Skull ridge on one side 4 week old

[Peonyyyy]

Hi all, I’ve gone down a Google rabbit hole so hoping some of you can reassure me.

Our baby girl has a lot of hair, and while touching it this evening I noticed like a ridge going down the back of her head on one side. I know babies head plates don’t fuse until later but I noticed that this ridge is only on this side and the other side of her head is smooth. She usually sleeps on the smooth side, and I know it’s not unusual for babies to have a favourite side, or first did and if even went a little flat on that side but is fine now.

im freaking out about possible craniosynostosis - am I just being silly? Are all babies heads just ridgy and lumpy li ke this and it’s not always symmetrical?

she was c section so not squeezed through the birth canal if that helps. I can’t post a photo as she has so much hair! I just don’t remember my first having this so just spiralling a little

Does she favour turning her head to one side? You say she sleeps on one side. Can you position her to sleep on the other or is she uncomfortable?

If she favours one side, it could be torticollis, basically a stuck stiff neck, often with big babies or ones that were malpostioned. One of mine had torticollis. Two trips to the osteopath and some exercises helped him have full mobility and flat head went away.

She does favour one side but it’s the ridge on the other side I’m worrying about - the favouring one side doesn’t worry me as my son did it and it stopped and his head evened out.

its the ridge on one side, I’m just worried whether it’s abnormal or not.

My son had a ridge across the top of his head where it felt like the skull didn't join quite properly. We also went down a rabbit hole but he is completely fine no issues at all and I had actually forgotten all about it until I read your thread!

@Alltheusefulitems thank you ☺️

My baby is like @Alltheusefulitems ! I don't remember either of my two older children having a noticeable ridge, but they both had a) more hair, and b) massive heads - whereas this baby has a much smaller head. So I presume both of those things make it more visible and appear different to my other children.

I had a similar issue, I posted about it at the time and also went down a Google rabbit hole. My DS was fine, as confirmed by neurosurgeons.

I learned that if the skull plates have fused, it’s very unlikely for there to be a ridge, because they’ve fused, so it’d be smooth! The exception is if there’s a metopic (forehead) fusion. It’s more likely that the ridge you can feel is unlevelling of the plates - it happens sometimes and levels out with age as indeed it is doing with my DS.

My best advice to help reassure you is join the below Facebook group. It is run by a top craniofacial neurosurgeon in the States and he very generously shares his knowledge with worried parents like us. He’ll ask you to post some photos; the most important one is top down with just the tip of the nose showing. He really helped to quell my anxiety before our hospital appointment came through.

I can’t post the direct link as these days my name will come up when you click on it but do a search for it. Edit to add that in some cases he has identified CS through the photos, he really is amazing to donate his time like that.

Also to add, if it was unilateral coronal CS then your baby’s face would have an obvious asymmetry with the eyes, and their chin and nose would point to one side. Is that the case?

Hi @jc2025 thank you for this!

I’ve had another feel and now thinking the ridge or dent seems to be more in the middle on the back of her head, and I think probably is normal as her face is pretty symmetrical and her chin and nose don’t go off to one size. Thank you for letting me know about the Facebook group too, I will check it out x

Hi @Ldls, congratulations on the birth of your beautiful little one.

Did he (or she!) spend any time in NICU at all, as that can sometimes lead to the lengthened head shape?

There is some posterior tapering which can be a flag for SC so I think you are doing the right thing it getting it checked out.

I would 100% join the Facebook group I've linked above and post the same photos as the neurosurgeon there will be able to advise more fully.

Hi just wanted to update everyone that my baby is now 6 months and absolutely fine 😊