My son is two. His hair has gone through a change in the past year or so. His hair used to be shiny, soft and had curls in the back. The first change was the texture of his hair. It is very dry, brittle and the curls he used to have now look wiry. I then noticed his hair looking thin right in front and around his temples. I lifted up his bangs and saw all these little new hairs growing. There's also new growth on top around the crown of his head. It looks just like when I lose hair after having a baby and it starts growing back. He also has been saying the bottoms of his feet hurt since early summer. He even was walking funny for a while and occassionally wakes up in the middle of the night crying saying his feet hurt.
We took him to the Dr. recently. She didn't see or feel anything wrong with his feet, but she did not like that his hair was falling out. She sent us to get labs to check his thyroid, it came back fine.
Have any of you experienced anything like this?
TIA!
Every child I have lost their baby hair at some point and their child hair was nothing like it.
I wouldn't worry about it.
My younger son when from dark brown hair to blond, that was strange to watch because it did look like his hair was falling out, but it wasn't. His hair is as thick as the rest of my kids!
Just a warning about "checking his thyroid." This happened to my own child.
A person can be hypothyroid while their thyroid is fine. For some reason doctors often just check TSH which comes from the pituitary. There are actually about half-a-dozen hormones to check. And, there are even reasons what looks like lowish but "normal" levels of T3 and T4 may not be sufficient - that it is not working well on a cellular level. Some reasons are antibodies, low vitamin D, low omega-3 fatty acids. Although this is about brain function, it might be helpful: http://itsnotmental.blogspot.com/2011/01/brain-health-thy...
My little girl had blatant symptoms of low thyroid yet we were told many times "her thyroid is fine." Yes. her thyroid was indeed fine. But she DID have low thyroid hormones from the hypothalmic-pituitary axis.
She also had low levels of some necessary nutrients due to a not being able to tolerate some foods.
Here is something one doctor wrote up: http://itsnotmental.blogspot.com/2011/01/childhood-onset-...
Of course, it may be nothing... just emphasizing that once in a while it *is* something, but the doctors are not looking in the right place.
Oh, and my little one also complained of her feet hurting - and over the years, ankles, knees, muscles... every small injury accumulated a new pain... her stomach, her head... and eventually it was all chalked up to the "depression" (MDD-Major Depressive Disorder) she was evetnually diagnosed with at age 9. But the depression, too, was just another symptom of the underlying problems.
I have a good friend whose son has Alopecia, and it started about that age. He is now a grown man who is bald headed, but hey - that's the style now. His whole life, his hair would grown in patches. He would have huge patches of complete baldness, and then it would grow in 90%, then lose 80%. It was cyclical. It didn't hurt him, didn't cause any other health issues, they just had to deal with it.
I would worry if it was coming out in clumps when washed & combing if not i would think it is new hair grwoth through achange on how his hair will turn out.Have you gotten him a haircut if not consider doing so so for you can see the difference on how his hair is changing & coming in.Does he take a multi vitamin daily it could possibly be a vitamin defiency,could he be anemic?If he is eatin well w/ fruits /veggies less junk food & is healthy monitor his hair loss & you know when to see his Dr. but for now do as the Dr. told you whatever that maybe & add in a multi vitamin,also his feet hurt cold be growing pains my kids have I had them as a child,charlie horse too.make sure he is wearing good supportive shoes
Many, many children end up with a different type of hair than what they started with.
Dark to Blonde, Curly to straight, straight to curly, blonde to Red..
Blonde to dark.
Thin to thick. thick to thin.
That is why baby pictures are so fun to look at.
Bald men with full heads of hair as babies.
Women who had dark hair then have blonde and then it gets darker, so they lighten it to look like blondes again.
I don't think it's something to be ignored. Hopefully the feet will stop hurting and his hair will just make a change but then look fine. However, you should keep monitoring this and if it continues or you see other symptoms, get second and third opinions until you find out the cause.
It could be nothing, but if something seems wrong to you, keep bugging those doctors until they can give you an answer.
You have some good answers so far. I think it's either a fluke that he's loosing it now, or it's something to be looked into! I'm so helpful, right!?! ;) I would probably go ahead and see a dermatologist. They can be quite helpful in diagnosing hair loss issues and are trained to do so. They will be able to rule out a lot of things. If it were me, combined with the two symptoms, I'd feel better getting some more opinions.
Some kids lose their baby hair later.
For the feet hurting bit, add some epsom salts with mint and lavender to his bath water. Make him eat Bananas and milk, or make a banana milkshake twice daily for growing pain--it's NOT too early for it. Not all kids give or can give obvious signs of pain.
Hugs to you Mama!
Hmmm.
That he has new hair growth sprouting now means that he lost hair a few months ago (resting phase of a hair follicle is typically a few months before it sprouts a new hair but it can be a little shorter in kids).
Sometimes hair loss is a stress response.
You just had a baby end of Oct and a new sibling can be very stressful for the formerly youngest family member.
As far as feet go - does he wear shoes and do they fit?
It's a little early for growing pains but that might be a possibility.
Toddlers go through SO many changes from two through three.
Keep an eye on him and jot down things you notice for the next Dr appointment.
