3 months baby hair loss

Hair Loss

Is this your child's symptom?

• Hair loss in patches or throughout the scalp
• The missing hairs can be broken off or just fall out
• The medical term for hair loss is alopecia

Causes

Common causes of hair loss are listed below. Most don't usually require medical treatment.

• Ringworm of the Scalp. This is the main cause of patchy hair loss that needs medical treatment. Your child's doctor will prescribe a medicine to treat ringworm of the scalp. It's taken by mouth.
• Newborn Hair Loss. The hair of many newborns falls out during the first few months of life. This baby hair is replaced by permanent hair.
• Rubbing or Friction. Babies can rub off a patch of hair on the back of the head. This most commonly occurs in infants 3 to 6 months old. It is a result of friction during head-turning against a firm surface. Examples are crib mattresses, playpens, and infant seats. The hair grows back once the baby starts sitting up. Also called friction alopecia or pressure alopecia. Repeated or severe friction can cause hair loss at any age.
• Tight Hair Styles. If hair is pulled too tight, it will eventually break. Mostly seen with tight braids, pony tails or dreadlocks (especially corn row styles). Hair can also be lost because of vigorous hair-brushing or back combing. Hot hairstyling tools can also cause hair damage. Also known as traction alopecia, mechanical alopecia, or "hair abuse."
• Twisting or Pulling Out the Hair. This is a nervous habit called trichotillomania. Frequent twisting of the hair results in broken hairs of different lengths. The missing hair occurs in patches of different shapes. This creates bald spots. Rarely, it can include plucking of the eyebrows or eyelashes. Can occur with nail biting, lip biting or sucking, and sore picking habits. In older children, may be associated with OCD.
• Stress. Hair follicles are very sensitive to physical or emotional stress. The hair begins to fall out about 3-4 months after a severe stress. Reason: Hair follicles are very sensitive to physical or emotional stress. Examples are a high fever, severe illness or surgery. Also, an emotional crisis or a crash diet can be triggers. In pregnant teens, the stress can be childbirth. After hair stops shedding, the hair will slowly grow back. This can take 6 to 8 months for all the hair to grow back. The whole cycle takes about 12 months. This type of hair loss is called telogen effluvium.

When to Call for Hair Loss

Call Doctor or Seek Care Now

• Your child looks or acts very sick
• You think your child needs to be seen, and the problem is urgent

Contact Doctor Within 24 Hours

• Scalp is red and very swollen in area of hair loss
• You think your child needs to be seen, but the problem is not urgent

Contact Doctor During Office Hours

• Scabs or crusts are present in the hair
• Ringworm of the scalp suspected. (Round patch of hair loss with scales, rough surface, redness or itching)
• Broken hairs from tight hair style and pimples are present in scalp
• Patch of hair loss and cause not known
• Widespread hair thinning and cause not known
• Hair loss from nervous habit of twisting the hair (needs counseling)
• Hair loss is a chronic problem
• Normal hair loss suspected, but doesn't grow back within 6 months
• You have other questions or concerns

Self Care at Home

• Newborn normal hair loss in infancy
• Hair loss on back of head from chronic rubbing and friction
• Hair loss from tight hair style
• Widespread hair thinning follows a major stress about 3 months ago

Seattle Children's Urgent Care Locations

If your child’s illness or injury is life-threatening, call 911.

• Bellevue
• Everett
• Federal Way
• Seattle

Care Advice

Newborn Normal Hair Loss in Infancy

1. What You Should Know About Newborn Normal Hair Loss:
   • Newborns are born with varying amounts of hair.
   • The baby hair of many newborns falls out during the first 6 months of life. Hair loss peaks at 3 months old. The mother may also lose some of her hair at this time.
   • This baby hair is then replaced by permanent hair.
   • The normal hair comes in between 6 and 12 months.
   • This shedding phase in newborns is always normal.
   • Hair loss is not caused by shampoos.
2. Call Your Doctor If:
   • Hair does not grow back by 12 months old
   • You have other questions or concerns

Hair Loss on Back of Head from Chronic Rubbing and Friction

1. What You Should Know About Rubbing Off Hair on Back of Head:
   • Babies can rub off a patch of hair on the back of the head. This most commonly occurs in infants 3 to 6 months old.
   • The hair loss is from friction during head-turning against a firm surface. Examples are crib mattresses, playpens, activity mats and infant seats.
   • The hair grows back once the baby starts to sit up.
   • This may take 6 to 12 months.
   • Can also occur in any bedridden child (e.g., severe cerebral palsy).
2. Treatment for Hair Loss from Friction and Too Much Time on Back:
   • After 1 month old, give your baby more tummy time.
   • Caution: Tummy time should always occur under adult supervision. Reason: Risk of suffocation until child reaches an age when can turn over.
   • Tummy time has many benefits.
   • It will help the back of head become more rounded and less flat.
   • It will also build up strength in shoulder muscles.
3. Call Your Doctor If:
   • Hair does not grow back by 6 months after learning to sit
   • You have other questions or concerns

