Does your newborn baby have excessive hair on your body? Young parents are always extremely afraid of such a symptom. However, many doctors warn in advance about the possibility of their development. These hairs are quite thin, compared with those on the body of an adult, and they are given a special name - lanugo. They can be located both on the back and on the ears, shoulders of the child. At the same time, hairs are quite tough, because of which mothers decide that they are the root of problems with sleep and poor baby appetite.
The reasons
The development of lanugo hairs on the baby's body begins even in the womb, at about the twelfth week. Gradually, as the fetus develops, some hairs die off and are replaced by others, more subtle and almost invisible. In fact, lanugos do not pose any danger, quite the contrary. They are designed to protect the child. These hairs trap the substance that secretes the baby's body, being in the womb, so that a small organism develops fully.
The reasons for the appearance of excessive amounts of hair include the following:
- If a newborn has hair on his body and there is a lot of it, then, most likely, the whole thing is heredity and the predominance of the hormone responsible for hair growth - testosterone.
- Anomalies in the development of hairline, which are called stigma. The reason for their occurrence, based on a full examination of the child, can only be identified by a doctor.
- Early birth. Since the baby is premature, lanugos have not yet had time to completely fall out.
- Pathology. You can talk about her if the lanugo did not disappear a few months after the baby was born. In this case, a mandatory visit to doctors and the conduct of treatment courses, which will be prescribed, are indicated.
Ways to get rid
Doctors recommend some measures that will be aimed at removing hair if the newborn has it. They are quite simple, so it’s not difficult to follow them.
- Be sure to bathe the baby regularly;
- When bathing, it is important to use a soft sponge, or a washcloth, with which you can wash off the hairs with careful massage movements;
- Constantly turn the baby over, change the position of his body.
Do not cut, and even more so shave lanugo. Razor can only injure the delicate skin of the child.
If after applying creams and baby powders to avoid skin irritation, the hairs roll into small bundles, they can cause additional discomfort and sometimes even pain. In this case, it is necessary to bathe the baby daily, perhaps even twice a day, if there really is a need for it.
Lanugo: are they dangerous?
Still, it can be difficult to reassure many mothers, even if a qualified doctor gives arguments to them. Fear for a child is much stronger than a desire to understand medical terms. It is important to understand the following points:
- Lanugo is just the hair that did not fall out when the baby was in the womb. Within a month or two of their lives, they will finally fall out or be erased.
- The hairs on the baby's body in no way can cause any problems. Even if the level of hormones is elevated, it is lanugo that is not at all dangerous.
- Do not use on a child various recipes from traditional medicinesupposedly allowing you to get rid of unwanted hair. It’s best to wait a bit. (The only thing that will be useful for the baby from recipes of traditional medicine is baths with the addition of various medicinal herbs.)
