Soft Spot

I got nervous about this as well. My doctor said that don't sweat it. You should use their ability to fill up wet diapers as a gauge instead. If he is not wetting diapers frequently, then he is probably a little dehydrated. My son (18 months) still will not drink a lot unless it is milk, so I add a splash of apple juice to his water and he drinks it. Have you tried a sippy cup with a straw instead of a bottle?

Hello Cassey,

push the liquids... make sure he drinks more. babies can dehydrate fast. is he wetting diapers? does he have a stuffy nose and that's why he doesn't want to drink? is he drinking his formula? do you need new formula? could he have a sore throat? good luck! ~C.~

Given how old your baby is (older than six months), and assuming that he hasn't had bad nausea or stomach virus (which makes it harder to hydrate them), it should be fairly easy to get him rehydrated just by increasing his fluid intake (remember that popsicles are fluid too).. you can also give him more sweet and/or salty foods to make him thirsty.

If you don't see an improvement in six hours or so, though - it's time to go to the doc (IMO/IME).

S.

Cassey,
My kids both had sunken soft spots if they had slept long enough to miss a feeding. They also got slightly dehydrated when they had colds. I could actually watch their soft spots fill in while they nursed.

Like the other poster said, push the liquids and keep that baby hydrated.

peace,
M.
www.yogapotential.com

I second pushing the liquids but also so you stop freaking out, lol, over the years, it seems that some babies have a greater propensity for the soft spot looking sunken when it is just the shape of the child's head or that the soft spot is slower in "closing up," which is still totally normal because children develop in all ways differently even among siblings.

Another word of advice, sometimes people tell us things trying to be helpful when they often don't know what the heck they are talking about and don't stop to think about how badly the information is going to scare you, etc. You did the smart thing in calling your cousin and I wouldn't assume that anything is wrong.

Try to keep the child more hydrated and keep an eye on it, if it worries you, take the child to the doctor, sometimes that peace of mind is well worth the price of the doctor's visit.

You should call your baby's doctor TODAY and consult with him.

Cassey,

I am not a dr. or a nurse, however I did nanny and have seen more than one babies soft spots more sucken in than others. I get my hands on them whenever possible.
If he is drinking, even though not in abundance and if he was at a check up, I would not worry about it. If he is happy and doing his normal drinking I wouldn't worry about it, I don't think drool would ever be enough to dehydrate a baby, in fact I would think if he is drooling it is because he is hydrated. I would say dehydration would prevent all the drooling.
I hope you have a peace about it, if you don't -- I would do what obtains your peace and just have him looked at, either by your cousin or by his dr.
Blessings to you!!!
L. S.

Cassey,

Hello, my granddaughter who is now only 8 wks old, had this same thing going on. The doctor told my daughter to make sure to feed the baby every two hours to make sure she got well hydrated and within 1 day she was fine. It was kind of scary to feel the soft spot and have it actually sunken in but literally within a day she was back to normal. Has had not problems since.

Your son should be just fine with plenty of fluids given to him. Your cousin is a smart one ! :)

K.

I agree with the nurse. I went throught this several times with my now 3 year old and all it took was some good hydration. You will have to force this on him if he does not usually like to drink. Getting those electrolite freeze pops will help not just the dehydration but also the teething if he just cut one the next won't be far behind. If you use juice try using 2/3 juice and 1/3 water because juice has so much syrup in it I actually mixed 1/2 juice 1/4 water and 1/4 sprite. Sprite has no caffine so it does not dehydrate like other sodas do. Jello is real good. Try pushing as much fluid as you can for 24 hours you should see a change on a good fluid intake within about 6. If after 24 you still do not see any change then by all means get him in to doc could be something else going on not just the teething. Has he been running a fevr at all with the teething. infants and toddlers dehydrate 10 times faster then children and adults so it does not take much. Good Luck and let us know how he is doing.