13 Wk Old Losing a LOT of Hair

Many newborns that are born with a full set of hair will lose it all shortly after being born. Don't fret, its perfectly normal. It will grow back.

my thoughts about cradle cap is that most babies get it. Both of my girls had cradle cap but neither one lost their hair so i don't think they are related. The best thing i know to do with cradle cap is to rub vasaline on her head before she goes to bed and let her sleep like that. In the morning wash her hair, scrub and brush it out. It may take several washings to get all the grease out of her hair. this will take care of most of it. Cradle cap is sometimes just something they have to grow out of (especially on their soft spot)

Yep, completely normal as other moms have said. My daughter was born with a bit of hair on her head that looked to us like she was going to be a redhead. Now, she's got mousy brown / dirty blond hair growing in and that new peach fuzz started coming in around Thanksgiving.

Don't worry about it. My daughter was born with a full head of black hair. It started to fall out and all that grew back in it's place was bleach blonde peach fuzz. She was this way until she turned 2 and she grew beautiful long blonde hair overnite. My doc told me that the hair loss was related to the fact that babies hormones change after birth.

Cradle cap has nothing to do with what you feed your baby since it occurs because of a hormonal imbalance in your baby's body (same with the hair loss at her age). Don't start to worry though - this is totally normal. While you were pregnant, your body produced enough extra hormones for your baby, and they were transported to her through the placenta. Now that she's born, your body is no longer producing those hormones for her, and her body is starting to produce them, but it takes time for her body to get enough in there....but you gave her enough before she was born to keep her going until her own endocrine system gets up to speed. What you're seeing now is just her body trying to level everything off. You may notice that you develop cradle cap too (it's called sebhorreic dermatitis in adults) in a few months, especially if you're breastfeeding, and you'll probably also notice that now you're losing a lot of hair too (again, due to a hormone imbalance).

The biggest thing you can do for your baby is leave the flakes alone. Don't pick at them with your fingernails, as this just irritates the scalp and can cause other problems. Don't scrub her scalp with with your nails (a gentle massage with the tips of your fingers is okay though) or any sort of brush or comb. The homeopathic remedy is to softly massage a pea-sized drop oil - you can use baby oil but olive oil works just as well and smells much nicer in my opinion - into your baby's scalp before bath time to loosen the flakes. Comb through her hair with a fine tooth comb. Then give your baby a bath, and wash her head with baby shampoo. Gently massage her scalp with your fingertips. You may have to shampoo twice to get the oily residue off. Comb her hair again to get any remaining loose flakes. You can't make her cradle cap go away in one day or even a week. Remember that if bothers you more than it bothers her, and if you really think it's a problem, talk to your pediatrician.

Hi R.,

I just went through this with my twin boys. They had a severe case of craddle cap. Everything I tried would not clear it up. So I scratched it out and it did take their hair out at the top but it is now growing back and looking healthier.

Yes, most babies lose their newborn hair. I wouldn't suggest scratching the craddle cap on baby girl especially since her hair is already shedding. Just keep her hair washed once a week and becareful on what type of product you put in her hair. I would suggest baby oil depending on her texture or baby lotion. I wouldn't worry to much. This is very normal.

Bre

Loosing hair is totally normal..you may end up with a blonde little girl. As for the cradle cap, before the bath I put some baby oil on the scalp, and then with a baby brush, brush in circles to sort of massage the cradle cap off. Then I use a baby comb to brush it out..if that makes sense. Then, wash as usual. It make take a few times, but I would try that before using any of the cradle cap shampoos..they smell horrible!! Good luck ~A.~

Not sure about the hair loss - my babies were bald. However, I do know about cradel cap - my first baby had it. You don't need any medicated shampoo. The best thing you can do is soak his/her head with soapy water and let soak. Then take a soft baby brush and bush the cradle cap off. The soapy water loosens the dried skin. To prevent cradle cap wash you babies hair a few times a week with baby soap and water - then use the soft baby brush to get all of the bacteria off. Wipe head down every once in a while along with face and body to prevent baby acne. I didn't get with my second.

