Can a child stop needing a shunt for hydrocephalus?

Possible: It is possible for the hydrocephaly to slowly resolve and not re-occur. It certainly depends what caused the hydrocephaly in the first place. It is more common to slowly resolve if it was caused by a blled in the brain when the baby was premature. Less likely if the cuase is a physical restriction of the flow of CSF as in dandy-walker cyst or arnold chiari defect.

Yes: Fluid buildup inside the brain is referred to as hydrocephalus. Normal drainage pathways can get blocked up, and a drainage tube has to then be inserted to relieve the pressure. This is called a shunt. Over time the production of fluid in the brain may slow down and new drainage pathways may open up. Often the artificial shunt stops working but the risk for damage may be too high to remove it.