Hair Loss From Tight Hair Style

1. What You Should Know About Hair Loss from Tight Hair Style:
   • Symptoms: Broken hairs are seen at the hairline or where the hair is parted. It's usually the same on both sides of the head.
   • Cause: If hair is pulled too tight, it will eventually break. This gives a frizzy look from hairs broken off at various lengths.
   • Examples: It's most commonly seen with tight braids, pony tails or dreadlocks. Hair can also be lost because of vigorous hair-brushing or back combing. Hot hairstyling tools can also cause hair damage. Can also occur during exercise while wearing head phones.
   • Hair loss is not caused by shampoos.
2. Treatment of Broken Hairs from Tight Hair Style:
   • Change the hair style to one that doesn't put tension on the hair.
   • If that is not acceptable, loosen the ponytail or braids.
   • These hair styles are at risk if they feel tight or cause any pain.
   • Outcome: If tight hair styles are avoided, the hair will return to normal.
   • Warning: If tight braiding continues over 10 years, permanent hair loss can occur.
3. Pimples in the Hair and on the Scalp:
   • Cause: Most pimples are caused by blocked hair follicles.
   • Treatment: Stop using any ointments or oils in the hair. Reason: they block the hair follicles.
   • Stop any hair style that puts tension on the hair. Reason: damages the hair follicle and makes it prone to infection.
   • Wash any ointment or greasy pomade off the scalp with soap and water.
   • Antibiotic Cream: Apply an antibiotic cream to the pimples. Do not use ointment. Use it 2 times a day for 3 days. No prescription is needed.
   • Outcome: Most pimples will clear up in 3 days.
4. Call Your Doctor If:
   • Hair does not grow back by 6 months after hair style changed
   • You have other questions or concerns

Widespread Hair Thinning Following Major Stress About 3 Months Ago

1. What You Should Know About Hair Loss after Stress:
   • Symptoms: Lots of hair is noticed in a comb or brush. The hair falls out from all parts of the scalp. This leads to major thinning of the hair, but no bald spots.
   • Cause: Severe stressful event. Hair follicles are very sensitive to physical or emotional stress. Examples are a high fever, severe illness or surgery. Also, an emotional crisis or a crash diet can be triggers. In pregnant teens, the stress can be childbirth. Hair loss is not caused by shampoos.
   • Time Frame: The hair begins to fall out about 3-4 months after a severe stress. It continues to fall out excessively over the next 3 or 4 months. After hair stops shedding, the hair will slowly grow back. This can take 6 to 8 months for all the hair to grow back. The whole cycle takes about 12 months.
   • There's no way to hurry the process. The hair growth cycle needs to run its course.
   • Here is some care advice that should help.
2. Hair Care:
   • Treat the hair gently.
   • Wash the hair no more than once per day. Always use a hair conditioner.
   • Comb the hair rather than brushing it.
   • Be careful at combing out any tangled hair.
   • Avoid any tight hair styles such as braids or a pony tail.
   • Don't put tension on the hair.
   • No special shampoo or cream is needed or helpful.
3. What to Expect:
   • No more than 50% of the hair will be lost.
   • Once it starts to regrow, all the hair will grow back in about 6 months.
   • The new hair will look normal.
4. Call Your Doctor If:
   • Hair does not grow back by 12 months after stressful event
   • You have other questions or concerns

And remember, contact your doctor if your child develops any of the 'Call Your Doctor' symptoms.

Disclaimer: this health information is for educational purposes only. You, the reader, assume full responsibility for how you choose to use it.

Last Reviewed: 11/02/2022

Last Revised: 01/13/2022

Copyright 2000-2022. Schmitt Pediatric Guidelines LLC.

Why Is My Infant’s Hair Falling Out?

Your baby may have been born with a head of hair that could rival Chewbacca. Now, just a few months later, all that’s left are Charlie Brown wisps.

What happened?

Turns out, hair loss can strike at any age — including infancy.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), most babies lose some — or even all — of their hair in the first few months of life. And it’s completely normal.

This hair loss is called alopecia, and in babies it can have several triggers, from hormones to sleeping position. The good news is that it’s very rare for infant hair loss to be associated with any medical problem.

And while every baby is different in how fast hair regrows, rest assured that yours should be tress blessed by their first birthday.

Most hair loss happens in the first 6 months of life, peaking at about 3 months, say the experts at Oregon Health and Science University.

In some babies, hair regrowth happens about the same time hair falls out, so you may not notice a difference. In others, the hairs fall out quickly, leaving your child cue-ball bald. Both scenarios are normal.

Here’s what else to look for:

• loose strands of hair in your hand after you stroke your baby’s head
• hair in the bath or on a towel after you’ve shampooed your child’s hair
• hair in places your baby rests their head, such as a crib or stroller

Most causes of baby hair loss are pretty harmless and include:

Telogen effluvium

Your baby is born with all the hair follicles they’ll ever have. A hair follicle is part of the skin from which hair strands grow.

