Son's Head Circumference Is "Off the Charts"

Try not to worry. My son's head too was VERY large (still is) and my doctor mentioned too that they would be monitoring his growth but everything is just fine. I've had to cut some of his shirts in the collar to get his head through but he seems just fine now. My son with the big head was born 7 pounds 13 ounces. Then my 2nd son has a smaller head but was 10 pounds. Either way they were tough deliveries LOL

My son's head has always been large...which is why I ended up having a c-section. I think he was off the charts from the start. Now that he's two he's definitely "growing into it." My family has noticed that his body is catching up to his head size. :)

Our son is 15 mo. and his head went from 60 to 80 to now 95% and his ped. never said anything about it. Your posting reminded me that I need to look into this as it could be something serious... or he could just be really smart!

Hey C. -

my story is like everyone else's here. My son was 9 lbs 1 oz at birth and 21 1/2 inches long. He had a HUGE noggin.

We always joked about how he must have all the brains of the family.

Throughout his first year, he was 95% plus in everything - his head was off the charts. We weren't worried, but our ped was. She suggested testing to see if anything was wrong.

I respectfully told her, look at our heads. Neither of us could EVER wear a baseball cap. We are the BIG HEAD family. Nothing was ever done - but my son's size was carefully monitored.

He's gonna be 4 next week and his body has caught up to his head. While he is at about 90% for height, his weight and head are about 75%.

Trust your gut. If you think it's ok - don't worry about it. If things look odd - then look into some testing.

Chances are, you got a precious big headed kid like us. (It's all those brains!)

D. in milwaukee

My boys were 8 1/2 and 9lbs at birth, and both had 15.5'' heads at birth! They are now 6 and 2 1/2 and both STILL have big heads. I think doctors concern is hydrocephaly (water) which can cause a large head, but most of the time, they just have a big head. The boys have always been 90+% in height and weight, and were always off the charts in head size.

While I agree that its best to get it checked out just in case, my guess is he just has a big head like my boys. :)

My oldest son was born with a fifteen inch head and was off the charts for years. They double checked him while I was pregnant with him because they were worried about the size of his head in relation to his body. And it was like that for a few years. He is now a very intelligent, good looking 14 year old who is nearly 6 feet tall with size 11 feet. So...not a bad outcome.

Sometimes larger heads just run in the family, they will probably measure you and your husbands and compare. It probably wouldn't hurt to follow up to be safe. Hope all goes well!

Our son's head was so big, at 5 months he had a ct scan to check for hydrocephaly. We knew he was fine but our Ped wanted to be safe. He's four years old now and still has a really big head. Fortunately, he's a big kid all around - 95% for height and weight.

I guess it runs in the family. My husband's head is big too. He played football in highschool. They had to special-order him a college helmet because of his big head. (He claims he needs the extra room for all of his "big brains")

My son was 10 pounds at birth and has always had a big head. His doctor just jokes that he has a "big brain" and says he is fine so I wouldn't worry about it.

My oldest was 7lbs 13 oz at birth (not big by any means). But he grew quickly and was always in the 90 percentile for his age. I wouldn't be concerned. All kids grow at their own rate. I'm sure he'll be just fine. Good luck.

Our 5 year old is still "off the charts". Our doctor did the same thing to us, had us check head and weight often to make sure they were growing at the same ratio.

We too found it funny and joked that it was just because she has too many brains in there. Which is true- she is VERY smart!

My son was 9 lbs 15 oz at birth and his head was 16 inches. I gave birth naturally and never had stiches!!! LOL Anyway his head was off the charts and still is and has no problems what so ever. We too think it is funny. He will be three in September and we have to cut some of his sweatshirts and t shirts to get them on his head!! LOL He was in the 95 % to 100% for his head and weight and still is. My daughter was only 7 lbs 10 oz and was 3 weeks early and her head is big also. We think its funny and she also cant wear certain things because she cant get it over her head. Obviously you cant tell that its big but you can when you put clothes on over it. LOL
I dont think there is really any thing to worry about!!

I wouldn't think too much about it. We always joke that our youngest didn't grow into his head until he was about 4. LoL He's just a big boy who had to wait for the reat of his body to catch up with his head!

I too have a "big noggin" child and we have had quite a few laughs about it as well. Our son was diagnosed with Communicating Hydrochepalis which is the spinal fluid not draining as fast from his brain as most kids. Our pediatrician put our son on medicine to help him flush his fluid faster than his body was able to on its own. We had to use overnight diapers all the time because of the excess liquid flushing from his system. We also have had to put snaps on the backs of all his shirts so they will go over his "big noggin". He was only able to take the medicine for his first year and then the doctor stopped it and said that he will probably grow into his big head. My father has a large head and so does my husband so we feel that it was more genetic than a physical problem. Our son is three now and is starting to grow into his head also. He was a bit slower to walk and talk but has passed both those milestones beautifully and is perfectly fine. I feel sometimes the doctors try to scare us parents into thinking the worst, so I am glad to see you are taking this lightly. Good luck, and welcome to the club of the Big Noggin kids.

