Please, if you are going to tell others not to play Doctor, don't do it yourself. There are many times where a vaccum delivery can cause trauma that shows up at birth, goes away and then shows up again. I work in a hospital and have seen it multiple times. There are many things that these "bumps" could be, a visit to the doctor should include or rule them out. Head trauma, no matter how small, can cause goose eggs on the sensitive scalp of an infant. There are also several other causes for these cyst-like "growths", and some can be serious. If you notice that the bump is near a fontanel (soft spot) and more pronounced when the baby is crying or sitting up, take your child to the ER immediatly to rule out meningitis or hydrocephalus, ESPECIALLY if the baby is lethargic, feverish and not intaking/outputting fluids/nutrients. Some other causes for bumps are epidermoid cysts, benign growths that can keep growing rapidly, minor surgery can take care of them, hematomas (bruises, sometimes even appearing same color as the skin, due to a simple bump on the head), severe head injuries (once again if your baby is acting abnormal, feverish, vomiting, lethargic, etc, that is an IMMEDIATE ER visit), lymphatic injuries of the neck (some congenital, some caused by trauma to the neck, even a bump, it interrupts the normal lymph drainage system and can cause fluid to accumulate in abnormal places), a simple strawberry hematoma (a type of birthmark, red in color, present from birth that may require surgery if it starts growing rapidly or interferes with normal body functions or causes discomfort).
Most "bumps" on a baby's head are normal and no cause for concern, however if anything seems out of sorts, it does not hurt to take your little one to the doc and get checked out. There are certian lumps and bumps that ARE supposed to be there. If you have a baby, age newborn to six or eight months, you will clearly feel ridges on the infant's skull...these are absolutely normal and NOT fractures, they are simply suture lines where the skull will eventually fuse. Also, checking the back of your baby's head, at the base of the skull, near the neck, you might feel a squishy soft spot. This is also perfectly normal, this is the occipital (sometimes called posterior) fontanel (soft spot). All babies are actually born with two soft spots, or fontanels, the anterior and occipital. The curious thing about the occipital fontanel is that it can sometimes feel like a raised ring with a protruding dome in the center (ladies, think cervical cap, that little contraceptive thingie, that is what it appears to "feel" like, if that makes sense...just imagine a dome with a slightly raised circumference)and this is perfectly normal. If anyone has preterm infants, please keep in mind that EVERYTHING on a premature baby's head is going to be quite different (more dramatic in appearance)than a full term baby. The fontanels will be larger, the sutures more pronounced and wider, and lets not forget the classic preemie "toaster" head "syndrome", due to the preemie spending most of its time on one side of its head or the other, it kind of gives a squashed and elongated appearance to the skull.

I noticed this weekend that my son had a fluid-filled egg size bump on the top of his head. Aside from the bump, he seems perfectly normal...no fever, eating great, and no personality change. It also doesn't seem to cause him any discomfort when we touch it. He will turn 6 months on the 8th of this month.

We took him to the doctor this morning. She told us she sees this type of thing all the time and that it should just reabsorb eventually. We have to monitor him for the next few days and bring him back on Friday for a check up.

I have been so sick with worry. We also had a difficult birth. I pushed for 3 hours and they tried the vacuum twice. I ended up with a c-section.

My granddaughter has the exact same thing. She is 45 days old (1 1/2 months) Baby has fluid on the top of her head between the skull and her skin, it moves around depending on which way she is laying or sitting. When she is sitting back there is a bump on the back or if she sits up it moves to the front of her head. My doctor (pediatrician) here talked to a neurologist in Great Falls and they can't figure out what is wrong with baby. They think it is a broken blood vessel under the skin and blood is pooling between the brain and the skin. Not sure. After further research they seem to think it is more like a clear fluid. We have been in twice. They just keep saying they have never seen anything like this. We are watching it to see if it grows in size at all. They did the ultrasound and the CT scan yesterday and said her brain and everything looks normal. They are talking to a specialist out of town and may send us to them.

