My Daughter’s Hair Won’t Grow – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

My 5 year old daughter’s hair will not grow! I have tried almost everything and it still seems to be the same length since her birth-very short, course hair. I have recently resorted to extensions (braids) in an effort to give her hair a break from everyday styling, but nothing appears to work.

Could she have a medical problem?

Hair on the scalp grows in cycles. They have three phases of growth:

  1. Growth phase (Anagen phase) which lasts anywhere from 2 to 6 years. This is the phase where your hair is actively growing at approximately 10cm per year. 85% of hair is at this phase at any given time.
  2. Transitional phase (Catagen phase) which lasts about 2 weeks. This is the phase where the hair follicle shrinks and prepares to enter the resting phase.
  3. Resting phase (Telogen phase) which lasts about 1- 6 months. This is the phase where hair does not grow but stays attached to the follicle. Some hairs are shed at this phase, but at the end the hair follicle re-enters the growth phase to start the cycle over again. 10-15% of hairs are at this phase at any given time.

I do not know why your daughter’s hair has not grown in 5 years. There is a peculiar genetic condition that impacts children of her age causing hair loss and balding. There may be variants of this condition worth exploring. You should discuss this issue with her Pediatrician and determine if she has any medical conditions that may be contributing to such slow hair growth. The use of hair extensions may cause the hair she has to fall out from the traction it causes. If her hair is not growing as you reported, then she may become bald at the point the ‘extensions’ are attached.

Balding Forum - Hair Loss Discussion

Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):


24 Replies to “My Daughter’s Hair Won’t Grow – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman”

  1. I wanted to add the same is true of my 9 year old daughter. Her hair really didn’t grow until she was about 6ish, then it’s added a bit (it’s probably 6-7 inches at the longest parts now). It’s never been cut really so I’m also concerned about this. We’ve talked to our pediatrician though and other than this, she’s a very healthy child. I’d love to hear more from other parents who may have seen this. She is blonde, blue eyes and very fair complected. Her hair is somewhat fine but really curly.
    Please share if anyone else has information….

  2. My daughter is almost 4 years old. Blonde hair, blue eyes… The crown & back of her hair is about 1.5 to 2 inches long but the sides and front are only about an inch. I am starting to worry that it is never going grow. I’d say it has grown about a 1/4 to 1/2 inch per year. Seriously… why is it so hard to find other people with this issue!

  3. i have the same problem with my daughter shes just turned 5 and her hair is very short , no different to when she was born, it feels very course to touch and is also curly, she is currently under the hospital, but im more concerened about her going to school with her hair like this.

  4. i have a 9 year old daughter who is african american and since birth her hair has always been short. My sister put a relaxer in her hair the day before she turned 2years old and its gotten worse ever since. i have been trying to make her feel more confident about herself by braiding her hair (small cornrows)very small and wrapping a hair piece around it. well that worked for a little while until the bobby pins used to hold the hair piece in started to irritate her scalp and causing it to thin out. I stopped doing that kind of style and just went to washing and greasing it twice a week. Someone recommended “Dr, Miracle” to me and all that does it make the scalp have this “Icy Hot” kind of feeling but still nothing works. I dont want to put a relaxer in it because I feel its too damages that what she left will completely come out, and I dont want to put the braids in it for fear of the same thing. She is getting ready to go back to school on Monday and she will not go if her hair is not done. I dont know what to do now.

  5. I have the same problem as Gretchen. My daughter is 3 with very fine light brown hair, brown eyes, and fair skin. The crown and back are a couple inches but the sides and bangs will not grow at all. She’s becoming self concious about this as all her friends at daycare have very long hair. Has anyone seen a hair specialist yet?

  6. I am due to take my daughter to see a specialist in london in january to find out if anything can be done to help her, it seems to be growing but very sparsely and is also course and curly, her dad and grandad have the same problem , but im hoping treatment is more advanced now and they can do something to help.

