My newborn has a sacral dimple, which I discovered last night while changing him. He is 2 weeks old. Neither pediatrician who saw him mentioned anything about it. I can see the floor of the tract although it is deep. Is there anything I need to know about caring for this area? Should the pediatricians have counseled us on this? Does he need further testing?

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You should definitely take him to his pediatrician and have it checked. Some sacral dimples are harmless and some require further tests, like MRI's.Both of my son's have/had a little dimple looking thing at the tops of their butts. Our current pediatrician told us that it's a mongolian spot. It's kind of bluish in color and very common in asian, indian, and hispanic children. It's somewhat common in black children and less than 10% of caucasian children have it.Some doctors can't even tell the difference between a mongolian spot and a sacral dimple. The bluish color of the mongolian spot makes the area appear indented more than it really is. If the pediatrician says, "oh that's nothing" then ask him/her to tell you exactly what it's called. The pediatrician should be able to identify anything on your baby.My son's first pediatrician didn't even know what it was on his butt. She didn't know the term "mongolian spot" so we switched pediatricians. The second pediatrician was able to identify it and explain it.Hope that helps. It's most likely harmless. But a doctor should identify exactly what it is and what (if anything) needs to be done.Good luck.regards,mari

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I have twins, and my son has one of these. I didn't notice it initially and then somehow it took a while for it to really register with me...I suppose I just took it for granted that it was normal, as no one had ever raised the issue with me. (My son was premature and in the hospital for 6 weeks....examined who knows how many times by various neonatologists, peds, etc., so I know they had to have seen it, but no one mentioned it to me that I can recall.) Anyway, I asked the ped about it when my son was about 7 or 8 months old; she said they're very common, she has one as well, and it was nothing to worry about. From what I have read on the subject it seems that yes, they are very common and rarely indicate an underlying issue; the "signs" that testing may be required are if the fissure looks to be open, or if there is hair growth there. If your soon appears to have difficulty moving his legs or anything along those lines, then of course you should bring that up with your ped...but you would/should bring something like that up with a ped regardless of any sacral dimple anyway.All that being said, hair or no hair, open or closed, I would raise the issue with the pediatrician just to get clarification and make sure that no testing is warranted, to put your mind at ease and know that it's been addressed and not simply overlooked.

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