When a baby is born with a full head of hair, the parents can claim bragging rights for a lifetime. But you have other concerns when your baby begins to lose that very fine hair soon after birth, or your newborn is absolutely bald. Don't despair. It's OK. It all has to do with the normal growth and development of your infant.
It's an Inside Job
About three or four months into the pregnancy, the baby develops a soft, cheese-like, waxy coating called vernix caseosa. This coating helps protect the baby's skin from the drying influences of the amniotic fluid in the uterus. At birth, this coating helps insulate the baby during its first few moments in the world. About the time that vernix becomes evident and after the baby's hair follicles develop, soft, fine, almost colorless hairs begin to grow on the body of the fetus. Covering almost the whole of the baby's body, this hair is called "lanugo."
Purpose
Opinions vary on the purpose of lanugo, but it seems to help anchor the coating of vernix. Another possibility is given by Ksenia Bystrova, a Russian researcher writing in the February 2009 issue of "Medical Hypotheses." She speculates that the lanugo moving in the amniotic fluid acts with the vernix, stimulating the fetus's intrauterine growth by transmitting nerve impulses from the skin via the spinal cord to higher nerve centers. More research is needed to verify this.
What Happens to Lanugo
In the last month or so of pregnancy, the baby begins to lose this lanugo. As it is shed, the fetus ingests the hair as it swallows amniotic fluid in the uterus. The lanugo is then expelled in the baby's first bowel movement, called meconium. Many full-term babies have little or no lanugo at birth. Babies who arrive prematurely usually have more lanugo. Health care professionals sometimes use the presence of lanugo to determine whether an infant is premature. But don't panic if you spot lanugo on a baby that you don't think is premature. A child born even a few days early can have lanugo.
Bald Babies
When a baby is born "bald" or loses hair after birth, it means only that they have lost most or all of their lanugo prior to birth or are in the process of losing it after delivery. Over the next several weeks, the baby will begin replacing the lost lanugo with two types of hair--vellus hair and terminal hair, which will stay with him for now on. In the case of babies with very blond hair, the new hair growing in may be as difficult to see as the lanugo may have been. Wait. Have patience. They will soon catch up with their fellow babies in growing mature hair.
Precautions
Regrowth of lanugo can occur in situations in which the child's nutritional status is poor. Lanugo regrowth is also possible in older children, adolescents and adults who suffer from anorexia nervosa. If an individual is not gaining weight and growing appropriately, or is having difficulty feeding or will not eat, consult your health care provider immediately.
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