[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":63},["ShallowReactive",2],{"guide:hairColorChange:en":3},{"updated":4,"faq":5,"sources":21,"html":40,"toc":41},"2026-10-16",[6,9,12,15,18],{"q":7,"a":8},"When does newborn hair fall out?","Newborn hair is temporary and often begins to shed by about 1 month. Almost all babies lose some, possibly all, of their hair in the first few months. It grows back.",{"q":10,"a":11},"Will my baby's hair grow back the same colour?","Not always. The permanent hair usually starts to appear by about 6 months, and it may be an entirely different colour from the hair your baby was born with.",{"q":13,"a":14},"Will my blond toddler stay blond?","Perhaps not. Light hair often darkens through childhood and around puberty. In one study, about 7 in 10 children who were blond at age 2 to 3 had brown hair by age 6 to 13.",{"q":16,"a":17},"Is it normal for my baby to have a bald patch?","Yes, a bald spot on the back of the head is common, often from rubbing against the sleep surface, and it fills in within a few months. If hair loss carries on or worries you, ask your baby's doctor or health visitor.",{"q":19,"a":20},"Can I predict my baby's adult hair colour?","Only roughly. Many genes are involved and hair often darkens with age. The hair colour calculator gives a simple estimate from both parents' hair colours, for fun, not a genetic test.",[22,25,28,31,34,37],{"label":23,"url":24},"MedlinePlus Genetics (US National Library of Medicine): Is hair color determined by genetics?","https:\u002F\u002Fmedlineplus.gov\u002Fgenetics\u002Funderstanding\u002Ftraits\u002Fhaircolor\u002F",{"label":26,"url":27},"Seattle Children's Hospital: Newborn appearance questions","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.seattlechildrens.org\u002Fconditions\u002Fa-z\u002Fnewborn-appearance-questions\u002F",{"label":29,"url":30},"HealthyChildren.org (American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Dermatology): Hair loss (alopecia) in children","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.healthychildren.org\u002FEnglish\u002Fhealth-issues\u002Fconditions\u002Fskin\u002FPages\u002FHair-Loss-Alopecia.aspx",{"label":32,"url":33},"HealthyChildren.org (American Academy of Pediatrics): Your baby's first month, growth and physical appearance","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.healthychildren.org\u002FEnglish\u002Fages-stages\u002Fbaby\u002FPages\u002FFirst-Month-Physical-Appearance-and-Growth.aspx",{"label":35,"url":36},"Kukla-Bartoszek M et al. Investigating the impact of age-depended hair colour darkening during childhood on DNA-based hair colour prediction with the HIrisPlex system. Forensic Science International: Genetics 2018;36:26-33","https:\u002F\u002Fpubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\u002F29913343\u002F",{"label":38,"url":39},"Morgan MD et al. Genome-wide study of hair colour in UK Biobank explains most of the SNP heritability. Nature Communications 2018;9:5271","https:\u002F\u002Fpmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\u002Farticles\u002FPMC6288091\u002F","\u003Ch2 id=\"yes-and-usually-more-than-once\">Yes, and usually more than once\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\u003Cp>Most babies' hair changes in two stages. The first comes early. Most hair at birth is dark, and it is temporary: it begins to shed by about 1 month, and the permanent hair starts to appear by about 6 months. That new hair can be an entirely different colour.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The second change is slower. Light hair commonly darkens through childhood and again around puberty, so the colour at 6 months says little about the colour at 16.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Ch2 id=\"the-first-months-shedding-and-regrowth\">The first months: shedding and regrowth\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\u003Cp>Almost all babies lose some, and possibly all, of their hair during the first few months. Paediatric skin specialists at the American Academy of Pediatrics call this normal and expected, and the hair grows back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Babies do it in different ways. Some lose their newborn hair slowly while the permanent hair is coming in. Others lose it quickly and are bald for a short time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A bald spot on the back of the head is common too. It often comes from rubbing the head against the sleep surface, even when the rest of the hair stays, and new hair covers it within a few months.