Child Has A Ridge Running Between Temple And Forehead. Normal For Newborns?

Posted on Fri, 14 Sep 2012

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Fri, 14 Sep 2012 Answered on

Sun, 30 Sep 2012 Last reviewed on

Question : My baby is 12 days old and I have noticed a ridge running between her temple and forehead. Is this normal for a newborn given their heads are still a bit misshapen? Or is this something I should be concerned about?

Answered by Dr. Hema Yadav (2 hours later)

Hello,
Thanks for posting your query .
Please do not worry.
You are most probably feeling a normal ridge ( suture)between the bony parts of the skull of a newborn .Our skull has temporal , parietal , frontal and occipital bones all joined together at certain lengths which are called sutures which are felt like ridges .
These are present at the junction of temple and crown , the middle of the head , the back of head etc.In newborns since the skull is soft and the bones are yet not fully joined at the sutures leaving gaps ( fontanelles) , there may occur some overriding of bones during childbirth causing the ridge to be prominent .This resolves completely by the child is 12-18 months old and is a normal occurrence .
So please do not worry about it . It is normal to have those ridges and depressions in a newborn skull.
I hope I have answered your query.
Kindly accept my answer in case you have no further queries.
Wishing you good health.
Regards.

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar