Q: Are prenatal vitamins good for infants’ hair? I was told that crushing them up in a baby's shampoo will promote faster hair growth. Can you give me any advice for helping an infants’ hair grow faster?
A: Ok. First of all, prenatal vitamins are designed to give a pregnant woman a boost in nutrition that she may not be getting in her normal diet. They are intended to ensure that the unborn child has all the
nutrition he needs to develop into a healthy baby.
They are oral medications intended to be ingested by the adult mother, and therefore crushing them up and mixing them into an infant’s shampoo isn’t likely to be of any benefit.
First, the vitamins aren’t meant to be absorbed through the skin. Second, they’re intended for adults and if they were absorbed through the skin could be too much for an infant’s system. (Some vitamins and
minerals can build up in the body and cause problems in too-high doses.)
As for helping an infant’s hair “grow faster”, the only thing you need to do is make sure the baby is getting proper nutrition, and that his/her skin and scalp is clean and
healthy. Aside from that, there’s little that will have a major affect on the way the child’s hair grows apart from genetics.
Every infant is different, and even infants born with full heads of hair often shed the hair within the first six months and begin to develop their “permanent” hair.
In the first year of life, an infant’s body will grow and develop rapidly in many different areas. Obsessing over one specific aspect of development is both pointless and
dangerous. However, if you feel that there is a problem with your infant’s hair growth, then a hairdresser is not whom you should consult. You should talk with your doctor.