At birth, some of the follicles are typically in the resting phase (called the telogen phase) and others are in the growing phase (anagen phase). But certain factors can accelerate the telogen phase, causing hair to shed: enter hormones.

Thanks to the umbilical cord, the same hormones that were pulsing through your body during pregnancy and giving you that supermodel head of hair were pulsing through your baby’s, too. But after birth, those hormones drop, triggering hair loss in your baby — and even yourself.

And if you haven’t already been there, done that, believe us when we tell you that labor and delivery are stressful events for everyone involved, including your baby. One theory is that this stress may contribute to telogen effluvium and hair loss.

Friction

Hair’s the rub: Your baby may lose hair on the back of the scalp due to hair rubbing against the hard surfaces of crib mattresses, strollers, and playpens. (Experts recommend placing babies on their backs to sleep to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS.)

Hair loss of this nature is called neonatal occipital alopecia or simply friction alopecia. These hair-thinned patches will start to fill in when babies can roller over, usually by the end of the seventh month.

Interestingly, a 2011 study looked at neonatal occipital alopecia and suggested still another explanation. Researchers theorized that infant hair loss isn’t something that occurs outside the womb, but a physiological event that starts before birth. They concluded that it tends to most often affect babies:

• whose mothers are younger than 34 years of age at the time of the baby’s birth
• are delivered vaginally
• are delivered full term

Still, the long-standing assumption that all the time infants spend with their head against different surfaces is the most accepted explanation for friction alopecia.

Cradle cap

Your baby’s crowning glory is studded with crusty, scaly, sometimes oily patches of what looks like hardened dandruff? It’s called cradle crap — er, cradle cap. Doctors aren’t exactly sure what causes it, but many suspect yeast or hormonal changes that make the scalp produce more oil.

Either way, the condition isn’t painful, itchy, or contagious. It also doesn’t cause hair loss, per se — but in an attempt to remove the stubborn scales, you may inadvertently also take out some hair strands.

Most mild cases of cradle cap resolve on their own in a few weeks, though it can persist for as long as a few months (and still be totally normal and harmless).

Ringworm

Call off the exterminators! Ringworm (also called tinea capitas) isn’t caused by worms but by a variety of fungi. It may cause hair loss and often a red, scaly, ring-like rash is seen on the scalp.

According to the doctors at Children’s National in Washington, D.C., ringworm doesn’t usually infect children under age 2. But it’s highly contagious, so if one person in the household has it, it’s possible to spread it via things like shared hats and hairbrushes.

Alopecia areata

This is a skin condition that leads to patchy bald spots on the head. It’s not life-threatening or contagious. Alopecia areata is caused by a defect in the immune system that causes it to attack and destroy healthy hair cells. Research published in 2002 notes that it’s very rare in children under 6 months, but there have been reported cases.

Don’t pull your hair out over your baby’s lost locks. Experts agree that treatment is unnecessary and most hair that’s lost in the first few months of life is regained during months 6 to 12.

There’s really nothing you can do to stimulate regrowth, but if you suspect a medical condition like ringworm or alopecia areata, see your doctor for help with a diagnosis and treatment options and to prevent further hair loss.

You may be able to help reduce hair loss from friction by giving your baby more tummy time — but always put them to sleep on their backs until they turn 1 and they can reliably roll over (from back to stomach and stomach to back) by themselves.

Whether there’s a lot or a little, here’s the best way to care for your baby’s hair:

• Use a mild shampoo made for babies. It’s less irritating to a newborn scalp.
• Don’t overdo it. According to the AAP, you only need to suds up your baby’s scalp 2 to 3 times a week. Anything more and you risk drying out the scalp.
• Don’t scrub. Take a washcloth wet with shampoo and gently massage it over your baby’s head.
• Use a soft-bristled brush on your baby’s sudsy hair if you see cradle cap and want to try to gently remove some scales. But don’t go to battle. Cradle cap is harmless and will eventually resolve on its own.

Put the pint-size hairpiece down. The vast majority of babies will regrow their lost hair in a matter of months.

But what surprises a lot of parents is that the new locks may look different than your baby’s first thatch of hair. It’s not uncommon, for example, for light hair to come in darker, straight hair to come in curly, or thick hair to come in thin — and vice versa. Genetics and your baby’s own hormones help determine which it will be.

Related: What color hair will my baby have?

Baby hair loss is normal and — maybe most important of all — temporary. (We should all be so lucky!)

But if your baby’s hair hasn’t started to regrow by their first birthday, or if you notice anything odd — such as bare patches, rashes, or excessive scaliness on the scalp — bring your child to their pediatrician for evaluation.

Hair loss in children: possible causes

The Cosmedica Team

We are an international team committed to providing the best hair transplant services on the market and to informing and educating people around the world about hair loss and its treatments.

Contents of the article

When children's hair falls out and bald spots form, both the child and his parents may experience great anxiety. However hair loss is not a disease, but is a symptom of a problem. Usually, the disease in question does not only affect the scalp, but is a whole problem with the skin or other organs.