My Son's Abnormaly Large Head

Please don't worry! All of three of my kids had "big" heads as babies and are now perfectly functioning, smart kids. This is only an issue if the skull plates aren't coming together when they're supposed to. Head size is an inherited trait just like anything else. Perhaps a sign of genius?

My son has been in the 95% for head size since the day he was born. My husband can never find a hat that fits him. My son is a helathy and happy 4 year old. No problems. He could just have a large head.

my daughter has a large head too, she has always been in the 90th perecentile or more or her head, my husband has a big head too and can never find any hats or bike helmets to fit him. with my daughter, she has always worn a toddler hat. i wouldn't worry (i know its hard) until you go in july..dont look up anything as that will just scare you!

My son has a large head. He was always about 90% on the charts. Every time the nurse would measure it and then the doctor would come in and remeasure it and then say, "boy, that is a big head!" They never acted concerned about it though. My husband and his whole family all have really big heads and I just think my son takes after them. I am sure it is nothing but it is good for them to look at every possibility. :)

Hi J.,
Has his head consistently been large and does anyone in your family have a large head? My 7yr old has always had a large head we have a hard time finding hats that fit him. My suggestion is stay off the internet! I'm sure if your doctor thought there was a severe problem he would have made sure you were in before July.

My son's was, but it always was so it didn't raise any alarms. It toned down to the 90s by the time they stopped measuring. I wish you the best!

Has it steadily been growing larger or did it just suddenly jump? My son had an ultrasound on his head when he was around 5 months old because his head seemed to suddenly jump in circumfrance. I of course was extremely worried and luckily I did not have to wait three months for the test they did it within a week. He was completely fine. They also thankfully gave me the results right away. What children's hospital are you going with that they are making you wait so long? We went to CCMC and they were great. Anyways, as far as what it could be I suppose there are a number of things. Fluid was one of the things I was most concerned about. It's so hard to measure a baby's head. I think that was what ended up being my son's problem was someone measured wrong. Made us worry for nothing. I would not want to wait three months to find out anything to do with the brain though. So I would suggest calling around to other hospitals to see if anyone can see you sooner. Are they sending you for an ultrasound of his head? Or his his skull not open enough anymore at 8 months to do that? Or actually by the time you are seen I guess it's 11 months.

My daughter is 13 months now and has had a large head since birth. It is now over 100%. Her doctor said she would "keep an eye on it" but wasn't too concerned as me and my husband have larger than average head size. I think it is a very small percentage of children with a real problem but they have to check anyway. Your biggest concern may only be the baby clothes not fitting over the noggin, I highly recommend getting shirts with buttons or snaps.

My son went through this same exact thing at about this age. He had to go to the children's hospital to have an ultrasound through his fontanel. They were looking for hydrocephalus, which he was completely clear of. At 20 months, he is still at about 100th percentile for head circumference... I guess some kids just have big heads? I'm sure your son is fine. Even if he were to have hydrocephalus *which is so so rare*, they will catch it in time and put a shunt in to drain any fluid on the brain. Don't worry from now until his appointment. It will ll work out in the end. Good luck to you :-)

My daughter had the opposite problem....her head was so small it wasn't on the charts when she was born. It is now on the 5th percentile. They did a scan at the hospital and then referred her for another one. We also had to wait 3 months to get an appt. The one thing I can say is ty not to stress about it. It won't get you anywhere, and I mean that nicely :) Does either you or your so's dad have a large head? My daughter has been to the neurologist twice and has 1 more appt before they discharge her, but they measured my husbands head and mine and found that my head size is also in the bottom 3rd percentile. Then they even had me measure my families head size and we found out many of us have smaller heads. So now we are pretty positive it is just genetics. You say he is developing normally and that is a good sign. Just keep watching him to see if you see any sudden changes in development. I think doctors like to cover their bases in case it was something even if they scare the parents in the process!! Good luck!

It may be that he just has a big head. My husband's head is large and he can never find regular hats to fit him. The good thing is...there are lots of brains in that head, too. We joked that he had to have a bigger head than most because he had an extra dose of brains and they couldn't all fit in the standard model.

It's still good to check it out with the doctor, but it may be that he simply has a big head. Some people's heads are just disproportionately large.

J., I know you've already gotten a million responses, BUT...my son has a very large head, which turned out to be nothing. The issue is that because they tested it AFTER his soft spot had closed, they had to do an MRI (which requires sedation by an anesthesiologist, and therefore no food or drink prior, etc.) instead of just an ultrasound, which could have been done with the baby completely awake.

