if hair is just dead cells, then why do some babies’ cells start dying off before they’re born and not others? why don’t some babies not have fingernails since they’re basically the same idea as hair? why doesn’t old men’s hair grow back? do they’re cells stop dying when they get too close to dying themselves?
All mammal babies have hair
genetics
i meant why do some have more hair on their heads? my niece was practically bald, but another baby born the day before she was has quite a bit of hair.
If a baby is born on an odd numbered day in a month that has an R in the name then the baby will be born with a full head of hair that would put Michael Landon to shame. If a baby is born on an even numbered day under the same month-name circumstances then the baby will be bald as Telly Savalas.
If it’s a month that doesn’t have an R, the doctors simply flip a coin to decide if they’re going to shave the baby before the parents get to see it.
The reason? Quantum mechanics.
You’re welcome!!!
Some babies have genes that tell them to start growing hair earlier than other babies.
Genetics.
One time, when I was living in New Mexico, I saw my Hispanic co-workers making a big fuss over a newborn baby. “Pelos … pelos!” they shouted. The baby was the hariest I’ve ever seen; there was already black hair growing on the arms. Apparently, this was seen as a good thing, for the newborn boy was seen as “macho.”
raisinbread, are you joking? i don’t necessarily believe that, but my niece’s b-day is 4/24 and the other baby’s b-day is 4/23. so the theory is accurate comcerning those two.
it makes sense that it’s genetics, but it’s odd that genetics can determine the rate at whcih cells die. does that mean your genetics can kill off other cells for no particualr reason to the point of death?
this still doesn’t answer the other questions i posted in the first post.
It’s a darn good question, **gypsymoth3, ** and I wouldn’t mind hearing a detailed answer myself.
My oldest child, who is now 13, was bald as a cue ball when she was born. My second two, on the other hand, had piles of hair at birth. The difference, though, is that my oldest had a different father than the younger two.
Is it something having to do with the father’s genetics? Male pattern baldness runs in my family (starting quite early, in fact–late teens, early twenties), but not in my husband’s (the father of my two youngest children) family.
Anyone know if that has anything to do with how much hair a baby has at birth?
I would say genetics and race. Mr Sea is of Mexican Indian/European descent. Both of my kids had hair, my daughter had quite a bit (i.e. comments like “She has a lot of hair!”) and my son had a full head (more like “Oh my god! Look at all that hair!!”). DD has dark hair and light skin, but DS has even darker hair and somewhat darker skin. I’ve seen the baby pictures of Mr. Sea and he had a ton of hair too. I, along with my brothers and sisters, had sparse hair. It doesn’t seem to have have any correlation to the amount of hair we all have now (lots) or my father’s hair (also still lots.) Mr Sea (of the mucho baby hair) is thinning now. Funny old world isn’t it?
Obviously this is anecdotal, but it bears out with my extended family also. All of my cousins’ children have been of the very little to no hair variety, except the one cousin who married an India Indian. Their babies all had masses of hair also.
I’m pretty sure raisinbread was joking, gypsymoth3. :dubious: Surpisingly enough, however, the theory works for me. Full head of hair, February 9. 
I think it’s genetics too. Seems like blonde babies have thinner hair and dark haired babies have thicker hair and are more likely to have body hair.
I was told fingernails are just a sign of how developed an infant is at birth. An overdue baby would have longer fingernails than a pemature infant.
Hair on head? Genetics. Hair on body? Gestational age…and genetics.
My little brother (24 now) was born with teeth.
Hair is not just random dead cells pushing out of the top of your head. Hair follicles produce new cells inside the follicle, which are pushed out of the follicle as newer cells are produced. The cells which are pushed out of the follicle then die.
Genetics will determine the age at which hormones, etc. tell the follicles to begin producing new cells, and how fast to produce them.
Here’s a short little article about hair growth: