that a baby needs ‘urgent medical evaluation’, and why it’s a ‘serious red flag’ if you see your baby’s soft spot being brought up.
CEO of parenting organization Tiny Hearts Education Nikki Jurcutz shared two pictures of a five-month-old baby’s face asking his followers to “find the difference between the two images”.
In the first case, the baby’s head looks normal, while in the second, the soft spot or “fontanelle” is raised or “swollen” – which is an emergency and may indicate a serious health problem.
A paramedic has shared the seemingly innocent sign that a baby needs an ‘urgent medical evaluation’, and why it’s a ‘serious red flag’ if you see your baby’s weak spot being brought up (right)
CEO of parenting organization Tiny Hearts Education Nikki Jurcutz (pictured) shared two photos of a five-month-old baby’s head asking her followers to ‘find the difference’
“One of these photos shows a serious red flag that requires urgent medical evaluation,” Nikki posted on instagram.
“It’s a bulging fontanel.
Nikki went on to say that the five-month-old baby had a temperature of 38.3 degrees Celsius, which is almost two degrees above the normal temperature for children, which is around 36.4 degrees Celsius.
“The parents noticed what they thought was a bulging fontanel and went to the ER,” Nikkki continued.
“Bubs was started on antibiotics and antivirals, followed by blood tests, ultrasounds, MRIs and a lumbar puncture.
She added: “Bub was diagnosed with a post-viral transient fontanel bulge.”
Nikki explained that “not enough parents know that a bulging fontanel is a red flag that needs to be evaluated” immediately.
Nikki explained that “not enough parents know that a bulging fontanel is a red flag that needs to be assessed” immediately, and any changes in appearance or texture should be checked out (raised fontanel pictured)
In another video, the paramedic pointed out that a baby’s soft spot should “feel relatively soft and curve inward very slightly” (example of bulging fontanel pictured)
In another video, the paramedic pointed out that a baby’s soft spot should “feel relatively soft and curve inward very slightly.”
“A bulging fontanelle occurs when fluid builds up in the brain or when the brain swells,” Nikki said.
“Sometimes our little ones may have a raised fontanel, but this is only temporary. Some examples of this are when the baby is lying down, crying or vomiting. This is not a cause for concern.
She said if you notice your baby has a raised fontanel, you should do three things.
First, calm your baby down and sit him up, then assess the fontanel in that position, and third, if it’s still bulging, go to the nearest emergency department.
The paramedic that if your baby had something serious, he would usually have other symptoms besides the bulging fontanel.
These symptoms include fever, drowsiness and irritability.
“Common causes of a bulging fontanel include meningococcal disease, severe infection, and bleeding in the brain,” she said.
Thousands of people who saw the photo were quick to thank the paramedic for sharing the photos and said they were unaware (stock image)
Thousands of people who saw the photo were quick to thank the paramedic for sharing the photos.
“It was a big red flag when my little boy got meningitis at 10 months!” a parent wrote.
“With high temperatures, vomiting, refusal to feed and extreme lethargy/drowsiness. It was the scariest day of my life.
Another added: ‘My baby had this at four months which led us to find out he had a serious urinary tract infection. He underwent lumbar punctures and blood ultrasounds. All!
“He also had a severe dairy allergy which had been misdiagnosed until now.”
A third wrote: ‘So scary my two babies had so much hair, looking back now I couldn’t have seen this if this had happened to them.’