# Why are white babies bald? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 5, 2008, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-babies-bald/462181 "2008-09-05T13:57:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![davidw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c4cdca/32.png) [@davidw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidw)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-babies-bald/462181/1 "2008-09-05T13:57:30Z")
Speaking generally, it seems that white babies are born bald, while babies of all other ethnic groups are born with hair. Why is that? ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-babies-bald/462181/2 "2008-09-05T14:19:33Z")
They are not generally bald, - maybe it just seems that way to you. They come in a great variety. Our hospital delivered over 10,000 babies last year! ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-babies-bald/462181/3 "2008-09-05T14:21:19Z")
Aren’t caucasian babies often born with blonde, wispy hair? They might just appear balder, generally. ---
**Author:** ![papaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@papaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/papaw)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-babies-bald/462181/4 "2008-09-05T14:37:27Z")
Both of our white-bread boys were born with blond hair, not bald at all. Where do you get the idea that white babies are born bald? ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-babies-bald/462181/5 "2008-09-05T14:41:15Z")
IME they’re generally born with wispy hair, just not so much as other folks. Sometimes it falls out after the birth and grows in again a different color. Some few babies are born bald–I know one girl whose parents called her the Great Baldini until she was nearly two and grew bright red curly hair–but the majority have some hair. My younger daughter had hair that was maybe 3/8" long, but it was already pale red and curly. ---
**Author:** ![corvidae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@corvidae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corvidae)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-babies-bald/462181/6 "2008-09-05T14:51:14Z")
Sooooo not true (and I’m saying this coming off a night shift in postpartum). White babies can be born with plenty of hair - one of my kiddos last night looked like a werewolf, I kid you not. However, most of the white babies you’ll see with lots of hair have dark hair. I rarely see a blond baby with anything more than fuzz, though it does happen. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-babies-bald/462181/7 "2008-09-05T14:51:16Z")
Both of my kids were born with full heads of dark hair. YM is obviously V. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-babies-bald/462181/8 "2008-09-05T15:03:02Z")
I’ve seen plenty of white babies with thick dark hair. Sometimes it falls out, sometimes not. I had red hair when I was born; it mostly fell out and came in blonde when I was a toddler and then darkened when I was a teenager. Babies come in all shapes and sorts. I know somebody who freaked out about her “wolf baby” because it kind of had, you know, a pelt. It fell out. I thought all babies had blue eyes for years until literally a few months ago I thought about it and realized that black and Asian babies probably don’t. But kittens do. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-babies-bald/462181/9 "2008-09-05T15:12:51Z")
Both of my daughters were born with a full head of dark brown hair, as well as some on their backs. And they were both preemies. Neither of them have ever been bald, post-delivery. One was born with blue eyes (since changed to hazel) and the other with dark brown eyes (haven’t changed in 7 years, not gonna happen at this point). Oh- they, like their parents, are caucasian. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-babies-bald/462181/10 "2008-09-05T16:08:25Z")
I think it’s the blond ones that are fooling you, and there are more blond white babies than blond black babies or blond Hispanic babies or blond Asian babies. “Blond” when very short can really mean “transparent”. I had two kids with this trait. They HAD hair, but it was see-through, so you could see the veins in their heads and their shiny scalps right through the hair, making them look bald. It was also slow growing, so short clear hair just adds to the bald look. Yes, I’ll grant you that my daughter sure [looked bald!](http://www.flickr.com/photos/9460062@N07/663943061/in/set-72157600557147981/) But in reality, she had just as much hair as [this random internet baby of similar age,](http://cornerstork.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/baby-sleeping.jpg) it just wasn’t very visible from a foot away. Same way [this blond guy with a shaved head](http://img2.timeinc.net/people/i/2007/startracks/070521/david_beckham.jpg) looks balder than [this dark haired kid with a shaved head.](http://www.tetesrasees.com/images/album_photo/photo_album2005_01.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![accidentalyuppie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@accidentalyuppie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/accidentalyuppie)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-babies-bald/462181/11 "2008-09-05T16:30:40Z")
I’m white and I was born with a full head of dark hair ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-babies-bald/462181/12 "2008-09-05T17:12:06Z")
Nice gratuitous Beckham **Whynot**! I had a black mohican as an infant. I’m caucasian…ish. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-babies-bald/462181/13 "2008-09-05T17:18:14Z")
Most babies on my father’s side of the family were born with plenty of black hair. (His parents came from East Galway.) I took after my mother’s side–very little hair, early on. My mom took to taping a bow to my head, since she was tired of all the compliments on her “fine, large boy.” It grew in blondish & became light brown. At a family wedding, my cousin pointed out that the men (of the dark-haired sort) all become white-haired quite young. But the women develop hair of many different colors! ---
**Author:** ![Solfy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Solfy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Solfy)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-babies-bald/462181/14 "2008-09-05T17:20:44Z")
It’s a genetic advantage - helps them slide out of the birth canal easier. It protects them from predators - you can hide them amongst a nest of ostrich eggs. Its because white women never get heartburn when they’re pregnant. (supposedly heartburn signifies a hairy baby) ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-babies-bald/462181/15 "2008-09-05T17:32:33Z")
My two-year old, white-as-they-come, was born with thick, black hair. Made me doubt my fatherhood for a sec, being that neither my wife nor I or any of our relatives has black or even thick hair. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-babies-bald/462181/16 "2008-09-05T17:44:50Z")
My kids all were all born with hair. Lots of hair. (on their heads) ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Woo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7c8e57/32.png) [@Dr.Woo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Woo)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-babies-bald/462181/17 "2008-09-05T21:05:24Z")
My son is as white (looking) as they come, but he was born with a ton of long blonde hair. I remember it curling adorably over the collar of his little shirt. He’s sure bald now though. He lost most of his hair by the time he was 20 and has kept his head shaved since he was in his mid-20’s. As other posters have said, fine, light blonde hair is pretty much scalp-colored, so a lot of fair babies look balder than they are. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-babies-bald/462181/18 "2008-09-05T21:08:15Z")
> [@irishgirl](#): > > Nice gratuitous Beckham **Whynot**! I do what I can. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-babies-bald/462181/19 "2008-09-05T21:09:49Z")
My daughter was born with male pattern baldness. Since it clearly runs on my wife’s side of the family, I assume our male grandchilderen are doomed. ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-babies-bald/462181/20 "2008-09-05T23:23:47Z")
[![](https://s175.photobucket.com/albums/w122/pimaspinner/Mothers%20Day%20Disc/?action=view¤t=scan0258.jpg) ](https://s175.photobucket.com/albums/w122/pimaspinner/Mothers%20Day%20Disc/?action=view¤t=scan0258.jpg) Me and my hair. 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-babies-bald/462181.md?page=2)