Some babies are born bald, their hair an afterthought that creeps in like a cap of soft moss in the months to follow. Some babies are born with little more than tufts of wispy down; a peachy, fuzzy hint of the glory that is to come.
And some babies are born like Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas Johnson, already equipped with a glorious top thatch. For he is freshly hatched with a fully operational mop, complete with noble quiff and magisterial sideburns.
It is a marvellous sight. At less than a week old, gorgeous baby Wilf already looks like a gavelbashing elder statesman. Order! Order! In Kiddy Court! Or a captain of the Onedin Line at the very least. Can Carrie’s boy be any cuter?
Boris Johnson and Carrie Symond’s baby, Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas who was born with a full head of hair
And could this blond bundle of joy be more Johnsonian if he tried? Already Wilfred is the lucky recipient of the crowning glory that represents the chromosomal power of the Johnson gene; the trademark haystack of golden hair that marks them out as a towhaired tribe to be reckoned with.
Even now it grows unchecked on his tiny head — lush, fertile and unstoppable, rather like the Johnsons themselves. Who but Boris could have brought into the world a perfect baby boy so bursting with life and vigour that he already has a barnet to rival that of any three-year-old — or most of the Prime Minister’s advisors, experts and ministers.
The odd thing is, there really was a Wilfred the Hairy, a Count of Barcelona in the 9th century and a modern day hero for Catalan nationalists. He is credited with creating the hereditary passage of titles from one generation to the next, a very Johnsonian trait from a family who do not stint from promoting themselves and each other.
In the meantime, let us celebrate the birth of Wilfred, this tousle-haired tot who has captured the nation’s heart.
Piper Rae Reid is eight months old and was described by a midwife as ‘the hairiest baby she’d ever seen’
‘She was hairy all over!’
Piper Rae Reid is eight months old. She lives with mum Michelle, 23, an admin assistant, near Inverness. Michelle says:
I didn’t expect to have a baby with quite so much hair. When she came out, one of the midwives said she was the hairiest baby she’d ever seen! As well as the hair on her head, she had it all over her shoulders and back, but that’s all fallen out now. She’s also got a Mallen streak of white hair. She’s just won a competition for having the best hair so, after lockdown, she gets a free photoshoot.
Dannan Devine was born with such long hair most people think it’s a wig
‘Everyone thinks it’s a wig’
Dannan Devine lives with mum Jenna, 31, a company director, and father, Daniel, 33, in Derry, Ireland. Jenna says:
I had suffered with every pregnancy symptom going apart from heartburn, and the day before I gave birth I remember saying: ‘This baby is going to be so bald’. When he came out we were all shocked! Neither my husband nor I have particularly thick hair, so I don’t know where he got it from. I wash it every day and it grows so quickly that I’ve even considered taking up a hairdressing course because I have to take him to a salon to get it trimmed. People always ask: ‘Is it a wig?’ It’s so gorgeous!
Indie Willis’s hair was so plentiful it was visible on the sonogram
‘Strangers are amazed! ‘
Indie Willis, 11 weeks, lives with mum Sara, a marketing manager, dad Nick, an engineer, and brother Hudson, two, in Bromley. Sara says:
We had a 36-week scan and the sonographer told us then that Indie had a lot of hair. Even so, we were unprepared for the way her hair stands on end. Whenever we go out, people stop us and comment on it, which I love. Her brother Hudson has now lost his dark hair and has gone blond. So I’d say to Carrie and Boris: embrace it, as it might not last
Bronagh Keys was also born with a full head of hair. After she was washed by midwives it went fluffy and spiky
‘It looked like she’d had an electric shock’
Bronagh Keys is nearly three. She lives in Aberdeen with mum Kirsty, 32, a full-time mother, dad Rick, 32, an engineer, and sister Orla, 11 months. Kirsty says:
My mum said I had lots of hair as a newborn, so I suspected my baby might also have a lot of hair. The sonographer showed us a picture of Bronagh in the womb and said: ‘I can’t tell you what colour it is, but I can tell you this baby has a lot of hair’. When Bronagh was born, everyone was surprised by just how much hair there was. In fact, the midwives kept fighting over who would bath her first — as when her hair dried it went so fluffy and spiky she looked like
Renesmae Managh had a head of very dark hair when she was born but now it’s almost bleach blonde
‘We could even see her hair on the scan’
Renesmae Managh is 23 months old. She lives in Telford, Shropshire, with mum Claire Shenton, 27, and two sisters and one brother. Claire says:
All three of my daughters had thick, full heads of hair when they were born, but my son didn’t. It’s funny because I had heartburn with the girls but not with the boy, so I think there is something in that old wives’ tale. The midwives could see the hair on the scan and when Renesmae was born they couldn’t get over how spiky and fluffy it was. I think she gets it from both me and her father as we both have quite a lot of hair. It was very dark when she was born but now it’s almost bleach blonde.
