The word fontanel comes from the French fontaine
for fountain. The medical term fontanel is a "soft spot" of the skull. The "soft
spot" is soft precisely because the cartilage there has not yet hardened into bone
between the skull bones. There are normally two fontanels, both in the midline of
the skull, one (the anterior fontanel) well in front of the other (the posterior
fontanel). The posterior fontanel closes first, at latest by the age of 8 weeks
in a full-term baby. The anterior fontanel closes at 18 months of age on the average
but it can close normally as early as 9 months. If fontanels close too early or
too late, that may be a sign of a problem.
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