Bulging Fontanelle: The Warning Sign in These Before and After Photos ALL Parents Should Know

A paramedic has shared the seemingly innocuous sign that a baby needs “urgent medical evaluation,” and why it’s a “serious red flag” to see your baby’s soft spot elevated.

Nikki Jurcutz, CEO of parenting organization Tiny Hearts Education, shared two photos of a five-month-old baby’s head and asked her followers to “spot the difference between the two photos.”

In the first case, the baby’s head looks normal, while in the second case, the soft spot or ‘fontanelle’ is raised or ‘bulges out’ – which is an emergency and could indicate a serious health problem.

Nikki Jurcutz, CEO of parenting organization Tiny Hearts Education (pictured), shared two photos of a five-month-old baby’s head and asked her followers to “look for the difference”

“One of these photos shows a serious red flag requiring urgent medical evaluation,” Nikki posted on Instagram.

“It’s a bulging fontanelle.”

Nikki went on to say that this five-month-old baby had a temperature of 38.3 degrees Celsius – which is almost two degrees higher than the normal temperature for children, which is about 36.4 degrees Celsius.

“The parents saw what they thought was a bulging fontanelle and went to the ER,” Nikkki continued.

Bubs started with antibiotics and antivirals, followed by blood work, ultrasound, MRI and a lumbar puncture.

She added, “Bub was diagnosed with a post-viral transient fontanel bulge.”

Nikki explained that “not enough parents know that a bulging fontanelle is a red flag that needs to be assessed immediately.”

Nikki explained that “not enough parents know that a bulging fontanelle is a red flag that needs to be assessed immediately,” and that any change in appearance or texture should be monitored (raised fontanelle pictured)

In another video, the paramedic emphasized that a baby’s soft spot should “feel relatively soft and curve very slightly inward” (example of bulging fontanelle pictured)

In another video, the paramedic emphasized that a baby’s soft spot should “feel relatively soft and curve very slightly inward.”

“A bulging fontanel occurs when fluid builds up in the brain or when the brain swells,” Nikki said.

“Sometimes our little ones can have a raised fontanel, but that’s only temporary. Some examples of this are when the baby is lying down, crying or vomiting. This is no cause for concern.’

She said if you notice that your baby has an elevated fontanelle, there are three things you should do.

First, calm your baby and sit down, then assess the fontanelle in this position, and third, if it is still bulging, go to the nearest emergency department.

The paramedic that if your baby had something seriously wrong, they would usually have other symptoms besides the bulging fontanel.

These symptoms include fever, drowsiness and irritability.

“Common causes of a bulging fontanelle include meningococcal disease, severe infection and cerebral hemorrhage,” she said.

Thousands who saw the photo quickly thanked the paramedic for sharing the photos, saying they were unaware (stock image)

Thousands who saw the photo were quick to thank the paramedic for sharing the photos.

“This was a big red flag when my baby boy had meningitis at 10 months!” a parent wrote.

“Along with high temperatures, vomiting, refusal to eat and extreme lethargy/drowsiness. It was the scariest day of my life.’

Another added: ‘My baby had this at four months, which is how we found out he had a serious urinary tract infection. He underwent lumbar puncture, blood ultrasounds. Everything!

“He also had a severe dairy allergy that was also misdiagnosed until now.”

A third wrote: ‘So scary, both my babies had so much hair, looking back now I wouldn’t have been able to see this if it had happened to them’.