The book on : The Ghanaian custom of massaging a baby’s head with hot water and ointments;
The damage to the baby’s brain development.
The growing head and brain.
The other reason the head of a baby is made of many bones is that the brain of the baby grows rapidly. This is why at birth the nurse measures the size of the baby’s head and it should be around 30-34 cm (Picture 18).
If the head was made of one whole bone, the brain could not grow inside. Because the head of the baby is made of many bones, as the brain grows, each bone in the head grows along the gaps (Picture 19, yellow lines).
Picture 18: Measuring the size of a newborn baby's head.
Picture 19: The gaps in the baby's skull.
Because the brain needs to grow, the big gap of the “Breathing place” is closed naturally after 18 months.
The brain continue to develop all our life, but it reach maturity at the age of 26 years old. The brain in the front side is responsible for thinking, reasoning and taking decision. Its development is the slowest and most complex. This is why the last gap to be closed when we are 26 years old is the gap in the front, running from the “Breathing place” down to our nose (Picture 19).