If I were you, I'd push for an appointment before July so that they can do an ultrasound instead of the more invasive procedure. Good luck!

well check with you parentst do you all have very big heads are you big people heads are genetic like everyhting else. is his fontanels open soft spot ..... developementally he is fien .... i have four children and my son and my daughter have big heads but both my grandfather and dad are big men over 6 ft.. big careful searching the internet there are some things that can be very scary and make you have unnecessary worry..... if your gut feeling is that you want to have him seen earlier talk to the pediatrician get their opipion .... if they are worried abotu this they will want him seen earlier..... or is just protocal ..... for them mother of four 14 11 9 and 2 K. d

Hi J.. Basically what they are looking for is hydrocephalus. Most likely, your son is perfectly fine. My cousin just went through the samething with her son not too long ago, they just will do a CT scan to rule it out. As long as he is not having any accompanying abnormal behavior he prob just has a large head and will eventually grow into it.

My son was the same way. His head circumfrence was off the chart since his birth. Way over 100th percentile (I used to laugh at the way my pediatrician would draw by hand the dot where my son's head circumfrence was on the chart. Waaay up high!) We ended up setting up an appointment to have him checked. Since there was still a soft spot they were able to do it by ultrasound. Turns out he just has a big head, like his Daddy. And he's very skinny which makes it look even bigger.

HI,
I did have a similar experience. I believe it was also at the 8 month check up that the Dr. pointed out the tremendous growth spurt of my sons HEAD! She told me that if it grew to that degree again at the next check up then he would need to go to Children's. At the next visit it had not increased as much. He is a normal, healthy 5 year old and well, yes, he has a large head. Not freakish, but he wears hat sizes for an 8 year old. Keep the appointment and STAY OFF THE INTERNET!!!!

Hi J. F. I just had to respond to your request. It brought back such memories!! My daughter who is now nearly 9 years old also had 'abnormally large' head circumference measurements all during her infant pediatric appts. The doctor would measure and remeasure her (and then chart that it was 90%ile and 95%ile)and at one point asked if either my hus or self were ever told that we had large heads (no!). My dau was (and did) developing very normally otherwise, as you say your son is. I never worried about the head circumference because she (my dau, not the doc)did not give me any reason to. She met all the dev milestones on time or sooner and she was interactive (smiling, playing, tracking toys, responding to lights and sounds, etc) and happy and eating and everything. She grew into her head I guess, because her height and weight are now average! and they no longer measure her head!! (I think they stopped doing the head circumference after age 1)
I'm not trying to be sassy, what I'm trying to say is, just relax and enjoy your son's continued growth and development! If he starts showing signs of problems (unconsolable crying, pain, squinting/trouble focusing, difficulty moving, 'loss of ground' developmentally), then get on the phone to your doc and try to have them contact the children's hospital and move up your appointment, and advocate for tests then (CT scan or MRI)...
Hope this helps! W. Huff

After reading this post and the comments, I'm beginning to believe this is a lot more common than I ever knew. My son will be 10 months this week and has had a big head since the day he was born. He is completely off the charts as well. He is going back to the doc in another two weeks to check on it again. He is perfectly normal in every other way. I have two other friends with babies and their heads are the exact same way. If I were you, I wouldn't bother looking up stuff on the Internet because you'll just scare yourself. The doctor told me that as long as his behavior and eating habits are normal not to worry about it - they just keep an eye on it to make sure.

My son has a 90% head, he is 6 and no one really notices unless I have him next to me and his head is 1 inch smaller than mine and 2 less than daddys. He had flathead as a baby and out grew his helmet after 3 months as his head was growing so fast (he wore the helmet from 8-11 1/2 months of age) ONLY one doctor thought there was a problem and sent us to a neurologist (which freaked us out)and they said he had no problems as he wa snot showing signs of water or a gorwth on the brain which would affect one side or the body or cause speech problems etc where the water/growth was located.

Have yout Pedi check him out, ask for a referral to a neurologisdt Just To Make Sure there are no issues or problems. He could just have a large noggin and a big brain is in there..you will have to get adult sized hats at a very young age (like we did) But do look for anything that could be a problemm so you KNOW he is healthy and this is not a problem.

Also beware he will whack you like crazy with that head and you may have to explain bruises on your face from your baby's head smashing into you! lol my son can still hit me hard just by leaning his head back too fast and I get it ;-D

Hi J.,
My daughters were both off the chart - like 105th percentile, if you were to carry the line on the graph- so it does happen. You should have him checked, but if there's nothing you can do until then, try not to worry - both my kids had huge heads. In fact, there was a doctor in training who examined my daughter - measured her head - made a horrid face and ran out of the room to get the doctor. The doctor came in the room, laughed and said, "You need to look at the parents." - my husband also has a big head! My kids were fine - they just are late to do things like sit up and walk, because it's hard to balance those big heads! Try not to fret, it could be normal.

