Your newborn's head

An infant's skull bones can shift and overlap. This allows a baby to move through the birth canal. In general, being in labor for a long time means a baby's head might be more cone shaped than a baby who experienced a shorter labor.

A baby's head also may look taller if tools such as a vacuum extractor were used in the birth. In the few days after birth, the cone shape usually becomes rounder. Babies born buttocks or feet first or by C-section are more likely to have round heads at birth.