  7. I am a cosmetologist. We learned that brushing stimulates the scalp. I was born with barely enough hair to cover my head. By the time I was six I had a head full of thick long hair. My mom use to brush my hair 300 strokes a night and that worked. Angie, have you tried shampooing her hair at least twice a week. If you are going to do braids, find someone that can put the hair in plats using rubberbands and then putting the extensions in, like Janet Jackson on Poetic Justice. My 20 month old daughter was born nearly bald and I just started shampooing her hair twice a week, making sure her scalp and hair stayed moisturized and I also put little ponytails all over ( be creative with that, you can link them so that they look like a braid). But my daughter’s hair has went from nearly bald to almost a head full (with the exception of the back of the head) and the length of it is almost seven inches (it was previously 3 inches). Also don’t put rubberbands too tight because that will damage the hair.

  8. i have a two year old daughter that really does not have hair. She has about a inch in the top but that is it. I need some advice on how to make it grow. please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  9. I am also a cosmetologist, I have a very blonde haired daughter, she has blue eyes and curls, she is over 4 years old and har very very fine hair about an inch long, it will not grow! She is bothered that she has no hair and it breaks my heart for her. We never learned anything about this when I went to school for hair, nor have I ever seen it in the salon. I’m not kiddind when I say her hair is like baby hair, she had the same head of hair when she came out and it has not changed at all…..!!!

  10. WHAT I HAVE FOUND TO GROW ME AND MY DAUGHTERS HAIR IS USING THE LINE OF ORGANIC STIMULATOR PRODUCTS. ALSO, I PREFER USING EVOO AND CASTOR OIL. I HAVE BEEN A USING A BONNETT DRYER AND DOING DEEP CONDITIONING TREATMENTS. LET’S ALL TRY THINGS AND SEE WHAT WORKS AND LET THE NECT PERSON KNOW.

  11. my daughter just turned two a few months ago, and her hair is short compared to other two year olds that we know. i really need a suggestion on how to help her hair grow. i have tried almost every product that has the word GROW i even tried letting it rest for two weeks without putting anything in it. i need some advice nothing seems to work.

  12. My 8 year daughter’s hair barely touches the bottom of her neck. Her hair is fine and curly. Now she seems to be losing hair everytime she runs her fingers through it. I am so scared that she won’t ever have long hair. Does anyone have any other suggestions about caucasian hair growth?

  13. My daughter is 10. she has blond hair. it has never been any longer than her shoulders. we have it trimmed maybe twice a year, and i mean a little trim. her hair maybe grows 1-2 inches in a year. we use salon brand moisturizing shampoos and conditions and have tried many brands. nothing seems to help. her hair just does not grow.

  14. my wee girl is also 5 years old with blond hair and blue eyes her hair also tends to curl it is very thin and poor and I am worried about it it never seems to grow she started school last year and all the girls in her class have very long hair and god help her she keeps asking me when her hair will grow long like her friends it also breaks my heart as I had long hair at school the doctor said that her scalp is healthy I take her to the hairdresser every couple of monthes and they take a tiny wee bit off it just to strenthen it but it dosent grow can anyone give me some advice. A worried mum

  15. My daughter who is 7 also has very slow growing hair. It is blonde, and curly and very fine. It has reached her shoulders, but won’t grow past them. It also just started falling out more then normal. I have a ton of thick dark hair, and it makes me sad that she doesn’t have good healthy looking hair. Has anyone figured out why thier daughters hair hasn’t grown?

  16. if you start to use carols daughter hair products on her hair it wall start to grow and it will smell really good and become really soft, you can order the products on line athttp://www.carolsdaughter.comare you can buy them at Macy’s and or sephora get the healthy hair butter,the loc butter,the hair milk,the mimosa hair honey,the black vanilla leave in conditioner.also one of the hair smoothies, now all of these products together will be over a $100 but you will be glad you spent the money and also they come in large jars so that’s also good to,good luck also use raw Shea butter on her hair and skin it the best you can get it in bulks and smaller if you like athttp://www.nasabbs.comand another good website is www,treaserdlocks.com

  17. My daughter is now 14 and has never had long hair. Her doctor says nothing is wrong it is genetic. Her hair is dark and curly and fine and it literally is at the bottom of her neck after growing for 14 years. I too have considered extentions but am afraid it will harm the hair she has and recently she has come to accept in and says she likes her hair short.