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because almost every baby sheds hair, there is usually no need to see a doctor about it. If hair loss carries on or worries you, talk to your baby's doctor or health visitor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Ch2 id=\"childhood-and-puberty-hair-often-gets-darker\">Childhood and puberty: hair often gets darker\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\u003Cp>MedlinePlus Genetics notes that, particularly in people of European descent, light hair often darkens with age, and blond children often have darker hair by the time they are teenagers. Researchers think some of the proteins that make hair pigment switch on as children grow, perhaps in response to the hormonal changes around puberty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A study of 476 children aged 6 to 13 shows how common this is. Of the children who had been blond at age 2 to 3, about 7 in 10 had brown hair by the time of the study. Even a DNA test built to predict hair colour was often fooled: for most of these children it still predicted blond.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The same study found that the DNA test picked out red hair far more reliably than blond or brown. Red depends mainly on one gene, MC1R, while blond and brown shift as children grow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If you want to follow the changes month by month, the \u003Ca href=\"\u002Ftools\u002Fbaby-age-calculator\">baby age calculator\u003C\u002Fa> tells you exactly how old your baby is.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Ch2 id=\"what-decides-hair-colour\">What decides hair colour\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\u003Cp>Hair colour comes from two pigments. Eumelanin gives black or brown hair, and pheomelanin gives red hair. The type and amount of each are set by many genes, most of which are still poorly understood. A large study of UK adults linked blond hair to more than 200 genetic variants and found a smooth range from black through dark and light brown to blond, rather than neat boxes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Ch2 id=\"what-the-parents-colours-can-tell-you\">What the parents' colours can tell you\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\u003Cp>Both biological parents pass on genes for hair colour, and some of them stay hidden. That is why the \u003Ca href=\"\u002Ftools\u002Fbaby-hair-color-calculator\">baby hair colour calculator\u003C\u002Fa> above works with odds rather than certainties.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It uses a simple two-gene model: one gene for dark or light pigment, where dark wins, and one gene, MC1R, for red, which only shows when a child gets a red version from both parents. It describes the colour your child is likely to grow into, not the colour in baby photos.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For example, for \u003Ca href=\"\u002Ftools\u002Fbaby-hair-color-calculator\u002Ftwo-dark-haired-parents\">two dark-haired parents\u003C\u002Fa> with no red hair in either family, the model gives about 91% black or brown, 8% blond and 1% red. Real families vary, so treat these numbers as a fun estimate, not a genetic test.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Ch2 id=\"a-note-on-red-hair\">A note on red hair\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\u003Cp>Red hair works a little differently. It depends mainly on MC1R. One copy of MC1R with a change that switches it off can give strawberry blond, auburn or red hair. When both copies are switched off, the hair is almost always very red.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because the red version can pass quietly through parents who do not have red hair, a red-haired baby can surprise everyone. If one of you has red hair, see \u003Ca href=\"\u002Ftools\u002Fbaby-hair-color-calculator\u002Fdark-and-red-haired-parents\">one dark-haired and one red-haired parent\u003C\u002Fa>, or \u003Ca href=\"\u002Ftools\u002Fbaby-hair-color-calculator\u002Ftwo-red-haired-parents\">two red-haired parents\u003C\u002Fa>. If red hair runs in either family, tick "Someone in their family has red hair" in the calculator: it raises the estimated chance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Ch2 id=\"grey-hair-is-a-separate-story\">Grey hair is a separate story\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\u003Cp>Greying has nothing to do with these early changes. Almost everyone's hair turns grey with age, when the hair follicles lose the ability to make melanin. When that happens is partly hereditary and varies a lot from person to person.\u003C\u002Fp>\n",[42,45,48,51,54,57,60],{"id":43,"text":44},"yes-and-usually-more-than-once","Yes, and usually more than once",{"id":46,"text":47},"the-first-months-shedding-and-regrowth","The first months: shedding and regrowth",{"id":49,"text":50},"childhood-and-puberty-hair-often-gets-darker","Childhood and puberty: hair often gets darker",{"id":52,"text":53},"what-decides-hair-colour","What decides hair colour",{"id":55,"text":56},"what-the-parents-colours-can-tell-you","What the parents' colours can tell you",{"id":58,"text":59},"a-note-on-red-hair","A note on red hair",{"id":61,"text":62},"grey-hair-is-a-separate-story","Grey hair is a separate story",1793362220381]