HELP...6yr old with thinning hair

[helenpw]

Hi, I have noticed that my 6yr old daughters hair is becoming really thin! She had lovely long hair and we had it cut in a bob as I was worried that her wearing it in ponytails was pulling on the hair (luckily she loves her new "big girl" style) I took her to the docs about it who said they thought her hair looked ok (they haven't seen the change though like I have) They sent her for blood tests to check for any vitamin deficiency or thyroid problems which all came back clear. I now do not know what to do regarding this. Getting to the point where I can see her scalp through her hair. Can anyone suggest anything or share their experiences? She's quite an anxious child so I'm worried she might notice soon! Or worse....her school friends. Thanks for reading this.

Have you considered that she might be pulling it out - its very common in anxious children.
www.trichotillomania.co.uk/children.html

Hi, I did consider this but the hair is thinning quite evenly, rather then in chunks. Part of me wished the blood results would show a deficiency of some sort so we knew what was causing it.

Where is the hair thinning? Is it just on the top part of the head? We had this with my son who's 14 now. He wears headphones a good bit of the time he is on the computer/ipad, that sit right down on his head. I stiched some small foam pads under the headband band so that air can get through. The top hair is still thinner than the bottom (at the back of the head) but not getting any worse. I can't find any data on headphones causing hair loss but we had blood tests, showed GP etc and no answers.

Hi, yes it's just on the top. She doesn't wear headphones but thanks for your comment :)

I am only suspicious of the headphones being desperate for a reason, they may have nothing to do with it! I also suspected ringworm, which can give sparse patches and tried using the Nizoral shampooing (from chemist) once a week for 8 weeks...not sure if that helped. Doc said it didn't really look like that but give it a go anyway. My son's hair has stayed the same, hasn't gotten any worse in the past few months.
So I have no answers!
My son's iron levels seemed very low to me but still within 'normal' limits so GP said no treatment. They don't like to give iron supplements but there are children's vitamins out there with iron in them. If you do buy some make sure they are 'nice' to take. I got fairly bad (cheap!) chewable ones and it wasn't a runner. I might give some nicer vitamins another go...

Check her iron levels, especially her ferritin level. I've read that ferritin levels have to be mid range to high in order for hair regrowth, it's quite possible for it to be at the lower end of the normal limit and the GP to say it's fine.

Sorry I have only just seen your replies! I have been giving her childrens vitamins which include 50% rda of iron. As all of her blood tests came back as normal, I really don't know what the cause can be. As she is an anxious child and a worrier, maybe that's causing her hair to fall out? I really don't know but it's really getting me down now. Thank you for your comments.

Hello reading through old posts and wondered what happened with your daughters hair loss ? My daughter is 10 and has been losing hair for 6 months and I'm so worried. She has low iron and has been on tableta for 2 months but no improvement in shedding yet . No bald patches and regrowth on hair line . I'm worried sick and any advice is welcomed