Why Are Some Babies Born With Hair On Their Body

Lanugo develops in all babies in utero around 16 weeks and most of them shed it by month seven or eight of.

Why are some babies born with hair on their body. Why are some babies born with hair and some are born without hair and how is a baby s color of hair determined. Some worry about too much hair while others worry about not enough. This is perfectly normal and no specific skin care routine is advised at this stage. Lanugo usually falls off during the first weeks of life but may remain for as long as a few months.

Most babies lose lanugo hair during the seventh or eighth month of pregnancy but it might persist for several weeks or even months after birth. You can clearly see the hair though it has a fine texture. Lanugo is believed to help keep the baby warm. Hair is a common area of concern for new parents says toronto paediatrician beverly kupfert.

Those who are born pre term are more likely to retain the hair as they make their way into the world. Guessing whether your baby will have a head full of hair or be as bald as a bowling ball is like guessing the numbers for saturday s lottery. Some babies especially the ones born preterm would not have had a chance to shed it yet and hence are born with a fine layer of hair all over the shoulders back and sometimes the face as well. It tends to cover certain parts of the body including the back shoulders ears and forehead.

By the time most full term babies are born they have shed their lanugo. Babies that are born at term have usually shed most of this hair inside the womb usually around the seventh or eighth month. Every baby has lanugo before birth. That fine hair is called lanugo it s commonly produced during the last stage of pregnancy and most full term babies are born with it.

It is derived from the latin word lana which means wool. Because this body hair will disappear a few weeks after your baby s birth there is no cause to worry. Newborns with hairy heads or thick body hair can evoke a lot of attention from near and dear ones from the time they are born. At an early gestation babies do not have a lot of fat stores and the lanugo may help maintain an appropriate body temperature.

Other babies particularly preemies are born with their lanugo which usually falls out within the first few weeks and is replaced by vellus hair which is finer and harder to see. The majority of babies who are born with excessive body hair are perfectly normal in this respect and are not still growing more hair. Before you get busy with uploading adorable photos of your hairy newborn online you might want to know how come he got so hairy in the first place and why you shouldn t worry about it. Many experts insist that the color and quantity of hair a baby is born with derives from.

While some babies shed the body hair before they announce their arrival to the world some infants are born with lanugo. Most of this hair is seen on the baby s back ears neck face and shoulders. The fine body hair that covers these infants is called lanugo and acts as a protectant in the womb.