My sister in law just had a baby about a week ago and the baby have been experiencing breathing problem due to fluid buildup on the left side of the neck, a doctor removed the fluid using a needle but the fluid keep coming back, they had ct scan done already but still the doctors so far don't have any answer to the cause of the fluid, any information would be appreciated. Thank You

well me and my partner have been reading all these comments on here and we understand how you are feeling!!! its such a worry. me and my partner noticed a squiggy lump about the size of an egg on the back of our little boys head and it felt as though it was like fluid or something. he is two months old today and we noticed the lump yesterday. took him straight to the hospital and we saw that many doctors we didnt know what to think. we finally got the all clear to go home after the childrens doctor said that the lump would absorb by itself. so now we are just waiting to see how long it will take. it is nothing to worry about but all we have done is worry. my partner had a difficult birth and they have said that the lump could be caused by the vacuum. hope this had helped any people that are worried!!!

I just thought I would add my story to ev eryone else's, although like everyone else there have been no real answers so far.

At about 9 weeks old, we noticed a fluid filled area on the top of her head in the crown area (behind the anterior fontanel, all the way across, and to just above the posterior fontanel). It was very movable, like a wave when touched, seems to get smaller at times and larger at others. Her behavior is normal, doesn't seem to bother her at all. I should also note that there is a noticable flattening to the back of her head, up to the back of the bump.

We took her to her regular Dr., who looked at it and called another doctor in to look at it as well. Neither seemed real sure what it was, their best guess was a build up of lymphatic fluid, and they decided to send her for an ultrasound the next day.

The ultrasound was inconclusive. While they could see her brain was not affected and had no inflammation, they could not see through the actual lump so no real answer there.

She is now 11 weeks old. The bump is more or less the same, maybe a little smaller and not quite as watery. She is scheduled to see a neurologist June 2, and I will be sure to update if I get any new information.

Same thing here! Our 8 week old daughter has a 2-3 inch egg on the top of her head. it appeared very suddenly this past weekend.. we took her to the pediatrician today- we stumped her! we have an ultrasound appt this week and a appt with the pedi-neurosurgeon next week- just as a precaution. however, she is acting 100% fine with no symptoms at all.. AND she was also a failed vacuum birth- three times and then wound up with a c-section. I hope everything turns out fine!

The same fluid like bump was noticed on my four day old daghter's head last night and has been a cause of fear to my wife who felt is a serious side effect of the vacuum birth. Kindly advise on what the best way to make the bump disappear. Am taking her to the GP today.

I posted about my daughter last week and just wanted to state that although it was a difficult birth due to a failed induction, a very large almost 10 lb baby, and being sunny side up.... this was NOT a vacuum birth. I pushed for only maybe 30 minutes (after 25 hours of labor thats all I could do LOL) and then had a C/S.

While vacuum births can cause this, that would only apply to the first few weeks (as in the four day old mentioned above.) In that case, it is perfectly normal and will go away within a few weeks. But it can't hurt to have it checked.

My daughter's bump is still there, maybe a little smaller, seems to grow and shrink still with positioning? Will let you all know what neurologist says next week.

Good luck

My son Shane also has this bump! (he's 4 months now and still has it) And im so happy that every reply i read said that their baby was alright and that it will go away. And we live in yakima, so maybe we wont have to go to the seattle hospital????

I would still go if I were you, if this is what your regular doctor said to do. 4 months is a bit old for caput succedaneum (which is what people are referring to when they speak of vacuum births), although if it has been there since birth after a vaginal delivery it is POSSIBLE for it to be there that long, if uncommon. If this is the case then yes, it will eventually just go away.

If it has NOT been there since birth, as with my daughter who's bump was found at 9 weeks, it is NOT caput. She was a C/S baby with a beautiful perfectly shaped head at birth, not caput here.

And remember, while the information here is helpful, and I agree, a great relief to know we are not the only ones with this mystery bump... none of us here are doctors (I myself am simply a RN Student lol), and it seems to me anyway that while everyone who has actually followed up has been ok and the bump has gone away... still no one seems to have found out what it is, and many more people who posted never reposted the results.

I for one promise I WILL post what pedi-neurosurgeon says when I get home Tuesday.

Until then.... GOOD LUCK all

Well, I wish I could be more helpful here, but I will share what the neurosurgeon had to say...

Basically, he said he THINKS it is a hematoma (which is basically a blood blister), caused by some sort of trauma. When I responded that I didn't know how my nine week old could sustain any head trauma without my knowing it (I mean its not like she is running around the house), he said that it could even be from birth, that it could have started very small and grown over time.

