Excessive body hair in newborns can be distressing for parents. Check out the causes that lead to excessive hair growth in newborns. The mere idea of the word ‘newborn’ often paints a very pretty picture in our minds. Although a newborn is cute and divine in all respects, however, there can be issues like excessive body hair in the baby that can momentarily deviate your attention. Mothers expect to give birth to a soft creamy textured cuddly baby, but in reality you might be faced with a different condition altogether. The skin of the newborn is flaky, a bit dry and sometimes with a lot of body hair. Most parents get anxious about this, but in fact there is nothing to worry as such, as this appearance issue in no marker for the baby’s health, which is your prime importance. In this articleUnderstanding Baby’s Body HairThe Normal CauseThe Atypical CauseThe TreatmentUnderstanding Baby’s Body Hair How would you know that the hair on the newborn is excessive or normal? It is indeed tricky to understand whether the newborn is really born with excessive hair, or it is normal. This is because; a certain amount of hair on the body of the newborn is natural, which again apparently seem to be a lot. But you would know that it is excessive hair growth if you find hair on the forehead, cheeks and back of the body of the baby. This hair is extremely soft and is best described as downy. Causes That Lead to Excessive Hair The Normal Cause This is more often than not the normal cause causing excessive hair growth. Babies are naturally born with quite some amount of hair on their bodies. It is known as lanugo. It acts as a protective cover on the baby’s skin when the baby is in the womb. If the birth happens to be a premature one, it is probable that the lanugo is retained for quite a few weeks post birth, and if the baby is born full term, the lanugo is retained for a couple of days and then falls off by itself. The Atypical Cause Clinically excessive hair growth in infants is known as Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia or CAH. This entails that the baby lacks a particular enzyme that is responsible for hormone production during birth. In this condition, babies are unable to produce aldosterone or cortisol mainly. This implies that the baby’s system will produce more androgens or the male hormone that directly lead to the excess hair growth, more so if the infant is a female. In acute cases, CAH may also lead to tremendous dehydration effect, abnormal heart, shock due to low levels of sodium concentration in their blood. The Treatment In cases where the baby retains the lanugo for a longer period, it is simply required of you to wait till the lanugo is shed on its own. In most cases, you will find that this body hair is gone by the time the infant is one month old. In atypical cases, the doctors need to be very careful as they artificially manage the hormone levels. The synthetic hormones might be required to be administered via steroid medications, and monitored regularly and very carefully. You can note that those with excessive hair growth due to hormonal issues may require a prolonged treatment, so that the desired essential hormones can be duly replenished. The probable side-effect of this treatment is that the baby may grow taller than his or her peers during the childhood years, but the growth may stop during adolescence and thereby, the eventual height may be shorter compared to the others.
Excessive body hair in newborns can be distressing for parents. Check out the causes that lead to excessive hair growth in newborns. The mere idea of the word ‘newborn’ often paints a very pretty picture in our minds. Although a newborn is cute and divine in all respects, however, there can be issues like
excessive body hair in the baby that can momentarily deviate your attention. Mothers expect to give birth to a soft creamy textured cuddly baby, but in reality you might be faced with a different condition altogether. The skin of the
newborn is flaky, a bit dry and sometimes with a lot of body hair. Most parents get anxious about this, but in fact there is nothing to worry as such, as this appearance issue in no marker for the baby’s health, which is your prime importance.
Understanding Baby’s Body Hair
How would you know that the hair on the newborn is excessive or normal?
It is indeed tricky to understand whether the newborn is really born with excessive hair, or it is normal. This is because; a certain amount of hair on the body of the newborn is natural, which again apparently seem to be a lot. But you would know that it is excessive hair growth if you find hair on the forehead, cheeks and back of the body of the baby. This hair is extremely soft and is best described as downy.
Causes That Lead to Excessive Hair
The Normal Cause
This is more often than not the normal cause causing excessive hair growth. Babies are naturally born with quite some amount of hair on their bodies. It is known as lanugo. It acts as a protective cover on the baby’s skin when the baby is in the womb. If the birth happens to be a premature one, it is probable that the lanugo is retained for quite a few weeks post birth, and if the baby is born full term, the lanugo is retained for a couple of days and then falls off by itself.
The Atypical Cause
Clinically excessive hair growth in infants is known as Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia or CAH. This entails that the baby lacks a particular enzyme that is responsible for hormone production during birth. In this condition, babies are unable to produce aldosterone or cortisol mainly. This implies that the baby’s system will produce more androgens or the male hormone that directly lead to the excess hair growth, more so if the infant is a female. In acute cases, CAH may also lead to tremendous dehydration effect, abnormal heart, shock due to low levels of sodium concentration in their blood.
The Treatment
In cases where the baby retains the lanugo for a longer period, it is simply required of you to wait till the lanugo is shed on its own. In most cases, you will find that this body hair is gone by the time the infant is one month old. In atypical cases, the doctors need to be very careful as they artificially manage the hormone levels. The synthetic hormones might be required to be administered via steroid medications, and monitored regularly and very carefully.
You can note that those with excessive hair growth due to hormonal issues may require a prolonged treatment, so that the desired essential hormones can be duly replenished. The probable side-effect of this treatment is that the baby may grow taller than his or her peers during the childhood years, but the growth may stop during adolescence and thereby, the eventual height may be shorter compared to the others.