My son too has a large head. An uncle who is a physician (when son was about 9.5 mo) suggested a CT scan to rule out hydrocephlus(?). We were on vacation at the time so arranged it and had it done immediately upon our return. The Pediatrician felt confident son did not have it because he ate fine, slept well and was no overly fussy. He did not but was 'diagnosed' with benign extra-axial fluid, meaning he has more cerebral fluid than usual - they don't know why but say it is harmless. Our case as slightly different b/c our son has some minor delays.

If it were me, I would insist on a CT scan to be done while waiting for the appt. Is your appt. with a Ped. Neurologist? That is who we went to see to 'read' the CT scan and evaluate our son. We ended up getting a 2nd opinion b/c I was not too impressed with the first doc. Hope this helps!

I have observed one case such as yours..the child was older, four years old, and his head grew HUGE. His mum took him to a pediatric neurologist ( on the recommendation of the pediatrician) Doc discovered that as the boy was self abusive, had concussed himself so many times, that his body had caused his skull to finish its growth to adult size, and all the sutures had "knit" He said he had never seen such a thing.
As an adult this man has a normal sized head but it sure was big when he was four !!!
On Private Practice TV show a woman brought in her son with an enormous head and it was found all ok except the kid had a grotesquely enormous head.
Not to mention that between one and four a child's head appears very large in comparison to the rest of the body. One wonders how a skinny little neck can hold all of it up.
So, if you have large headed people in your family, combined with how distorted a small child looks anyway, you simply could have a large headed kid.
Your son may simply have a very large brain.
We have had to cut the necklines on some chldren's clothes to fit over large heads...not extraordinarily large, but big.
Think if I were as concerned as you I would have it checked out, yes?
Best wishes and God bless
Grandmother Lowell

My daughter's head (now 22 mo.) has been in the 90-105+ percentile since she was born! Our Doc has not seemed too concerned. He actually had my husband and I measure our heads and after he checked our head circumference for what was normal for our age we found out that my husband has a pretty large head as well- which put any concerns he had to a rest... so I guess it can be genetic. That said, I think it is good to have it checked out, especially if your son is in the 100+ percentile. I think the concern is hydrocepephalus (sp?)- but even then, my Doc said unless they are showing other symptoms (acting out of it, confused, fussy, etc.) that it is probably nothing to worry about... good luck! It does seem this is more common than even I had thought-

I am going threw the same thing...My 6.5 is in the 85 percentile in head circumference and 20th in every thing else! My husband and his brother both have large heads. I told my MD this but she says, if it is still up there at 9 mon check-up we are doing and MRI. She said just to look at the ventricles. Chloe's fontanel is large still too. She is completely normal as well. All of her ultrasound pics where unremarkable too. What about yours? It is stressful I know, but if your son is meeting the right milestones, try not to stress yourself out too much. That is what I am trying to do anyways. Good Luck!

I have never answered one of these, but this one is perfect! My son had a large head. I was so worried, and since I am a scientist I had read up on every obscure cranial/facial malady.
Well, he has a large head. He still has a large head. He is 6'5" and 20 years old. While his behavior has often tortured my husband and I, it has been the teenage variety like all his friends. Try not to worry and stay off the net. Chances are extremely high he has a large (and normal) head.

We were sent to a Neurosurgen for the same thing at 12 months old (97th percentile). We went to the appointment, the doctor measured my daughter's head, then measured my husband's head, then my head. The conclusion, we have big heads!!! All that worry for nothing. The doctor did say if she had fluid you would notice an abnormality in the soft spot.

I had my son to his 9 month appointment and they told me his head is bigger then other kids his age i am so worried about him, they are not concerned now, but will watch him Should i worry??

I know this is an old post but I would like to share with anyone like me that is still searching. I found something called Familial Macrocephaly. Basically, genetic bighead. It is defined by head growth larger than the 95 percentile and is usually seen between 6 and 12 months due to a major growth spurt that happens. Development of such children is normal. They to have a larger frontal subcortex (I think that is what it is called. It's the area behind the forehead). This information, along with the knowledge of my husband and his brother's large heads, has helped me alot. My daughter, at her 6 month well visit, was found to have had a large increase in head size. 97 percentile. We received a clear ultrasound. Measured again yesterday, at 7 months, and she is over 100 percent now. Dr still says she is okay but he is going to monitor her to be conservative. So while I know she is fine, i'm still worried!! I just remind myself of this familial condition and know that she is developmentally on track. DON'T WORRY! :)
Here is the link, if anyone needs to see it for themselves!
http://www.peds.ufl.edu/divisions/genetics/teaching/brain...