In January I brushed my daughters hair and it started coming out in clumps. After four months, three doctors and blood test we were told it was alopecia aerta. Her baldness bothers everyone else more then her. She had super long curly hair. I wrap a scarf of hat on her to protect her scalp from the sun but it doesn't bother us or her. But her treatments are making her itch all the time and leaving welts and blisters. She so miserable for two weeks after her treatments . I really don't know what to do.

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sometimes it's just better left alone.. I had so many different treatments as a kid the shots, cream the ultra violet rays ( puva treatment) nothing work.. as long as it doesn't seem bothersome to her let it take it's course.. mine always had different stages in life.. best of luck to her

I agree.  Leave her alone.  There is NO cure for alopecia, just treatments that are messy, annoying and once stopped, what little hair they might grow will fall out again.  Just let her be a kid, love her, make sure that no one says anything hurtful to her and take one day at a time.  Many of us have lived many, many years with this condition and are living full and happy lives.  It's not worth putting her through any of that for no reason.

Agreed.. As long as she is a happy and content 3 yr old then why subject her to treatments that are more often than not, worse than the alopecia xx

My daughter was 2 when she began losing her hair (Sept) and by Christmas that year it was all gone.  She has Alopecia Universalis and only has eyebrows and lashes some of the time.  Let her be who she is and show the world what a wonderful person is inside.  My daughter is now 8 and doesn't even usually wear the many wigs we have bought for her.  We have her wear hats or scarves only if and when she will be outside for an extended period of time.  We have raised her to be strong, confident and spirited. Stop the treatments and let her make that decision when she is old enough. 

Hi,

My daughter was 3 yrs old when she started losing her hair, eyebrows and eyelashes. In a period of 2 months she lost all her hair. she was happy and carefree and didn't seem to notice, but my husband and I went through stages of grief. To keep her head cool, I got her pretty beanie hats from beaniedesigns.com. Later I learnt to knit hats for her.

Currently she is on clobetasol propionate foam and rogaine and 95% of her hair is back. 

Kids are much more resilient and stronger than us. I always tell my daughter its only hair and its not the end of the world. I'm sure ur baby girl will also grow up to be a strong, kind hearted girl.

As she grew up my daughter had a lot of questions abt her hair and the lack of it. I explained the truth, there have been good days and bad days, but she always knows she has our full support. Always be strong for her. As parents, it is very difficult to stand by helpless and watch. Its hard to make decisions for them medically and wonder if we are doing the right thing by continuing or discontinuing treatment.

my thoughts are with your family. take care

Totally agree, stop the treatments. My daughter has been bald since she was 2. When she was in HS she lost her eyebrows and eye lashes and she decided to try treatment for eyebrows. She decided after awhile that it was not worth the pain, results or possible consequences. Our motto "It's just hair". I know there are times it will break your heart but if she is healthy and happy let her know it's no big deal and that you love who she is, the way she is.

You should consider stopping all the treatments. My daughter was 2 when she lost 80 percent of her hair. She is 3 and a half now, and aside from her bangs, you almost can't tell she has alopecia. We started treatments, but her skin was just so sensitive that she broke out in hives everywhere. The doctor tried to convince us this was alright, but I decided to leave her be. She was noticing when we were putting medicines on her, and I didn't want it to effect her emotional development. After stopping everything, much of her hair grew back on its own. I hear you with the grieving. It's been so tough for us too, especially since we can't control it. But I agree with the above posts, if we raise them to know they are beautiful and strong, nothing will bring them down :)
Hi, my daughter just recently lost all her hair also and we have had the same issues. Shes been put on high dose oral steroids and it helps for a little bit. She's been very accepting of her hair loss It seems to bother other people more. My husband and I took it very hard at first since we had been very concerned on how we could protect her from the stares and comments. Everyone thinks she has cancer and that there is something wrong with her, so I think this has been the hardest part. I found an organization that is called Children with Hair Loss and they provide a custom hairpiece at no cost to families for children with medical hair loss. She doesn't wear it all the time but when she does it's absolutely beautiful to see her face light up. It gets easier and it looks like she is even getting some hair re-growth.

I completely understand what you are going through.  My daughter is older, 14 now, and was diagnosed with AA two years ago.  Sorry to say we didn't find the medical professional much help.  She started on the GAPS diet last September and her hair started to grow back after 3-4 weeks, she didn't lose any more hair until 2-3 weeks ago following on from a series of booster injections for meningitis, polio, diptheria and tetanus (all of which I realise were important, but they just seemed to be too much for her immune system to cope with).  Has your daughter been tested for celiacs disease?  My daughter doesn't have celiac disease, but I really feel she has benefitted from going grain free - no more unexplained stomach aches. I realise it won't be a cure for everyone, but I'm glad we gave it a try.  I wish you all well.

Hi H's Mum-

I'm about to start GAPS on June 1. Did you start with the intro or did you do the Full Gaps? What did a typical day for diet and supplements look like for your daughter? Did she consume a lot of fermented food such as vegetables and kefir? Bone Broth? I read the book and I am preparing for the diet now... any insight would be a huge help. Thank you! 

I have to be honest - she hated the kefir and refused it.  So we started with broth (for a few days) and soups and then pretty much went into the full GAPS.  She has lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, fish, eggs, fermented yoghurt, lentils, salads. I try to use organic when I can, but not always. I make bread and cakes for her with coconut flour, ground almonds. There are lots of recipes on the internet and I look at conventional recipes and adapt them if I can - exchange sugar with honey, butter with coconut oil (it's great stuff), milk with fermented yogurt or coconut milk, etc etc.  The SCD diet follows similar principles too.  I have baking sessions and freeze portions so I'm not a constant slave in the kitchen!!  Good luck, it's so worth the effort.

I've had Alopecia Areata since age 9, actually earlier but diagnosis didn't come until then. The treatments are not worth it, for the small amount of hair growth she may have the pain and discomfort are not worth it. I also believe it makes her feel like it must be really bad to have AA and have hair loss or why else would you and the doctors be putting her through all this pain. Just love her just the way she is and help her find strength to deal with other peoples responses. I tried every kind of treatment and nothing really works. Good Luck.

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