Dear R.,

I just wanted to reassure you that babies losing their hair is completely normal. My daughter was born with dark hair so thick you couldn't see her scalp. By 5 months she had lost almost all of it, except for the middle top. It was a horrible comb over look so we shaved it all down. She is now 19 months old and it has grown back more beautiful than ever. My son was born with lots of hair too, has lost it all, and it's now growing back as well. I had to formula feed my daughter, and am currently nursing my son. Neither should affect hair loss. As for cradle cap, the best thing to do is when you give her a bath, LIGHTLY scrub her scalp with your finger nails. Not too hard or rough, over a little time you will notice it begin to lessen and then disappear.

I hope this helps somewhat!

Her losing her hair is normal, for the Cradle cap there is a "kit" that you can buy. I think it is by Gerber, it comes with a shampoo, a soft "scrubber" and a lotion. We have had the same kit for 3 years and used it on both my kids and planning on using it for the third. I am not sure if cradle cap can cause the hair to fall out. Good Luck.

Your daughter losing her hair is normal. Some kids do lose all they are born with and more grows back later and some kids don't lose it at all. My son was born with lots of dark hair and lost it and was replaced with blond hair. He also had cradle cap. He was a baby a long time ago but they used to have a product out to help with cradle cap. I can't remember what it was called. You could check with a pharmacist at a drug store and they could help you. Please don't think her hair is falling out because of your diet or anything else. This is normal.
C.

Totally normal. They lose their hair for the same reason ours starts to fall out more after giving birth. The huge surge of hormones is responsible. As for the cradle cap, you can use olive oil and a baby brush to gently rub it out.

A lot of babies lose their hair. It's natural. My son was born with a head full of jet black hair. He lost that and at six months had a head full of cotton white hair. So, don't panic over the hair loss. Cradle cap is also quite common in babies. I used baby oil on my kids heads - just a little goes a long way. Seemed to clear it up in a few days.
Frances

R.,
I agree with KC; I have three kids, my daughter (1) lost almost all her hair, my son (2) lost a lot of his hair, especially in the back where he laid on it, and my third was born with black hair but has blond now, his thinned out more than lost all at once. It's totally normal for babies to lose their hair. As for the cradle cap, all of my kids a it, not really bad but had the dry skin. Do exactly what KC said, wash and brush with a comb. There is 9 years between my two sons, so when the baby was born, my oldest son use to comb his hair all the time. Yes, some of his hair would come out, but so did the the cradle cap. My Aunt didn't take care of my cousin really good, because she thought it would hurt him to comb his hair as a baby and he has hard hair, it's never been soft. That's why I would comb my kids hair all the time to get rid of it.
Enjoy motherhood!

Almost all babies get cradle cap, and almost all babies lose their hair. Neither of my kids had cradle cap real bad, all I would have to do is take a wash rag and gently scrub their scalp with their baby shampoo then once out of the tub I would take a comb and comb through their hair to get it out. There is other stuff you can use if it gets real bad, but it will eventually go away. My daughter is 9 mos. old and hers is pretty much gone. I know you can use a tiny bit of dry scalp shampoo, but I never went that route because it wasn't bad and I knew it would go away.

My daughter is 14 weeks and has born with a head full of dark hair too. We are dealing with the cradle cap right now too. The pediatrician told us to get a full size bottle of baby shampoo (we use Johnson's) and put a teaspoon of tea tree oil in it and mix it well. Tea tree oil is a natural antiseptic, and the dr. said its diluted enough in the shampoo that it won't hurt baby or her eyes. (I still cover her face with a washcloth when I rinse her hair.) We've used it the past 3 or 4 times we've washed her hair and the cradle cap is just about gone. Nothing like it was 2 weeks ago. You can find the tea tree oil by the vitamins at Walmart or at any vitamin/health store. I also wash dd's hair again with Johnson's head to toe body wash when I wash her body, just to make sure I get all the "medicated" shampoo out of her hair. Give it a try, it really works.
DD's hair is thinning some too, but I see little peach fuzz growing in on top of her head, so I attribute it to the changing hormones just like many others have said. Good luck, hth.

