[Search for users] [Overall Top Noters] [List of all Conferences] [Download this site]

Conference moira::parenting_v3

Title:Parenting
Notice:READ 1.27 BEFORE WRITING
Moderator:CSC32::DUBOIS
Created:Wed May 30 1990
Last Modified:Tue May 27 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:1364
Total number of notes:23848

366.0. "very little hair on 4.5 year old?" by ISTG::DAVILA () Mon Sep 24 1990 14:54

My oldest daughter is 4.5 years old, and has very little hair.  She has never
grown bangs, and the back hasn't grown past her neck.  It is short allover.

I was wondering if anybody out there has had the same experience.  I am
concerned because it might have something to do with her health.  I have talked
to my pediatrician about it, but she doesn't seem concerned, and she thinks
otherwise her physical growth is fine.

I have another daughter who looks like Rapunzel!

Then, strangely enough, my third daughter (now 9 months old), seems to be 
growing no hair at all, just like her oldest sister!

If I knew of other kids like her, I would feel better.  Up to now, I haven't
met anybody like her in this respect (except maybe for her baby sister!). As
far as my husband and I know, nobody in our families had this problem.

T.RTitleUserPersonal
Name
DateLines
366.1My experienceCOMET::BOLDENMon Sep 24 1990 17:508
    My daughter who is now 16 also had that problem.  It seemed to take her
    forever to get hair of any length.  The pedi that we had when she was
    small also was not concerned -- and as it turned out all was fine.
    
    She now has plenty of hair (fine, but thick), which she has to have cut
    every 4 weeks!  Now her hair grows very fast!
    
    I hope this helps.
366.2NEURON::REEVESMon Sep 24 1990 18:2013
    	If you look thru my baby pictures you will see the same hair type
    as you describe with your daughter.  I was born a baldy and to this day 
    still have very thin hair and a hard time getting it to grow past my 
    shoulders.  My parents both had black thick hair and when my sister was
    born she had black, thick and almost 3 inches long hair.  
    	The only problem I ever had was being jealous of girls who got to
    have pigtails.  Now it's more of a God send as I don't have to mess
    with it as much as most women. 
    	If you are real concerned with her health, then maybe you should
    try some vitamin supplements.  The only time I had to get my hair cut
    every 4 weeks was when I was pregnant and on pre-natal vitamins. 
    
    FWIW
366.3HereditaryMAJORS::MANDALINCITue Sep 25 1990 07:519
    A good friend on mine said she didn't have ANY hair until she was about
    3 years old. Her son turned 3 in July and has only had 2 hair cuts
    (actually only cutting the long places like the nap of his neck and
    only a few hairs at that). 
    
    If you can, ask your mother and have your husband/SO ask his mother
    when you got hair. It's seems to be hereditary!!
    
    Andrea
366.4gee, he hasn't got much hair, has he?TLE::RANDALLliving on another planetTue Sep 25 1990 13:0920
    I'm not sure about heredity, but it's certainly natural.  
    
    Steven was almost 2 before he had enough hair to need a haircut. 
    And since it was quite light when he was a baby, he looked bald
    long after most other babies in the neighborhood were getting
    haircuts or wearing cute little pigtails. 
    
    He still goes months between haircuts -- and he's not getting
    shaggy in between, either.  
    
    I let mine grow for almost 12 years and it just reached my
    shoulder blades in back.  It got there very quickly and then
    stopped.
    
    By the way, I've been told that it's a myth of our culture that
    women naturally have longer hair than men. Each individual has a
    length beyond which their hair won't grow, and the range is the
    same for both sexes.  Anybody know any more about this?  Bonnie J?
    
    --bonnie
366.5Curley or Straight??NRADM::TRIPPLTue Sep 25 1990 13:2819
    If we look back at AJ's pictures, for the first 9 months or so he
    looked bald!  He really didn't have that much hair, plus it was so
    light all his pictures you only saw this shiny head!  Now I need to
    trim, if not do a major cut at least once a month, it's horribly thick,
    which is just like both my husband's and mine.  Guess he's bound to
    have thick hair one way or the other.
    
