What you need to know about babies born with hair or lanugo.
Your infant may be born with peach fuzz on her body, a full head of hair, or no hair at all.
What is lanugo?
Pronounced “la-NOO-go,” lanugo is soft, downy body hair that about a third of babies are born with.
It’s produced by fetal hair follicles during the second trimester, between 16 and 20 weeks, and keeps a baby warm inside the womb.
Most babies lose their lanugo in utero (around 32 to 36 weeks), where it’s shed into the amniotic fluid.
Other babies, particularly preemies, are born with their lanugo, which usually falls out within the first few weeks, and is replaced by what’s called vellus hair, which is finer and harder to see.
When does lanugo go away?
If your baby is born with lanugo, it will disappear within a few days or weeks. (Truth be told, you’ll be so busy and exhausted with your new arrival, you probably won’t even notice!)
That said, if it hangs around a bit longer, that’s normal, too: “With some cultures, body hair can be more common and may persist beyond the first few months of life,” says Kupfert.
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*All of our information are only guidelines and are not intended to replace the advice of a professional medical specialist; we are providing information to you on a general information basis only. My Pregnancy Journey disclaims any liability for the decisions you make based on this information.
