One of the most common reasons for macrocephaly is something that doctors call “benign familial macrocephaly.” In other words, big heads run in your family. A doctor might determine that a baby’s big head is inherited by measuring the heads of the parents.
When should I be concerned about my baby’s head size?
If your baby’s head is measuring small or is not growing: Your baby’s doctor may be concerned about failure to thrive (when a child doesn’t take in enough calories or is unable to utilize them and doesn’t grow properly as a result).
Is it bad if your baby has a big head?
The head circumference of a child has essentially nothing to do with intelligence and, as long as your baby’s head is average-size and regularly growing, there’s no cause for alarm when they come in a bit behind the curve.
What does a large head circumference mean?
Children with macrocephaly have a head circumference (the measurement around the widest part of the head) that is greater than the 98th percentile. Sometimes a large head means that there is a problem in the brain which might require surgery.
What is a normal size baby head?
The average newborn’s head measures 13 3/4 in (35 cm) Generally, a newborn’s head is about half the baby’s body length in cm plus 10 cm. So a baby that is 18 inches long would be 45.7 centimeters (18 x 2.54). His or her head would be about 32.9 cm or a little under 13 inches.
Do autistic babies have large heads?
After accounting for sex, height, weight and genetic ancestry, the researchers found that children with autism do tend to have larger heads than their unaffected siblings, but the difference is small: just 2 millimeters on average.
Are big babies smarter?
But the study, published this week in the British Medical Journal, found that among children whose birth weight was higher than 5.5 pounds–considered to be normal–the bigger the baby, the smarter it was likely to be. … The scientists found that birth size influenced intelligence until about the age of 26.
Is having a big head good?
Science says larger brains are correlated with higher intelligence, but size alone isn’t the cause. It’s common to hear people say that the size of your brain has nothing to do with your level of intelligence. … So yes: On average, people with bigger heads tend to be more intelligent. (Great news for lollipop people.)
What is considered a big head?
What is considered a big head? Is a size 8 hat big? The average size male head is 22″ 1/2 and the average size woman head is 21″ 3/4. … In the hat world, head sizes over 23″ 3/8 would be considered a big head.