At any rate, because she is happy and healthy in every other way, the answer for now is to continue to monitor it, and go back on the 23rd to see if there is any change. At that point if it is any bigger, or has not shrank at all, we may do a CT scan. He seems to think it will be smaller by then, although I have my doubts seeing as there has been no real change in the 4 weeks since we found it.

I will repost when I know more, and in the meantime if any of the other recent posters here learn anything, I would appreciate if you'd share too... maybe we can be of help to each other and others with this problem.

My daughter, Claire, also has a bump. Claire was born 4/4/2009. After 3.5 hours of pushing, two failed attempts with the vacuum and finally delivering with the assist of forceps, she was born. She had the usual hematomas caused by the failed vacuum attempts and was a bit torn up from the forceps, but was overall a healthy baby. It wasn't until FOUR weeks later that she developed her fluid filled bump. It started relatively small (maybe about the size of an egg) and then grew to be quite large and firm (about the size of half a baseball). I immediately called her pediatrician and thought he would calm my nerves and tell me not to worry like all first time mothers do. He did tell me not to worry and said it sounded like nothing and I would see him at her next visit in one month. The next morning Claire's bump was much larger. I called and made an appt for that afternoon. Her doctor walked into the room and looked quite puzzled. He said "I'll be honest, I've never seen this before" I was shocked...he has been in practice since I was born! Nonetheless, he called and arranged for us to see a neurosurgeon. Let me just add that Claire has been acting just fine. Absolutely no change whatsoever in her neuro status. We couldn't get in for 1.5 weeks with the neurosurgeon and in that time, her bump grew even larger and firmer!

Our appt with the neurosurgeon went well. He has definitely seen this before. He says it is related to the failed vacuum attempts. It does not happen too often, and why it happens they are not totally sure. It is not blood, just fluid. He talked about osmosis and fluid shifts and the technical side of everything, but long story short, it will eventually go away on its own. He said it might take time (his guess was around 8 weeks), but it doesn't hurt her and will go away. He also said it could fluctuate in size before finally going away. Claire did have an ultrasound of her brain just to make sure everything was okay, which it was, but he did not suggest getting an MRI or CT scan at this time. He said they have drained some of these in the past, but he does not recommend that due to possible infection and there really being no need to since it will go away on its own with time.

One week after seeing the neurosurgeon, we took Claire on her first plane ride. She was 7 weeks old and did amazing. I was so worried about her head, but no changes at all with flying. While we were away, her bump diminished...almost went completely away! I was so excited it was going away. We came back to Chicago and back came the bump! It was now just as large and firm as it ever was. Three more weeks have passed since we have been home and just the other day I noticed it was getting smaller again. I hope this time it will continue to go down, but I do know it may get larger again.

I was so scared when I first noticed her bump and I must say that reading these posts did help to calm my nerves. I thank everyone who took the time to post and especially those who gave follow-ups. Thank-you!!! I do feel like we received excellent care and know we saw a phenomenal neurosurgeon. I myself am an adult ICU nurse. I used to work in a neurosurgery ICU. Even with my knowledge and background, this was still so horrible to go through. For everyone else out there reading this and going through the same, hang in there, it will get better. As long as your baby is acting the same and it's not hurting them, don't worry!

We had fluid from Vacuum birth, went away ,then came back. Looks like an egg, moves around depending on position. Neurologist from Riley Children's Hospital said most like broken blood vessel caused during the vacuum process. They drained the fluid because the fluid could harden and create clots. They then test the fluid for any abnormalities.

my baby boy is a little over four months old and the only way that i knew that my son had a syst in his head was that i had to take him to the e r. they did mri of his head and told me that there was a pocket of fluid on the back side of his head. i asked the doctor if it would go away and he said no. the only way that it would go away would be to suck it out. he told me that it had to be monitored at all times. in one week it turned to a bigger size. if it keeps getting bigger it will touch his brain. that is a scary thought for a mother. my point of the story is that i didn't have a vacuum birth and my baby still has a pocket of fluid in his head. thanks for everybodies input.