    As for the question of you heredity having to do with hair, I guess my
    sister and I could be prime examples.  My sister had extremely long
    straight hair but not that thick, she could sit on it.  It was much like 
    our mother's, my hair was on the opposite extrme I still consider it
    "long" if I can pull it down as far as my shoulders, it's quite
    naturally curly like my dad and I have his coloring.  What I had heard
    was not so much to do with heritage, but that curly hair won't grow as
    long.  Maybe that's why AJ's hair seems to be getting thicker as it
    gets straighter?   ...just a thought!
    
    Lyn
    
366.6FDCV07::HSCOTTLynn Hanley-ScottTue Sep 25 1990 13:328
    I'm a firm believer that children are born with what I call
    "barbie-doll" hair - it all magically grows out of one hole in their
    head, one strand at a time.
    
    For the longest time, my sisters called Ryan Eddie Munster because he
    had such sparse hair in front.... at age 2+ now, his hair has begun
    filling in on the sides.
    
366.7race against timeCIVIC::JANEBNHAS-IS Project ManagementTue Sep 25 1990 14:1216
    
>    By the way, I've been told that it's a myth of our culture that
>    women naturally have longer hair than men. Each individual has a
>    length beyond which their hair won't grow, and the range is the
>    same for both sexes.  Anybody know any more about this?  Bonnie J?
    
    Yeah, because each individual has a length of TIME that each hair will
    grow before it falls out.  Fortunately, they are not all falling out at
    the same time, or we would know what that length of time is for each of
    us!  So our hair will only grow a long as it can in that span: if mine
    is 7 years ( I thought it was 4-7, anyone know?), it's a race to see how
    far it can get in 7 years - then that's my limit to the length.
    
    The reply about a mom's hair growing well only on prenatal vitamins
    sounds like it could be a vitamin deficiency and it might be worth
    finding out what's missing and continuing to get it back somewhow.
366.8MSESU::HOPKINStax the rich...feed the poor...Tue Sep 25 1990 15:346
    I thought my son would never grow hair!  He's got quite a head full
    today.  My daughter, on the other hand, was born with a head full. 
    Also, the story about if the baby has a head full of hair at birth it
    will all fall out is not true.  Her's just kept growing.
    
    
366.9could be PG hormones, not vitaminsMCIS5::WOOLNERPhotographer is fuzzy, underdeveloped and denseTue Sep 25 1990 15:594
    .2> ...when I was pregnant and on pre-natal vitamins
                      ^^^^^^^^^^^^
    
    Did it grow [when/if] you were pregnant BUT NOT ON vitamins?
366.10NEURON::REEVESTue Sep 25 1990 16:1913
    RE -1
    
    >>Did it grow [when/if] you were pregnant BUT NOT ON vitamins?
    
    I really have to believe it was the vitamins, as I started a diet 
    long before I got pregnant and when I started the diet, I started 
    taking pre-natal vitamins and drank TONS of water because I figured 
    it would be really good for me, that's when my hair and nails started 
    growing and I actually had to have a hair cut every 6 to 8 weeks, but 
    then when I got pregnant, it went crazy and I HAD to get it cut every
    4 weeks, but since the birth I have not been good and quit taking the 
    vitamins and drinking all that water, it's been 5 months since my last
    haircut and if my hair has grown 2 inches I'd be surprized........
366.11Nail Grow !NRADM::TRIPPLTue Sep 25 1990 17:166
    Sort of related: Not sure of my hair, but I do know that when I take 
    prenatal vitamins, whether I'm pregnant or not, my nails grow long and 
    strong like crazy!
    
    Lyn
    
366.12Thanks for responsesISTG::DAVILAThu Sep 27 1990 14:054
I have tried vitamins and it didn't seem to make any difference.  In my 
experience, it was the pregnancy and not the vitamins that made my hair go
wild.  I will put her back on vitamins anyway, since she's very skinny too.