Phoebe Pond was born with more hair than her siblings with natural highlights
‘She’s got natural highlights’
Phoebe Pond is 11 months old. She lives in Croydon, South London, with mum Amy, 33, a hospital social worker, dad Andrew, 41, who works in IT, and sisters Amelia, six, and Matilda, four. Amy says:
My other two girls had some hair when they were born, but not as much as Phoebe. I had terrible heartburn when pregnant with her and they do say that is a sign of a hairier baby. I gave birth to Phoebe at home and it was fairly traumatic as the cord was wrapped around her neck and she needed to be resuscitated by the midwives. But all was well. She has the most amazing hair, which has natural highlights and lowlights and passers-by are always commenting on it.
Esme Kearsley’s mum thought her hair was only temporary but it’s stayed around
‘I thought it’d all fall out’
Esme Kearsley, was born in 2018. She lives in East Yorkshire with mum Sarah, a teacher, and dad Josh, a doctor. Sarah says:
I was surprised when the sonographers mentioned that Esme had so much hair while she was growing in the womb, but then both my husband and I had a lot of hair as babies so it was only natural. When I was giving birth, every time the midwives examined me to see the head all they kept saying was: ‘Oh there’s so much hair!’ and they were right. Esme was born 7lb 11oz and I expected a lot of her hair to fall out — but it never did!
Case studies by Jill Foster
Why ARE some babies born with a bouffant?
By Beth Hale
Most parents have no idea whether their By Beth Hale little one will arrive with a thick thatch or bald as a coot, blonde or brunette. But their own hair can be a good indicator of what to expect.
‘We have many genes from both parents and beyond which may influence hair type, abundance, colour and density,’ says trichologist Iain Sallis. Dr Anand Saggar, a consultant in clinical genetics, adds: ‘You have not just got the parents’ own type of hair, but also the additional influence of the combination of those two genomes coming together.’
Babies with thick hair are more common in parents of Mediterranean and Asian heritage. But the darker pigmentation can also make hair appear fuller, even if the baby has the same number of strands as another child with lighter coloured hair. ‘You have more hair follicles if you are blonde,’ says Harley Street trichologist Sara G Allison, of hairlossconsultant.co.uk.
‘But the hair may be finer than dark hair. Blonde hair reflects the light, creating an optical illusion that dark hair looks more abundant.’ Hair growth in babies starts long before birth. A foetus grows a type of soft hair called lanugo from around four to five months old, which spreads around the whole body.
It is believed to help regulate the unborn baby’s body temperature, and forms a barrier to the vernix — the thick, white substance that sometimes still coats a baby at birth — which is there to protect the unborn child’s skin from the amniotic fluid. Some premature babies are born still covered in this downy hair.
But usually lanugo is shed between the seventh and eighth month of pregnancy and replaced by vellus hair, which is finer. According to urban myths, how much hair a newborn will have can be predicted from what the mother eats during pregnancy and whether she has experienced heartburn.
While there is no proof of the former assertion, there is some for the latter. In 2007, U.S. researchers conducted a study of 64 pregnant women, about 78 per cent of whom had reported experiencing heartburn.
After they gave birth, of the 28 who had reported moderate to severe heartburn, 23 had babies with average or above-average amounts of hair, while those who had reported no heartburn had babies with little or no hair.
This may be attributed to the hormone oestrogen, which in high levels can cause heartburn and influence foetal hair growth. And while baby hair is often a source of parental pride — it may not last.
Hormonal changes can prompt a baby to enter a hair loss — telogen — phase at the same time as its mother, at around eight to 12 weeks, before it grows back again. And what grows back can be quite different to the first head of hair — potentially changing in colour and texture.