I would say that the hair loss and cradle cap is normal, and for you not to worry, which I know is difficult with your first child. I have a 13 year old daughter and a 10 year old son, both were born with a head full of brown hair. While both of them lost their hair, my daughter's was more noticeable. She lost it only on one side of her head and when it grew back it was almost white-blonde. After that the rest of her hair turned blonde. My son's hair thinned everwhere instead of in certain places, but like his sister's, it grew in blonde. As far as the cradle cap; do you have a baby brush? Perhaps one that is in-between soft and hard (leaning more towards soft, of course)? My son had cradle cap and brushing helped it a lot. I was told not to pick at it in case it was attached to the skin, in which case would make him bleed, like picking a scab. But brushing his hair gently over a couple of days (and washing it as well), helped a great deal. I don't know if the cradle cap is contributing to the hair loss, but it is relatively easy to remedy. I do not think it is anything you have done; I think both are natural occurances for babies. You are doing fine, so relax. I know it is easier said than done, especially with a new baby, but it will lessen your stress level.

Seems totally normal, but do mention it at your next doc visit just in case. My daughter lost hers so fast that when I cleaned the carseat cushion, after just one ride it was covered with tons of tiny little hairs. She eventually got the dry/flaky skin on her scalp and the doc told us to wash her hair and scalp with a warm wet rag (no soap) and then cover it with lotion and gently brush it to get some of the dried skin off. By doing so it would allow the lotion to get to the bottom/fresh skin. We did that at least twice a day for a couple of weeks and it cleared up.

My son had REALLY BAD cradle cap for a long time. I used some baby shampoo and it was HORRIBLE. It was so greasy and made his head smell awful for days even after I gave him a bath. I called a nurse at my pediatricians office and she said to use Selsun Blue (for adults). She said to only use it for about a week every other day. Put a little bit in her hair,let it sit for a few minutes and gently rub it in with her baby brush (be careful not to get it near her eyes...nerve raking I know). It did not work immediately we did Selsun Blue for a week and then Johnstons for a week so his head would not be really dry. After a while it worked wonderfully and he has not had it since and he is only 20 weeks. At first I did not want to do this for fear of getting it in his eyes but we couldn't find anything else so we did this and it works great.

Hi R., congratulations on a beautiful baby. I agree with the other mom about the hair loss and the cradle cap. My son who is now 1 was born with a head full of dark hair and at about the same time his started to fall out. I did notice that his hair would get get a little frizzy first on the spots where he would lay then break off and get very thin in those spots. I also noticed that when I started to nurse him in bed at night that the hair on top of his head started to thin out. I figured that it was from his head rubbing on my arm. What I started doing was at bed time every night I would rub a bit of lotion on his hair, I used Eucerin and this stoped the frizzyness and breakeage. He stoped lossing his hair and it got very long and is now blond. I hope that tip might help you out.

I feel your pain here. My boys, well they didn't start out with much hair at all but my girls, well lots of dark curly hair and I loved it. My oldest daughter now 2 almost lost all of her hair. Yes the cradle cap is a HUGE contributing factor. We acttually notice her hair thining out again this week and sure enough the stupid cradle cap is back. Gentle Nauturals Disney baby makes "Cradle Cap care" It works but makes hair grease and stinks. I acctaully asked the Doctor yesterday in desperation and he said to use Nutragina t-gel, Nutragina t-sal or selsun blue every other day. We were able to find a Kroger version of the t-sal. I have caught it early with our 2 month old and hoping to prevent her form loosing hers.

gently wash her hair with baby shampoo and then apply vaseline. you are doing nothing wrong... most babies get craddle cap.

My son who is now in his 20's was born with a full head
of long dark brown hair. By the time he was 5 months old
it had all fallen out.He was bald, well not really bald there was a little blonde fuzz there. He ended up with a beautiful head of blonde hair. Not to worry I am sure it
is perfectly normal.
Cradle cap is not caused by the loss of hair. You can apply baby oil to the scalp,massage it in well and gently
comb scalp with a fine haired baby brush. Not to worry this to shall pass.
Just FYI I am a retired RN.

No worries. Very normal :) Especially losing hair on the top and back where her head lies. She may look really funny for a while like my girls did but it will grow back. For the cradle cap, I just gobbed moisturizer on it throughout the day and the gently scrubbed off the dead skin with a warm wet cloth in the evening and applied more lotion at bedtime covered with a hat. It went away completely in 2-3 weeks.