I would have them measure again. My son measured off the charts too and the Dr. was laying out all kinds of nasty scenarios and I asked them to measure again. Lo and behold the nurse had measured wrong.
I am glad you are not worried. I'm sure he is fine!

My girlfriend went through this with her son, and at times the medical staff had her quite scared. There was nothing wrong with him, he was and is a big kid, bigger heads run in their family. With that being said, make sure you go in for the check-ups in case there is something wrong so they can catch it, but your son just probably has a larger than normal head, it will all even out. Good luck! C.

I would be concerned. Your son could be producing too much spinal fluid! Our peditricain and great friend has a daughter with this problem. Ironically, we both see the same neurosurgeon (Dr. Lew, at Children's Hospital). Her daughter had an internal shunt put in that, drains the extra spinal fluid into her stomach. I can not think of the word that it is called but, it is definitely something worth looking into. The extra spinal fluid could be pressing on his brain or his spinal cord that is, if his is producing too much spinal fluid.

My kids both had a head circumference jump in their first year. Neither are off the charts but up there. My ped took note of it and said they would watch it but both are healthy and normal. I think most of the time they just have a bigger head and kids grow differently. I do appreciate it though when my ped pays attention to those things that turn out to be nothing most of the time...better to catch things early! I hope everything turns out to be normal. I think you have the perfect attitude, don't worry but keep an eye on it :-)

Hydrocephalis is excessive spinal fluid in the brain, this may be what they are monitoring. Not something to laugh about. I would do what the dr/np are requesting to keep a close eye on your son.

My son's head was so big he would not drop into the birth canal, and I had to have an emergency c-section! When he was three, our ped sent us to a neurologist. He measured my head and my husband's head, and we were both off the charts! He told us it was nothing to worry about. That was 20 years ago!

I would be curious to read what kidn of responses you get. I too have a precious big head (two of them actually but just the one that is off-the charts). Dylan was 8 lbs-20 inches at birth but with a head circumfirance over 100%. It stayed in that range for several months and we were thrilled to have it creep down to 95th and then to 90th. We have never been overly concerned about it because our ped. said it looked like a family trait and that we should be happy because there is a correlation between head size and intelligence (Dylan is crazy smart...A bit of an "evil genius now that he is two!:) ).

We also had a "big head" :) We did have her checked out by a specialist only because her ventricles were enlarged on a CT scan done at the emergency room when she was just an infant and got really sick. If that wouldn't have happened I don't think they would have ever checked anything that closely. She was watched closely and everything turned out fine. She is now 7 and super smart, so we joke that she needed a big head to fit in all of those brain cells.

I do know that the neurologist that we saw said that sometimes when children are born with such large heads that they can take longer to sit up, walk, etc... just because the size of their heads requires more muscle to control and can also make it harder to balance. Our daughter never had any problems though and did just fine with her big ole' noggin :)

I forgot to add that both our doctor and neurologist said it is not such a big concern when the child is born with a big head and continues to grown in a normal pattern....the concern comes when the size of the head all of the sudden grows a huge amount that is not consistant with what the growth pattern has been.

I'm not an expert on this subject by any means, although my daughter was too small to even be on the charts when we first brought her home. (She spent her first 10 months in a Russian orphanage. BTW, she quickly gained/grew enough to be on the charts once she had adequate nutrition.)

Anyway, my guess is that he's just a big boy. If he's in the 90th percentile for weight, then it stands to reason he'll be bigger than average in other measures. Again, I'm not an expert, but what I understand is that as long as all the measurements are close in their percentiles, then you're fine. It will be interesting to learn what they tell you at your follow appointment.

My oldest son's head circumference was also "off the charts". His head was huge and disproportional for most of his first year of life. Eventually his body caught up and he turned out to be a perfectly normal little boy that grew up into a typical young man.

We were actually joking about it the other day because my youngest son is gaining quite a bit of weight and I reminded my family that my oldest did the same. My sister replied, "Yes, but he didn't have a huge head like Korey!"

It was funny, like you say. Let the docs worry over it if they must, but my experience was that the rest of him will catch up eventually.

One of my twin girls had an "off the charts" head, too. From what I remember, my doctor's concern was that it was possible the blood vessels were growing way too fast, causing the skull to expand. That could cause some fairly serious neurological problems. I'm sorry that I don't remember more details... At any rate, in our case, it turned out to be nothing; her growth leveled off, and both girls are perfectly healthy 2-yr-olds now. It seems that she has merely inherited her dad's large skull. :) I hope your son is in the same boat; keep us updated!