My daughter is 4 months and developed the same squishey bump about 5 days ago. We've taken her to a few doctors in that time and the general conclusion is that it can be the result of a contusion (a bump to the head) or from a vaccume birth. I thought this was odd since she was 4 months, but the doctor said it was completley plausible.

My wife and I have just got through dealing with the hospital after 2 days. Amazing the same symptoms, our daughter is 11 weeks old and the other morning I happened to notice the bubble on the back of her head. Squishy to the touch, and yes my wife had a failed vaccum attempt which resulted in a c-section. We took her to a childrens medical center and they couldn't come up with a diagnosis. They took x-ray of head 1st, then did the ultra-sound, and last of all they did the ct scan. All results came back fine. What scared us the most was when the neourologist came back and ordered her to have a full body x-ray and have an optomologist examine her. Of course he said he wanted to check to make sure she was completely ok. Upon reading one of the posts here, I noticed that doc's called child protective services. My wife started crying because the doctors kept asking if we had dropped her or something. So we figured out on our own the doc was probably checking for old fractures and the optomologist was there for the shaken baby syndrome. Of course the doc's didnt find anything after those tests as well. I did mention to all the docs that came in this forum, they all seemed to dismiss it, which was extremely upsetting. We hope the fluid goes away in a few months as I have read in other posts. Good Luck to all the parents that experience this. I understand that doctors see the worst but there is the 1% of us out here that they need to listen to.

Sorry I never got back... but I actually ended up CANCELLING my daughter's follow up appointment, because about five days prior to it, she started rolling over, and because she has been extremely difficult to get to sleep on her back, we decided to try letting her sleep on her belly now that she could roll over if she needed to. Within TWO DAYS of this, the bump COMPLETELY vanished.

I will say this... I don't think a hematoma as the neurosurgeon thought it was would have gone away from repositioning. I am more inclined to think that her pedi's first guess was right... some sort of blocked lymphatic drainage. Apparently the result of poor positioning when she was sleeping on her back.

Now I know what they say about SIDS and all that, but the fact is 20 years ago they thought that sleeping on your back was the cause LOL. And look at what we are dealing with now... somehow I think everyone of us gets a different diagnosis for what seems to be the same thing... in other words, THEY DON'T KNOW lol. And a birth injury is not just going to magically appear 8, 9, 10 weeks or more later... this is just not logical.

My suggestion to all of you dealing with this is to try putting baby to sleep another way before you get too worried. It would have saved me a lot of headache and concern if someone had simply suggested this. If you are not comfortable with putting baby on his or her belly to sleep, try a infant sleep postioner on their side.

Good luck to all!

hi I will like to contact some parents than had pass this situation, my little baby 5 weeks old have the same problem we took him to the doctor and the same that almost all the cases above...rx,ultrasound,ct scan and nothing no conecxion to the brain and he is actting just fine...please contact me so we can share experiencie. thanks
Ale Cline
London Ontario

Hi!My name is Ashley and i'm 26 years old.(This is with my 2nd child) I have the same situation.... my son is going on 5 weeks and i have noticed this "same" bump on his head. I am worried sick and even reading everyones posts/comments i cant stop crying!!!! I have an appointment to get an ultrasound done for next thursday and today is only friday!!!! Like everyone else....i too-had trouble with my delivery and the doctor used a vaccum, and then i went in for an emergency c-section. My daughter who is now 5 yrs. old had a normal delivery that was nothing like this one. The weird-fluid like lump on my babys head shifts(almost to the point u think ur eyes r going crazy on u) and when i touch it, it doesnt seem to hurt him. It raises concern to wonder the possibilities of what this is from???? My family members are making me more crazy and i am a nervous wreck!!!! Also, my Dr. didnt know what this was and never saw it b4!!!! But,my Dr. called a different doctor (neuro...whatever) and i got my appointment for the ultrasound. But, now i have to wait!!!! I thank everyone who has posted there messages and hopefully this is nothing to worry about!!!! And all of you who had updated to there experiences of saying it was nothing to be worried about and it just has to be absorbed over time. Is very hopeful and makes me feel better to my situation. Even though i'm a nervous wreck looking at his little head....i'm happy i found all of your stories.
Thanks again & Godbless
p.s. I promise to anyone- like me- i will post an update to my sons condition.