BellaOnline Forums Health and Fitness Pediatrics Infant Head Circumferences

During infancy, one of the highlights for most parents is getting those growth statistics and seeing on the chart how big their cute infant is getting! But sometimes, interpreting the data can be hard. I'm curious, anyone have a growth measurement issue during their child's infancy? If so, take this poll:




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When my infant had a head circumference that didn't make sense, it ended up being single choice
	measurement error
	a true problem with my baby's head growth
	entry error
	my imagination
Votes accepted starting: 07/26/06 07:00 PM You must vote before you can view the results of this poll.

I chose my imagination because it fit the best, but in reality it was the imagination of a really grumpy pediatric GI specialist my son saw (my nickname for her was GI Jerkface, we ended up finding a doc who was not only friendlier but a bit more knowledgeable about my son's condition)

my son had growth issues during his first year and his head just looked huge. It measured large as well, way out of proportion with his teeeeeny body but normal for a kid his age. His head was around 50% on the charts, his body around 3%, he was a VERY sick boy.

Just as he started gaining weight the GI doc told me she thought there was "something growing" in my son's head and had me take him to our ped that day and the ped had to send him for all kinds of tests.

The ped measured his head and said it was completely normal and he marked the visit as a "worried mom" visit, but I was never worried abotu his head, I was more worried about the fact that he was 9 months old and 11 lbs (7lbs 9 oz at birth).

That and my kids all have large heads, they just do!

Meg

We've run the big head gauntlet. I started dragging my husband in with me for checkups if we were seeing someone new on the rotation. He's six foot three and just big all over--he eventually grew into his head. They just look at him and say "oh."

Lynn, I've had to do that before too. The ped saw all my kids were small and wanted to test them for diabetes. I'm 5'2" and not small (and constantly pregnant so it's not a good judge) and my husband is 5'9" and 120 lbs soaking wet. When I present my husband the ped says "ok, I guess it could be genetic" LOL <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Meg

Hi-I have a two year old, and nobody even measured his head until his check-up just a few weeks ago & they only measured it because I asked them to. The doctor said his head was fine (according to his charts), and then said it was just like my husband's head(he's 6'6" and big). To me, my son looks like his head is too big for him, but like someone else wrote, I guess he'll grow into it!

Hi Everyone:

When I was in residency, the first growth topic we were taught was "the apple does not fall too far from the tree". If a child has a big head, check the parents; if the head is small, check the parents. You know, I should have had that as a choice - thanks to all for reminding me of the second most common reason for a big head: a chip off the old block <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Have a great weekend.