fontanelles

Infant skull openings

Fontanelles are the soft spots on an infant's skull where the bones haven't yet fused.

These gaps allow the skull to compress during birth and accommodate rapid brain growth.

The anterior fontanelle, at the top of the head, typically closes by age two; the posterior one, near the back, closes within months.

Also spelled fontanels.

infant care

soft spot

Emotional vulnerability or fondness

newbornInfant just delivered
pulsationRhythmic expansion and contraction
bulgingSwelling outward visibly

sunken · dehydration · hydration · pediatrics · neonatology · bathing · head support · assessment · touching · monitoring

anatomy

sutures

Medical wound closures

cranialOf the skull
bonesRigid internal support structure
calvariaTop of skull

parietal · occipital · temporal · frontal · coronal · sagittal · foramen · fossa · cranium · skull

development

ossification

Conversion to bone tissue

closureSense of emotional resolution
fusionJoining into unity
calcificationMineral hardening of tissue

hardening · maturation · bone formation · morphogenesis · collagen · elasticity · mineralization · growth plates · timing · milestones

vulnerability

fragility

Ease of breaking

delicacyRefined sensitivity or rarity
sensitivityResponsiveness to stimuli
protectionGuarding against harm

gentleness · carefulness · caution · safeguarding · susceptibility · softness · tenderness · injury prevention · padding · precaution

Categories

childbirth anatomyuterus, womb, placenta, umbilical cord, cervix
bone formationosteoblasts, mineralization, periosteum
fibrous jointssuture, sutures, coronal suture, lambdoid suture
reptile bonesskull, femur, tibia, fibula, humerus
turtle anatomycarapace, plastron, scutes, flipper, beak

Opposites

structural integrity

fontanelleshard palate

Bony anterior mouth roof

bony plates · calvaria

Family

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