Hi,
As far as my birth it was 28hrs in labor, ending in C-section because I had lost too much fluid in the beginning therefore too much pressure was on my sons head. Another thing is that at times the fetal monitor wouldn't catch his HB because of his movements, so they ended up attaching one to his scalp during the later hours or labor. I'm beginning to wonder if this has anything to do with why he has this bubble. Did anyone else have a monitor placed on baby's head??

Anyways,
My son just developed this fluid bubble above his crown on saturday 10-3-09 in the middle of the afternoon(pretty random)which the same day he turned 2mos. At first I was worried because I wasn't sure what it was. Apparently these things can be either a cephalhematoma or caput succedaneum...which are usually benign. He just had his appointment with his pedi Monday 10-5-09 and apparently because of the way this bubble is positioned which is across the skull sutures it is not a cephalhematoma. The pedi said that usually they are either on one side of the head(R OR L) and are firm. My son's is more like a strip and is more squishy. When I heard that I became worried because the Dr then said that they wanted to make sure that it wasn't fluid leaking from the brain. He decided to have us go to the ER for a CT Scan. Apparently when an infant or any child under the age of 15 is put through a CT Scan it can cause damage to the developing brain, esp infants. This is due to the radiation used to capture the image. When I learned this, I was sure that I did not want his health being messed with, so I asked about alternatives. This leaves ultrasound and MRI. Apparently the ultrasounds can come back inconclusive because it will not tell you where the fluid is coming from, rather only verify that there is a fluid present...therefore this doesn't help me. The MRI does not use radiation, but instead magnetism but the bad thing about that is that they will need to sedate the baby because of how long the procedure will take and they need baby perfectly still...and this I totally do not want to happen since he soo young. At this point, I was told by my mom's boss (a surgeon) that it is better to see a neurologist. Then go from there because supposedly my son's pedi should have referred us to the specialist before sending us straight to the ER. So 2morrow I am going to go see my mom's boss, then have him recommend a pediatric neurologist. Hopefully this is just a typical skin N scalp situation because I don't see how something like this can occur weeks later. He has never hit his head or been dropped so this is just so weird and scary for me.


The upside is that my son has been acting his normal happy, HUNGRY, alert self during this whole thing. He has not shown any negative effects of this bubble and it doesn't hurt when it is touched. So as long as he is doing fine I can rest a little bit better at night. I'm hoping that it ends up going away on its own within a few weeks like others have mentioned.

I will update any info when I hear anything because this is something that needs to be cleared up for worried parents.

Hello, My name is Kayla and my 7 week old daughter has the same fluid filled area on her scalp. Like others it is not discolored, does not bother her when I touch it and honestly seems to move all over the top of her head. Really squishy. I noticed this a couple days ago and it seemed to get WAY more noticible so yesterday I made a call to the my doctor.
I had a really long delivery and she also decided to come out sunny side up. I ended up having an emergency CS unfortunately.
I went to the doctor this morning and my Doctor (has been my family's doctor since my father was young). He looked her over and smiled and told me not to worry...HUGE weight was lifted off my shoulders!! He basically explained it to me as a balloon, during the difficult labor fluid was forced to the top of her head due to pressure from pushing. after the cs she looked like she had a perfectly round head. Comparing the fluid spot to a full balloon, hard and round. After the balloon looses air or water it starts to feel squishy and loose. The same thing is happening to her "bubble". The fluid is just absorbing back. She will be and it will eventually go away completely. So DON'T WORRY!! They will be fine!

Okay, so here is a follow up about what they said this is. I took my son to see my mom's boss on Tuesday and right when we got in he started crying to be fed, lol right on queue. So the Dr washed his hands then started examining my sons head while he was crying. When I calmed him down, the Dr. said that yes it is just a caput succedaneum. He said there are different layers in the head and the diff between this and a hematoma is which layer the bubble is in. He also said that there isn't any neurological connection to the bubble because if there was, then it would get hard and firm, just like a fontanel does when a baby cries. He said it will go away on its own. He said we can still see a neurologist, but not to rush because its not a serious condition. He basically said let nature run its course. So now we are just waiting for this bubble to completely absorb back. In the meantime try and find a specialist.

Also, my son is still acting normal, eating fine, and very playful. So far he has had this bubble for a week and during this time it has not gotten bigger. I actually think it looks a tiny, tiny bit smaller lol. I will update any more info later.

Hello---I thought I needed to reply to this forum for two reasons. First, my wife and I went through this with our son. Second, I am a doctor, and I did a lot of looking up in the medical literature about this. So hopefully somebody out there finds my perspective useful.

