When a baby is just born, there is a special area on the top of the head that is soft to the touch, and sometimes looks sunken down and even throbs, which we call the fontanel. The fontanel of the baby is so delicate, how can mothers take proper care of it? What is fontanel? The skull of a newborn is a little different from that of an adult, although it is composed of the frontal bone, parietal bone and occipital bone. However, the skull of a newborn is not fully developed, so between the bones, there are two gaps without bone, which are the fontanels. What is the role of fontanel? 1.Help the baby to be born smoothly When the baby is born, the skull that has not yet closed is squeezed and the edges overlap, reducing the size of the fetal head and helping the baby to pass through the mother’s narrow birth canal smoothly. 2.Reserve space for head development The baby’s brain develops especially fast and grows rapidly in size, and by the age of one the brain weight is already more than twice as much as at birth. However, the brain grows inside the cranial cavity, and if the volume of the cranial cavity is fixed, the brain’s development will inevitably be limited. At this time, the existence of fontanel, to the brain development of space reserved. 3, the window to peep at the baby’s health The closure of the fontanel can reflect the development of the skull. After the baby is born, the mother can also understand the baby’s health status through the changes of fontanel. The fontanel is flat in its normal state. Apart from crying, if your baby’s fontanel continues to bulge, this may mean increased pressure on the head. Especially when accompanied by symptoms such as fever or lethargy, your baby may have developed an infection or brain swelling. In this case, it’s important to have a doctor check and determine the situation right away. If you notice that your baby’s fontanel is noticeably sunken, this is usually a sign of dehydration (other signs of dehydration: sunken eye sockets, urinating less than usual), so you need to keep him hydrated and inform your doctor. When do the fontanels close? The fontanel consists of the anterior and posterior fontanelles. The anterior fontanel is a diamond shaped area composed of the parietal and frontal bones, with an average diagonal diameter of 1.5-2 cm at birth, but with a wide range of individual variation from 0.6-3.6 cm. The anterior fontanel increases with the circumference of the baby’s head during the first few months of life, but gradually decreases in size from the age of 6 months onwards, and usually closes between 12-18 months after birth, and can be delayed until around 2 years of age for individuals, or even later in preterm babies. The posterior fontanel is a triangular-shaped bone gap between the parietal bone and the occipital bone, and usually closes at birth or within 2-3 months after birth. How to take care of the fontanel before it closes? 1, the baby fontanel to be cleaned fontanel looks soft, feel so fragile, a lot of new parents may not even dare to touch, not to mention to the little baby wash hair. In fact, mothers and fathers do not have to be too nervous, the baby’s head for normal cleaning care is perfectly fine. Because there is a thick dura mater under the fontanel can protect the brain. Long-term not washing is easy to let the baby’s scalp breeding bacteria. When you wash your baby’s hair, just be gentle. 2, the method of cleaning fontanel from the neonatal period that is to start frequent cleaning, cleaning action to be gentle, agile, with the fingertips of the circle massage cleaning, can not be scratched with the hands, utensils to be hygienic, the water temperature at 37 ~ 38 ℃. If there is dirt at the fontanel is not easy to wash off, you can first moisten with baby oil soaked 2~3 hours, to be softened by these dirt and then use a sterile cotton ball in accordance with the direction of growth of the hair to wipe off, and then washed with water. 3, pay attention to avoid hard objects hurt fontanel violent collision and hard objects or to avoid, parents should pay attention to furniture sharp corners and other safety hazards, do the necessary protective measures. If accidentally collided with the fontanel, parents should carefully observe the baby’s reaction, once there is an abnormal performance to immediately go to the hospital for examination. Some parents think that the baby fontanel is not closed before the wind can not blow, so no matter in the indoor and outdoor, are wearing a thick hat to the baby, which is not necessary. The fontanel is not afraid of the wind, as long as the temperature is suitable, whether indoors or outdoors, the baby can not wear a hat. 4, do not violently shake the baby violently shake the baby, may cause fontanel swelling. With the baby inevitably have irritable or bad mood, but can not let the baby to stop crying vigorously shaking him. Vigorous shaking is easy to cause head injury, if you find someone shaking the baby, resulting in a swollen fontanel, to seek immediate medical attention.