A remarkable photograph of a baby with a seriously coiffured and very full head of hair has been making waves on the internet. So what is the story with newborns and hair? We take a closer look.
We Are All Different
Personally, I started with no hair at all. Born bald and stayed that way until past my second birthday. An all too brief flirtation with hair would come to a rudely abrupt halt before I was even out of my teens.
Most will enter this world with what is often referred to as peach fuzz. A covering of soft downy hair that lasts until around three months. At about twelve weeks the high levels of hormones that the baby was receiving in the womb run down and the hair follicles, which all began growing at the same time, enter a resting phase… which sees them all fall out at once. The experience will never be repeated, unless the baby grows to be a victim of either a disease or nervous disorder which triggers the same dramatic hair loss. In future the hair follicles will all enter their various growth stages at different times, meaning any shedding will always be complimented with the rebirth of new hairs. At least until the onset of male or female pattern baldness.
A Hairy Ride
Plenty of babies are born with full heads of hair – there is anecdotal evidence that the mother suffers with heartburn in direct proportion to the amount of hair their baby is to be born with – So there is some misery attached to the benefit of having a baby that looks slightly less like Winston Churchill than most do, along with the attendant bonny baby shots.
As the viral reaction to the shots of 10 week old Isobelle Kaplan prove, these babies certainly do make for unusual photographs. Rest assured that in just 2 or 3 weeks, maybe as many as 4, Isobelle will almost certainly look like all her peers at the soft play area. Bald as a coot and without a care in the world.
If anything, the absence of ego in a baby is to be admired and something we could all benefit from at times. It is a time to celebrate everything about that miracle filled time of their lives, including the baldness when it comes… and it will come, even to Isabelle.
