Pragya Chauhan

Is it normal for a newborn to have excess body hair? We have been asked this question many times. Today, one of our expert will be sharing her opinion on this issue. And, by the end of this article, you will also learn, whether home remedies are a good option for excessive body hair in newborns or not.  

Ever since you got pregnant, there is only one thing on your mind – how is my baby going to look. And I say this from my very own personal experience. You hope that your baby looks the cutest in the world, is born with a smiley face, perfect silky soft and smooth skin, big eyes and what not.

But all these hopes are shattered the moment you see him right after birth. Yes, this is the reality of life. Naturally, the babies do not come out of the mother’s womb looking spic and span and absolutely perfect. They have a wrinkly skin from being in the water for 9 months, their eyes and face are swollen and they do not have a smiley face. Well, not all the babies.

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One thing that stands out in most babies apart from the above description I gave is hair. Newborn babies have hair. And, a lot of it. Although they may be born with a hairless head but they are going to have body hair. And when family members see these excessive hair on the body, especially mothers, they freak out.

They even start with exfoliating the skin with gram flour (besan) but what they don’t know is that it is common in newborn babies. And these hair go away on their own.

Now let’s note a few important points in this regard:

1. All newborn babies have body hair right from their birth. These hair are called lanugo.
2. When babies are in the womb, they develop body hair.
3. Premature babies have more hair than babies who are born on time.
4. It usually takes about 3-4 months for the baby’s body hair to fall out on its own.
5. In some cases, body hair is also because of genes and in that case not much can be done to get rid of them.
6. Exfoliating your baby’s sensitive skin with any of your home remedies will surely result in a reaction on your baby’s skin and he might get cranky.

It happened with my nephew when my sister in law applied besan mixed with turmeric and milk. The texture was such that it pulled on the baby’s hair when applied. And it even caused redness all over his back. Although it did get better in a day’s time but we vowed of never using it again on any baby.

Like I said above, when my nephew was 3.5 months old, we noticed a great reduction in the body hair on its own.

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No matter how long your family members have been applying this home remedy to get rid of body hair on newborns, there is no scientific evidence to prove that it genuinely helps. So choose wisely if you have to.

As for my personal experience, even my daughter had hair, especially on her back. I remember my family telling me to use gram flour/besan to get rid of her body hair. But I never did, because I knew it will go away pretty soon on its own. And it did, without the intervention of any home remedy.

I would just say that you should be patient with nature. Let nature follow its course on your baby’s body and by the time your baby is a year old, most of the things that you worry about will be taken care of on its own. And while you’re at it, don’t forget to enjoy motherhood!!