The arrival of a newborn is a magical experience, filled with countless moments of wonder and observation. New parents often find themselves marveling at every tiny detail of their baby, from their delicate skin to their soft, fine hair. It's natural to scrutinize every feature, and you might find yourself wondering about something as seemingly minor as eyebrow development. Specifically, you may ask yourself "Is it normal for my newborn baby [to be] without eyebrows?" The simple answer is yes, and here’s what you need to know.
The absence of eyebrows in newborns is typically a normal part of their development. Babies develop at their own pace. Not all physical features are fully formed at birth. Hair growth, including eyebrow hair, can vary significantly among babies. Some babies have visible eyebrows right away, while others have eyebrows that are so fine or light they seem invisible. There’s a wide range of normal baby hair growth, and the absence of visible eyebrows at birth is usually nothing to be concerned about.
Several factors can influence when and how a baby's eyebrows develop:
Lanugo is the fine, soft hair that covers a fetus in the womb, providing protection and warmth. While lanugo typically sheds before birth, some newborns may still have it at birth or shortly after. If a baby has lanugo, it might temporarily obscure the appearance of eyebrows. The excess hair typically sheds within the first week or two.
Genetics plays a significant role in the appearance of your baby, including the presence or absence of eyebrows. If one or both parents have light or thin eyebrows, it’s possible that your baby inherited those same traits. Just like the color and texture of their hair change over time, their eyebrows also develop more fully as they grow.
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Another factor is whether your baby was born prematurely. Babies born early may not have developed all their physical features, including eyebrows. Many premature babies have fine body hair known as lanugo, which makes it harder to see any distinct eyebrow growth. As your baby grows and develops outside the womb, their eyebrows and other physical features become more apparent.
It’s not uncommon for a baby’s hair color and texture to change over time, and this includes the hair on their head and their eyebrows. If your baby’s eyebrows seem light or thin at birth, they become darker or thicker as they grow. Hair color changes due to genetics and exposure to environmental factors, like sunlight, and changes in diet as your baby transitions from breast milk or formula to solid foods. This hair loss involves the whole body, including the scalp and the eyebrow.
While some babies have noticeable eyebrows from birth, many don’t show significant eyebrow growth until they’re a few months old. Typically, the eyebrows become visible at 2-6 months of age. Babies grow at different rates. There’s no strict timetable for when your baby’s eyebrows appear or become darker.
In the majority of cases, a newborn without visible eyebrows is healthy. However, in rare instances, the absence of eyebrows is a sign of an underlying medical condition.
In rare instances, the absence of eyebrows is a genetic or congenital condition that affects hair growth. Babies with this condition have sparse hair, very fine or absent eyebrows, and other physical symptoms such as missing teeth or unusually shaped nails.
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A lack of nutrients contributes to hair growth issues, including eyebrow development. For example, biotin, zinc, or iron deficiencies affect hair and eyebrow development.
Another rare cause of eyebrow abnormalities in babies is a hormonal imbalance, such as congenital hypothyroidism. Hypothyroidism occurs when the thyroid gland doesn’t produce enough hormones to regulate metabolism and growth. In infants, this condition is identified through routine newborn screening tests, and one of the signs of hypothyroidism is sparse hair growth, including absent or thinning eyebrows. Congenital hypothyroidism is rare, affecting about 1/2000 to 1/4000 babies in the US.
Newborns have sensitive skin, and skin around the eyebrows is no exception. Here’s how to care for your baby’s delicate skin:
When caring for your baby’s skin, less is often more. Use gentle, fragrance-free products that are formulated for babies. When cleaning your baby’s face, use plain water or a mild, tear-free baby wash. Avoid scrubbing or rubbing the area around the eyebrows, as this could irritate them.
While it’s tempting to stimulate eyebrow growth by massaging or brushing the area, this isn’t necessary and could irritate your baby’s skin. Newborn hair and skin are delicate, and too much handling leads to irritation or even minor hair loss. Leave your baby’s eyebrows to grow at their own pace. Eyebrow hair will thicken and become more defined independently, without grooming techniques or special treatments.
Read also: Hair Bleaching While Pregnant: What You Need to Know
If your baby’s eyebrows are very light or not yet visible, they may be more vulnerable to sun exposure. If going outdoors with your baby, protect their face from sun exposure. A wide-brimmed hat or stroller canopy provides shade and avoids direct sunlight during peak hours. Babies under six months old should not use sunscreen, so providing shade is the best way to keep their skin safe.
Cradle cap, a common skin condition in infants, can sometimes extend to the eyebrows. The cradle cap on the eyebrows appears as crusty, yellow, or white scales.
While most babies develop noticeable eyebrows within the first few months of life, if your baby’s eyebrows are still absent or sparse after six months, it’s worth discussing with your pediatrician. Your pediatrician will check for other signs of healthy development and may order tests if they suspect a hormonal imbalance or genetic condition.
You seek your pediatrician if the cradle cap gets worse after home treatment or lasts beyond 12 months. If there are accompanying unusual symptoms, such as dry nails, delayed or poor growth, dry or flaky skin, or sparse hair elsewhere on the body, it could be a sign of an underlying health condition that needs to be addressed immediately. Bring your baby to the pediatrician for a thorough evaluation and assessment.
Even the most prepared parent-to-be can be caught off guard by some of the strange (but totally normal) physical characteristics of their newborn.
After a vaginal birth, this question [why does my baby have a conehead] is asked quite a bit, and there’s a perfectly normal explanation. When babies are born, their skull bones are not fused together. These bones are a little like tectonic plates in the earth. They can overlap to help babies get through the narrow birth canal, and then they settle back into place. The birthing process is not gentle, by any means. When babies exit head-first, the pressure from squeezing through a tight space molds their soft skull into a long, pointy shape. Babies who don’t have a defined point might have a bump or swelling in the back of the head that causes an irregular shape. This can look concerning, but it is simply a buildup of fluid that forms when the pressure during birth damages small blood vessels.
Your baby’s head should start to round out after about 24 hours, but it can take up to two weeks for it to settle into what is considered normal - and that is a long time to wait for new parents. To allow the brain to grow, skull bones won’t fuse until the baby is much older, which is why you’ll notice two soft spots on their head: the posterior fontanel, located in the back of the head, and the anterior fontanel, located on top. You can certainly touch these spots, but don’t push down on them or allow anything to hit or fall onto them. These gaps close, or harden, on their own when the bones fuse.
During the first five weeks, your baby’s crying will gradually increase. But you might not see tears. Babies are usually dehydrated when they are born because they received everything they needed to stay hydrated in the womb. And because their tummies are so small, they can’t hold very much liquid. With so little fluid throughout their bodies, they can’t physically make tears for the first couple of weeks. Some babies also have a blocked tear duct, a condition called dacryostenosis. You’ll likely see crusty discharge on the inside corner of the affected eye. To unplug the tear duct, wrap a warm washcloth around your finger and lightly massage the area in a circular motion.
A baby’s first stool is called meconium. It looks a little like tar and consists mostly of cells, proteins, and fats. As your baby eats more, their stool will start to become looser and lighter colored. The transition time is different for every baby. What’s important is that they pass stool in the first 48 hours.
In rare cases (1 in 2,000-3,500), babies are born with a natal tooth. It doesn’t look like your average tooth. Natal teeth are soft, somewhat discolored, and not fully developed or functional. They’re attached to gum tissue instead of a root. They typically fall out within a year. The only real concern is if they are really loose.
Weight loss during the first week is another result of babies adjusting to life outside the womb, where they received all the necessary nutrients. Newborns actually exercise by eating; you’re not the only one working during breastfeeding or bottle feeding. We don’t expect babies to return to birth weight until they’re 2 weeks old. The amount of weight lost is different for each child.
After your baby’s head shape evens out, you might start to notice a flat area in the back, when a baby spends too much time on their back. It’s critical for babies to sleep on their backs, but you can prevent a flat spot from becoming permanent by:
If the back of your baby’s head still appears flat after six months, they might need helmet therapy. This treatment uses a custom-fitted helmet to mold the skull into a rounder shape. You don’t have to monitor your baby’s head shape on your own. UT Southwestern pediatricians check it at every visit. We schedule follow-up appointments for all babies after a few days, then two weeks, two months, four months, and six months.
A fussy infant can be hard to figure out. Are they hungry, need a diaper change, hot or cold? After a process of elimination, there’s one more thing you may want to check. Does the skin around the eyebrows appear red or flushed? While there’s some disagreement in the literature about the accuracy of flushed eyebrows as a sleep cue, there is a rational explanation. Being tired can be stressful for babies and they may be overstimulated or in a situation where they can’t just go to sleep. In all of us, stress activates the pituitary gland which signals the adrenal gland to produce cortisol. Cortisol is the ‘awake hormone’ part of the sleep/wake cycle. Blood vessels dilate due to cortisol release, and the skin around an infant’s eyebrows is less fatty, thinner, and more transparent, making the blood vessels more apparent, and so the eyebrows appear reddish. Babies also tend to rub their eyes when tired, which also contributes to redness around the eyes.
It’s important to remember, however, that redness around the eyes can have causes other than tiredness. Reddish eyes in infants can be caused by environmental irritants, allergies, and infections. Irritants usually cause localized redness that resolves once the irritant is removed. In the case of allergens, their eyes may produce histamine to fight the allergen. As a result, their eyelids and conjunctiva become red, swollen, and itchy. Redness in the eye area of a newborn also can be caused by a blocked tear duct, irritation, or infection.
Once it’s determined that those reddish eyebrows indicate a tired baby, what can be done to help them fall asleep? Gently stroking the eyebrows encourages the baby to reflexively close their eyes and relaxes them, reducing cortisol levels. Daylight and screens also stimulate cortisol production. Blackout curtains for the sleeping area will block daylight, and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that babies younger than 18 months get no screen time at all. Taking care of an infant requires considerable detective work and awareness of sometimes subtle cues. Once again, the eyes can provide some clues.
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