What is blood hair? Should bloodshed hair be cut in babies?

The article was professionally consulted by Specialist Doctor I Nguyen Thi My Linh - Neonatologist - Department of Pediatrics - Neonatology - Vinmec Danang International General Hospital. Specialist Doctor I Nguyen Thi My Linh has 12 years of experience in diagnosing and treating pediatric diseases.

Haircutting blood in babies is a problem that many families with young children are concerned about. Many people believe that cutting hair early will help hair grow faster and thicker. However, there are also opinions that cutting blood hair early will affect the health of children.

Blood hair is the first layer of hair in a newborn baby, which has been formed since the baby was in the womb. Starting from the 24th week of pregnancy onwards, blood hair is formed and so on until the baby is born.
Blood hair has the function of protecting the child's immature fontanelle, keeping the head warm, this layer of hair will also gradually fall off to prepare for the next real hair layer.

Many families believe that cutting blood hair will affect health, so they are very confused about whether or not to cut blood hair in babies and if cut, when should it be cut?

It is important to understand that cutting children's hair, just like cutting grass, means that it only cuts the hair shaft on the scalp, and has absolutely no effect on the number of hair follicles (which are the roots to grow long hair). ) located under the scalp.
There is no specific scientific evidence to show that cutting blood early will help children's hair grow thicker and darker. According to scientific research, newborn hair thinning, thick, curly or straight are all due to genetic factors.
Newborn hair has the same structure as normal hair, so there will be natural shedding, but this process is uneven. Therefore, the hair that grows out first will fall out first, of course new hair will grow first and the hair that grows back will fall out later, and mature replacement hair will also grow later.
In babies after about 3 months of age, the hair on the back of the baby's head will fall out on its own and replace it with new hair, which we folk call alopecia areata. This is completely a normal physiological phenomenon in newborns.
Actually, cutting blood hair sooner or later does not affect the health of the child. However, you should only trim your child's hair if there are long hairs that cause entanglement and discomfort, especially hair near the eyes, ears, and neck.
If blood hair does not affect the child's activities, it should not be cut. Because under 1 year old, the fontanelle of the child has not yet healed, cutting the hair with blood thinning is not conducive to keeping warm and protecting the fontanel. Besides, if the cutting movement is not careful, it can cause scratches and damage to the baby's immature scalp.