Large head, possible fluid on brain, anyone else had this and turned out to be nothing or any of these symptoms too and it was?

[Janus]

Just been to the HV today who pointed out that she thought my 4.5 month old dd3's head was large and when measured it was on the 99th centile.
I am mortified to say I hadn't noticed it was large at all.
The upshot is they want to check out whether it could be fluid on the brain or encephalitus (sp?). I have thought dd3 to be similar to other 2 except she does vomit quite a bit, often has wet clothes in the day which I need to change and also she doesn't sleep in the day for more than about 30 minutes, about 3 sleeps like this, max, a day.
I'm terrified so trying to tell myself she has probably just got a big head but I keep breaking down thinking of it.
Anyone else experienced anything similar, good or bad outcome?

That must be really stressful. It is reassuring that you hadn't noticed anything - did your other kids have large heads?

If she has hydrocephalus (fluid on the brain) the upper part of her head and not her face would be disproportionately large. I am sure she doesn't have encephalitis as she would be very ill with it - fever etc.

The HV is right to mention it if she is on the 99th centile and it is worth getting it checked out because hydrocephalus can be caught early and treated. However, the most likely scenario is that she is full of clever brains and will be absolutely fine.

Hope they reassure you soon.

its always worth getting checked but it is pretty rare.
it wont be encephalitis. That comes with fever and high pitched cry and doesn't affect head size as its more a sudden illness.

Only a very distant experience...a cousin of DH was born with large head (somewhat emphasised by large shock of wonderful red hair!)- his was very obvious. He had loads of tests done. Absolutely nothing was wrong. He is now a teenager. As he grew his body caught up somehow and his head now seems in proportion. He is an incredibly bright child so I guess it was all those big brains!

So try not to panic, it's good they are ruling out any problem. And that is what they are doing - just checking. There is prob. nothing wrong. After all, the 99th Centile is STILL within normal limits.

DD was a small baby (below 50th centile) whose head was above 95th centile. HV commented but said she must have good brains (which turned out true)
She did have to wear an adult cycle helmet by age 8 etc.

Hope you get some good reassurance, at least she well get a good checkover by a professional.

Hi Janus, all my 3DC had HUGE heads and all is well! Hope your LO is fine and try not to worry! x

my DD2 had a large head. in fact, hr head grew very quickly from birth, and while her height and weight followed the same centile from about 6wks, her head measurement went off the top of the chart!!

At 8mths she was referred and had brain scans etc, which terrified us.

result tho was - she had a high level of fluid and a large brain, but with her head measurement it was all in (cannot remember the word) with each other.

She still has a big head, and in fact needs bigger hats than me, but she is completely fine.

as I am sure your LO will be

do not forget, without these charts we would have no idea that the height/weight/head measurements did not match. these charts cause far more worry I am sure, than they point to problems in babies.

DD1 had a big head, very high centile, great big brain, no doubt about it, fit as a fiddle and highly intelligent. Hope all is OK, sometimes HVs can be desperately insensitive.

Janus, ds1 had huge head and still does, but is also 6' and still growing . I remember HV saying exactly the same thing to me as if it were yesterday (17 yers ago). He also never ever slept in the day, and yes, his head was fine, just a large skull - handy for rugby!

My sister has hydrocephalus - she's now 32, has two babies and is doing fine. She has a shunt in her head which regulates the pressure and prevents the build up of fluid.

I've done lots of work for ASBAH - the org that helps people or carers of people with hydrocephalus - illustrated a series of books about it and they have some great information.

Hopefully you wont' need any of that - as all this sounds like just a precaution to be on the safe side. Should you need to find out more though, you're very welcome to get in touch.

DS had a whopping head - the largest they had seen in the hospital that year (y-a-a-y, my boy is tops in something emoticon). I'm pretty sure we were either at or above 95th centile.

He is now 6, bright as a button, happy and entirely normal. He still has a large head - we have to buy large hats, but it is only really noticeable when he has no clothes on. Otherwise unremarkable.

HTH

Thank you so much ladies, you are all wonderful. Went to GP this morning who seems to think it will probably be nothing but is worth referring for a scan, etc. I agreed with him as can't handle the 'not knowing' and just having months of measuring. I am trying to stay calm and telling myself she is going to be our brainy child!!!
Thanks so much and I'll update when we have the scan.

@Janus My DS’s head has grown from the 50th centile at 2.5 months to 99.6th centile at 8 months. We’re going to be referred as the GP suspects there might be fluid on the brain but he’s hitting milestones currently. Also think that being a couple of cm out can really change what centile they are on. Did your daughter have fluid on the brain or was the doctor unconcerned? Did she require an MRI or CT scan to rule anything out? X

@poppet131 wow this is a blast from the past! My baby is now 15 years old and it all turned out to be nothing to worry about! She still has an odd shaped head and I only know this as she is now a horse rider and to get a new riding hat takes forever as she has a complicated head fit!!! You’d never know it though, she is a very pretty girl and has a normal looking head if you looked at her!! Just seemed at a young age she just hit the 99th centile for no apparent reason, the GP wasn’t concerned at all as hit all milestones so no scans required. I hope that turns out the same for you too, good luck.

@Janus Thanks for the update! That’s so reassuring! Was her head on the 99th centile when she was born or did jump up centiles? X

@poppet131 no she was around 50th centile from birth and just went up as the months went on, I think quite quickly too. The health visitor told me she was worried at a weigh in clinic, in a room full of mums and babies so I was so shocked and was in front of lots of people that I didn’t even ask much at the time, think that’s why I started this thread to ask other people while I was waiting for a GP appointment. Don’t think the GP appointment took that long, I hope that’s still the same for you. X

@Janus I hope it’s the same outcome for us too! Did her length grow proportionally to her head circumference? DS is still only around the 25th centile for length atm x

No her length wasn’t as big as her head! I think she was also around the 25th centile for height, don’t think she got much above that. She’s now 5ft4 at 15 so will probably grow a little bit more but I’m 5ft4 too so probably not that much so that’s a tiny bit below average I think.
This is a bit of a blur now but I know she didn’t end up having a scan despite the GP saying he thought we should. I think we got sent to a consultant who then automatically said no scan was needed and no follow up requires. I should remember better but I think it was because she had hit all her milestones that he agreed she just had a bigger head! X

@poppet131, how is your baby boy doing? Did he end up having an MRI? We were told today by a neurosurgeon that our 9mo boy may have benign external hydrocephalus. We have been referred for an MRI. Any insights would be much appreciated. Thank you x

@JuliaBelgravia It turns out that his measurements were incorrect and when they were done by the HV, he was following his centile from birth (between 50th and 75th) so no concerns now. Has the neurosurgeon measured your baby’s head over a period of time? Best of luck with the MRI and hope your son is ok xxx

@poppet131 , ah I am so glad to hear there were no concerns for your LO! Our baby's fontanelle is still very open and raised, which is what is concerning the neurosurgeon. We don't have many HC measurements but it's currently in the 99th percentile. If it is hydrocephalus, we're hoping it's external and benign. Thank you so much for your reply xxx