First Child

Pseudo-class

:first-child

Selects an element that is the first child of its parent. Useful for removing top margins or borders.

Example

li:first-child {
  border-top: none;
}
p:first-child {
  margin-top: 0;
}

Specificity

0-1-0

Browser Support

All browsers

About the First Child

The :first-child CSS selector belongs to the Pseudo-class category.Selects an element that is the first child of its parent. Useful for removing top margins or borders. Understanding CSS selector specificity and combinators is essential for writing maintainable stylesheets that behave predictably.

The specificity of this selector is 0-1-0. CSS specificity determines which styles are applied when multiple rules target the same element. Higher specificity values take precedence. The specificity hierarchy from lowest to highest is: universal (*) → type/element → class/attribute/pseudo-class → ID → inline styles → !important.

Browser support for First Child is: All browsers. When using newer CSS selectors like :has(), :is(), or CSS nesting, consider providing fallback styles for older browsers. Use @supports to progressively enhance your stylesheets with modern features while maintaining backward compatibility.

Related Selectors

:last-child :nth-child(n):first-of-type