Berkeley Parents Network: Advice about Baby's Hair

Berkeley Parents Network

Advice about Baby's Hair

Berkeley Parents Network > Advice > Babies > Advice about Baby's Hair

Hair loss in 1 month old

Nov 2004

Our ~1-month old son has been losing his hair with alarming regularity this week -- if I even lightly brush my palm against his head, a few wispy strands of hair come off in my hands. Is this normal? When does ''real'' hair begin growing? He has been nursing well and has been gaining weight (not too much, but there is a consistent increase). He wasn't born with very much hair, but it *is* worrisome that he is losing what little he WAS born with. UVR

When my now 4 year old son was about a month old, I was giving him a bath, and put baby shampoo in his hair. When I started to rinse the shampoo out, big clumps of his beautiful curls came out in my hands, leaving him with a perfect coiffed mohawk. I cried until my husband's aunt reassured me that I hadn't done anything wrong, that this was perfectly normal for some kids, and that his hair would grow back. (I also had a 2 year old daughter at the time, and her hair had only gotten thicker over time, but had never fallen out). Sure enough, within 3-4 months, he had grown a beautiful little Afro. Traumatized though I was, he and his hair survived just fine. Lisa

my daughter was born with quite a bit of hair, and lost all of the hair on top of her head over the course of the first 4 months. She grew it all back and more, but she looked a bit like a monk for a few months. You could always ask your pediatrician, but I bet it's normal infant hair loss. molly

You might as well ask your pediatrician about it, but I doubt there's anything to worry about. I've known a couple of babies who were born with dark hair, promptly lost it, and grew in a head of blond curls. Sara

totally normal. could start coming in from 4 mos.-12 mos. and actually is unrelated to how thick the hair will be. try not worry. Chris

You'll probably be flooded with responses. . . It is TOTALLY NORMAL for your baby to lose all of the hair he was born with. Our daughter had thick black hair and it all fell out. Now, over a year later, she still doesn't have all of her hair back. don't worry

Don't worry about it! My son also lost most of his birth hair at 4-6 weeks, and a new head of hair slowly grew in over many subsequent months. His birth hair was dark, almost black, and the new hair was (is) light brown. He is 3 now and has never lost hair after that initial period. Congratulations on your baby! Cheri

While it doesn't happen to every baby, losing hair is normal. The ''real'' hair will come in, and for every baby it's different. For example, if you baby was (or will be) fair haired, it's possible there won't be anything of substance until after a year. Some blonde friends of mine have said that in their 1-year old pics they had about 5 random straggly hairs. anon

As I'm sure many people will reassure you, hair loss in a baby is nothing to worry about--it's quite common. My son was born with brown hair, which then proceeded to fall out (following a male-pattern-baldness order) and be replaced by blond hair. Hair today...

My daughter, born with hair, looked like a bald little man by 6 weeks. I remember seeing hair on all her blankets, sheets, etc. But new hair started to grow back and by 4 months I think she wasn't bald anymore. So I think this is completely normal, don't worry. it'll grow back

Baby's Unruly Hair

I am a new mother with a daughter that was born with a head full of hair. Now that she is 6 months old, her hair is already about 3 1/2 inches long and growing. When my daughter gets her hair done, she often wiggles and pulls her hair in frustration. I try to keep the whole ordeal down to 15 minutes a day. Sometimes she cries which puts me in a difficult situation because I have housemates. I brush and comb her hair everyday (in that order) to keep it manageable and lint free. I typically put barrettes in her hair to keep it out of her eyes, but she does pull them out too. I was wondering if anyone dealt with a similar situation and has suggestions/ advice for me. The doctor told me to cut her hair, but I am superstitious and feel uncomfortable cutting her hair before she is a year old.

This is for the parent who wrote a couple of weeks ago asking for help with their 6-month-old daughter's daily hair-do. I don't have direct experience, so I've been waiting to see if others who have would reply. Since there has been silence on the topic, as far as I've noticed, here goes nothing: I've been able to get non-squirmy tasks accomplished--like nail cutting--by doing them while my daughter is alseep. I've heard of people giving haircuts while their child slept, although we haven't had enough hair yet to need it. Maybe you could do gentle hair-dos while your daughter sleeps. Or perhaps use a big-time distractor--such as the TV, especially of hair- do time is the only time she gets to watch it.

But I also wanted to share my experience that my daughter has gotten only more squirmy and less liking to hold still, even on my lap, from the age of 7 months up till the present 20 months. She is just now starting to comply with verbal requests, so in the past week I have clipped her nails while she sits in her high chair and I ask her to hold still for a minute. But even then, two or three minutes is the absolute max for her--you described a 15-minute process. Without wanting to be disrespectful...maybe since you realize that not cutting the hair during the first year is just a superstition, you could let it go in favor of the realities of your daughter's needs (happens to have a lot of hair) and enjoyment, and household peace. I offer this just in case you yourself were wanting to cut the hair but needed more support because of family pressures or something.

I missed the initial entry on this topic, but I think I get the jist from the first reply. Here's what I did when my toddler needed a haircut: I put him in a high chair and placed on the tray my treasured music box which holds all sorts of treasured things from my childhood... coins, bracelets, chains, polished rocks, etc. He loved going through all the goodies and listening to the music play; he would sit there for the 30 minutes while I cut his hair and wound the music box every few minutes. Some hair ended up inside the music (jewelry) box, but that was easily dealt with. I used this trick when my son was age 1 to 2 and it would still work (he's 3 now) if I needed it. It might work for you if you want to style or cut your daughter's hair. (make sure there is nothing in the box that is dangerous for a small child to handle). I saved the curly locks of my child's first haircut! Made cutting it for the first time a little easier....

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