  18. Wow! It feels great to know that I’m not alone. My daughter is 4 and has mixed hair of african american, puerto rican and indian hair. Right now, her hair is about 4 inches on top and 1 inch on the sides and back. The back is more coarse and the top is wavy. I no longer attempt to put in pony tails as I assumed this could be damaging her hair. Everyone in our family has full heads of hair and can grow long locks at will. I’m trying Wild Growth Hair Oil to stimulate growth and we will see if this works…I pray it does. I will post results. Thanks.

  19. Hi! Hairfinity.com sells vitamins and you can do hair analyses by sending in hair samples to them. That would help you to diagnose and see the problems that are associated with your daughters problems. God bless you guys but hair always grows and I realized that really when I started relaxing my hair as a child and then braiding it as an adult. These childrens’s hair probably don’t grow more than a 1/4 inch a month and then the growth cycle’s are probably short. That’s why it seems that it grows slow and or don’t really grow. It always grows. The average growth or maximum growth is 1/2 inch a month. Some people probably grow more than that per month. The hairfinity vitamins has MSM methosulfonate or something like that is usually in supplements that include chondroitin and so on in it and this MSM they say lengthens your anagen phase so that it grows longer. So if their hair grows a quarter inch or less a month then there anagen phases are probably 2 years.

  20. I am a 38 year old women whos hair will NOT grow. My hair will not grow. I have some hair, but not alot. I have been to dermotisist and they say when i reach the peak of life, my hair will grow. When will that be? I am afraid to use anything on my hair in fear of it causing damage. I have more hair on the side then the back. It is very short and won’t grow. I also have weird looking nails too.. Any one have a clue what this could be? I have never had much hair since I was a baby.

  21. Hello everyone,
    I’m glad to read i’m not the only one with this problem.My daughter is 1 year old, her hair is fine (like everyone else’s daughter) and her scalp sometimes itches.
    I just know that hairproducts won’t make it any better and i know she has a hairproblem because i have 3 older kids and they never had this problem.
    Her hair breaks a lot and tangles easily.
    I have the same problem, but my hair was always thick and fast growing untill i took some kind of brand birthcontrol pill for one year. Then the problems with my hair started.Now my hair also ‘doesn’t grow’ it only grows a couple of inches, has a very thin changed structure and i can’t do anything with it.
    Now my daughter has the same problem (my other daughters don’t have this). I make her wear bandana’s but i’m very worried about how this will make her feel in the future.
    Well i hope every body finds a solution altho i’m convinced there is no solution.

  22. It is a bit relieving to know that there are other parents/children going through this same problem. My daughter is 3 1/2. Her hair is very short and it seems that it has not grown any in the past year, it almost seems that it is shorter and finer. She is mixed, half black/half white. Her hair is very kinky. I have tried EVERYTHING! The best products I have found for moisturizing her hair is Curls hair products. My other daughter is 22 months old and has four times as much hair as my 3 year old. I do not know what to do, it breaks my heart because she wants to have long hair like her sister. I also worry about when she starts pre-k next year, how she will feel about her hair opposed to the other little girls. I always tell her that her hair is beautiful because I dont want her to have a complex about it. The sides are the longest being about 4-5 inches long and the back isn’t even a 1/2 inch long, it is very short and the top is also short-around 2 inches. It looks even shorter because it is so curly and kinks up to her head. So you really cant tell the truth length of it just by looking at it. It is very dissapointing and I don’t know what else to do, I just wonder if there is anything out there that could help.. I guess we are all looking for the same answer!

  23. It’s me again. My daughters hair is also very short in the back. And longer on top, but not as long as it should be.She’s almost 1,5 years old.
    Hair always grows, if it doesn’t seem to grow that’s because it’s too fine and fragile therefore it breaks. That’s the case with my hair. I have a buzzed haircut. Can’t do anything else with it.

  24. my two year old daughter has very thin hair and it has not grown very much at all since the day she was born I have tried every thing I really wish I new what to do with it she is a beutiful little girl who might have problems with other kids her age making fun of her hair

Leave a Reply to sally Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *