My two year old seems to be losing his hair

[mrsm22]

Hi,
My two year old son usually has a head full of beautiful curls and quite a lot of hair. My DH only pointed something out to me yesterday which I hadn't really noticed but I had a good look at my little boy yesterday and his hair looks to be thinning and in two places on his head at the front you can see two patches where there has been hair loss. I am really worried about what this could be and wondered if anyone had experienced this or similar with their toddler? My mum told me yesterday that when I was between 2 and 3 years old (I am 32) that I suffered with childhood alopecia so wondering if this could he what is happening to my son or if it could be anything more serious but I feel terrified as I couldn't bare anything to be wrong with him. Any advice much appreciated. Thank you

[anywinewilldo]

This happened to my DS at the same age. He was found, after blood tests, to have low ferritin - this is the iron store in the body, which is different to haemoglobin, the level of the iron in the blood (which in my DS's case was normal). Apparently, because the toddler years are a period of such rapid growth, it is common for the body's iron stores to become depleted and thinning hair is a symptom.

After a course of iron supplements, my DS's hair came back lovely and thick, and it is still that way - he is now 14!

Ask your GP to test your DS's iron and ferritin levels.

Good luck!

[MinionDave]

My DS lost all his hair within a week when he was 3. It came out like it he was 'shedding' it, but there were also a few occasions where his hair would shed more and got noticeably thinner without actually losing it all.

We got a referral to the hospital and he was diagnosed with anagen effluvium. This is when hairs are lost during the growth stage, and it's something that can happen up until the age of 5 and they will grow out if it.

I'd take say take him to the doctors, just to give yourself peace of mind. It is really upsetting to see their hair become thinner though, however my DS is nearly 9 now and can't remember any of it

[mrsm22]

Thank you Minion and Anywine - I have been to the doctors today and my DS has to have a blood test tomorrow but I'm terrified and so worried about my little boy . They haven't indicated anything at the doctors so I have no idea really. It's very interesting the things you have both said and I'm hoping it is only something like one of those and nothing serious. You can't help but worry, especially when they're so little. I know the blood test is to check iron and rule out thyroid problems but nothing else was mentioned.