My son also had a difficult labor---failed vacuum. Had a small caput (skin swelling) when he was born, but then it resolved. At 5.5 weeks, he started developing a flowing collection in his scalp, which by 7 weeks got VERY big (the size of half his head). We obviously freaked out. He had two separate ED visits, an ultrasound, an MRI, and a neurosurgeon appointment. Shockingly, very few doctors--even the pediatric neurosurgeon at a huge children's medical center-knew what was going on---everybody felt like it was "probably nothing," but was using logic, as opposed to data.

I am an adult doctor, not a kid's doctor, so I started looking this up. Found two articles in the medical literature about it. This is a subgaleal fluid collection, which is benign (goes away on its own), associated with instrumented deliveries (vacuum), and of unclear physiologic origin. It may represent an evolution of blood products related to the birth trauma; one article found evidence that this may be cerebrospinal fluid that has temporary connection with the scalp.

Regardless, both articles mention that this is self limiting, goes away on its own, intervention (i.e. drainage) probably has more complications than help (small risk of infection).

By reading this article, I honestly felt that I had become my city's expert on the situation. The pediatric neurosurgeon, high risk obstetrician, pedi ER guys---none of them knew about this...I think it is likely that doctors don't know about it because it is benign---i.e. if it has no clinical significance, it does not get studied extensively.

By 9 weeks our son's collection was getting smaller, and by 13-14 weeks it was gone. He is growing and happy, now approaching 5 months old.

My recommendations:
1. Don't freak out.
2. See a doctor. Get an ultrasound to make sure this is fluid and not something else. Get an MRI to make sure it is solely in the scalp.
3. Do whatever you can to avoid a CT---radiation is a real downside.
4. If this is a fluid collection, in the scalp only, try to relax---the medical literature does discuss this, and it does get better on its own.
5. Don't blame your doctor for not knowing about it---honestly, this is subject is obscure--not covered in textbooks or the major journals. Just ask your doctor to look up "subgaleal fluid collections" in the medical literature---this will reassure your doctor.

Hope this helps---please reply if you have any questions...

This condition is called cephalohematoma. It is not harmful and usually appears after a complicated birth. The fluid has been there since birth but tends to form into a bubble at about 8-9 weeks. The body should absorb it within 2 months. Google it for more detailed information.

Hi my name is Ashley and i'm glad to report back since a few weeks ago that everything is okay!!!! We went for the ultrasound and the Dr. actually had seen this before and it was from the birth (vaccuum). He did the ultrasound just to make sure it wasnt something else and it was a relief to know the results. As your babys head grows it will gradually disapear as your babys head gets bigger. The skin was stretched and as weeks progress fluid builds up. The body will generally reabsorb it as your baby grows. Its a wonderful relief after getting that ultrasound done, so i advise parents to go through that just in case. But, i'm very happy to say that my son is 91/2 weeks old and its gone!!!! I know some babies it took longer to disapear, but it will eventually go away.Every baby grows differently. So, to all you parents that are worrying, and have gone thru what we have. Especially, with having a rough delivery. Please, stay calm and not worry. Best of luck<3

A cephalohematoma is a collection of blood under the skin and usally hard not watery.

my son had a cephalohematoma which disapeared after he was 3 weeks old. now he has developed a watery bump at he back of the head.

Taking him to see the doctor tomorrow, but from all the other posts it's seems likley they wont know what it is.
They will probably ask us if we dropped him. But dont let that put you off your baby's health is paramount.

my son was 7 weeks old when we rushed him to the ER because his nose began to bleed as i was breast feeding him and his breathing was terribly shallow. VERY SCARY! a routine spinal tap, EEG, CT scan and chest xray were preformed... all came back "normal for age" but they admitted us to the women and children's unit for a mandatory 48 hours to monitor him and his blood and urine samples for bacterial growth. after two days we were discharged with no answer. (irritating) a possible seizure was suspected. We had a follow up appt with his pediatrician the next monday. His head was measuring 17 1/4 cm at 2 months old. (it was 14 3/4 when he was born) She ordered another ct scan. it came back normal but the pediatric neurologist noticed fluid between the skull and scalp. the next day we noticed a sqishy bump. Terrified we rushed back to the doctor. She assured us that it was normal and ok. She referred to it as a cephalohematoma. He was delivered by vacuum extraction with one failed attempt. It has been two weeks since the onset of squishyness =) it seems to be a little firmer, could be wishful thinking, I was told that it will eventually harden and be recycle through his body. Still waiting... i would really like to know why it took almost 9 weeks to develope... welcome to motherhood, i suppose.

ps im worried about him having two ct scans before he was 9 weeks old... im not sure what affects the radiation can have on him. his doctor ordered them and i assumed she wouldnt have done so unless it were entirely neccessary.