Abandoned Baby

A doji stranded by two gaps

By: 42Fibonacci
Updated: 27 Oct 2026
Read time: 7–9 min

An Abandoned Baby is a rare three-candle reversal: a long candle with the trend, a doji that gaps beyond it, and a candle that gaps back the other way. The doji's whole range, shadows included, is cut off from both neighbors. The third close confirms it; a close beyond the doji's extreme undoes it.

At a glance

Type: Three-candle reversal (rare)
Variants: Bullish (after a decline) and Bearish (after a rally)
Story: A gap into nothing, then a gap straight back
Key rule: The doji's whole range, shadows included, gaps clear
Confirmation: The third candle closing well into the first body
Stop: Below the doji's low (above its high for a top)

What Makes an Abandoned Baby

A Bullish Abandoned Baby is three candles at the end of a decline: a long red candle, then a doji (a candle that opens and closes at about the same price) that gaps down below it, then a green candle that gaps back up and closes well into the red candle's body.

What makes it an abandoned baby, and not just a doji between two candles, is the gaps. A gap is a band of prices that nobody traded: the next session opens beyond the last one's range, and its whole range, low to high, stays there. Here the doji is cut off by a gap on each side, shadows included. It is left on its own, abandoned.

The mirror, a Bearish Abandoned Baby, forms after a rally: a long green candle, a doji that gaps above it, and a red candle that gaps back down. This guide teaches the bullish form first and the bearish one as its mirror.

A bullish abandoned babyIllustrative

At the end of a decline, a long red candle closes near its low. The next day opens far below it, goes nowhere, and closes where it opened: a doji whose whole range sits below the red candle's low. The day after opens far above the doji and closes well into the red body. The two shaded gaps are prices nobody traded, so the doji is left on its own, abandoned. The doji's low is the line that matters: a close below it would undo the pattern.

First candle: A long red candle that continues the decline and closes near its low.
The doji: Opens below the first candle's low and closes about where it opened. Its high, upper shadow included, stays below the first candle's low.
Third candle: Opens above the doji's high and never trades back down to it, then closes well into the first candle's body.

Note

Three candles, so three closes. The pattern isn't there until the third candle has closed. Until then a gap-down doji is only a doji, and the gap back up might never come.

How a Bullish Abandoned Baby Forms

Session one: the decline speeds up

"Another big down day. Get out."

A long red candle closes near its low. Sellers are in control and the mood is getting worse.

Session two: a gap into nothing

"It opened even lower. Then nothing happened."

The next session opens below the whole of yesterday's range: sellers who couldn't wait sold at the open. But price goes nowhere and closes where it opened. The last wave of selling has met enough buying to stop it.

Session three: a gap straight back

"Everyone who sold yesterday is now behind."

The third session opens above the doji's high and, without trading back down to it, rallies into the first candle's body. Everyone who sold during the doji sold below every price traded since. The sudden turn can force more buying from traders on the wrong side.

Is an Abandoned Baby Bullish or Bearish?

Either, depending on which way it points. After a decline, with the doji gapped below, it is a bullish reversal. After a rally, with the doji gapped above, it is a bearish reversal.

The pattern carries its own confirmation: by the time it is complete, the third candle has gapped back and closed well into the first candle's body. That close doesn't promise a follow-through. A later close below the doji's low (above its high, for the bearish form) undoes the pattern.

The Gaps Are the Pattern

Most patterns are read by their bodies and shadows. This one is read by the empty space around the doji. Two things to check.

The shadows must clear, not just the bodies
Look at the doji's high, its upper shadow included, and the lows of the candles on either side, their lower shadows included. There must be daylight between them on both sides. If a shadow overlaps, some price was traded on both days, and the doji is not cut off.
Both gaps, not one
The first gap shows the selling running out of road. The second, back up, shows buyers arriving fast enough to skip the doji entirely. If either gap is missing, it is at most a Morning Doji Star, as long as the doji's body still sits below the first body.

Tip

Why the shadows matter. A shadow is a price that traded. If the doji's shadow reaches into the first candle's range, some buyers and sellers met at those prices on both days, so the doji was not really abandoned. If the doji's body still gaps below the first body, that is still a valid pattern, a Morning Doji Star, just not this one.

Why It Is So Rare

Gaps that clear a whole day's range are uncommon on daily stock charts, and this pattern needs two of them in a row around a doji.

Where gaps can't happen, the pattern barely exists. A market that trades around the clock, like crypto (or currencies, apart from the weekend open), opens each candle at the last candle's close, so there is no untraded band between them. Within a trading session, intraday stock charts behave the same way. On those, a doji between two candles is at best a loosely defined doji star.

Abandoned Baby vs. Morning Doji Star and Island

Bullish Abandoned Baby

A doji whose whole range gaps below both neighbors' lows
The strictest and rarest of the three

Morning Doji Star

The doji's body gaps below, but shadows may overlap
Same story, less isolated, more common

Island Reversal

One or more candles cut off by a gap on each side
The Western name for the same idea, any number of candles

The three form a ladder of strictness. A Morning Star asks for a small middle candle whose body gaps below the first body. A Morning Doji Star asks for that candle to be a doji. An abandoned baby asks for the doji to be cut off completely. Each step up is rarer.

An island reversal is what Western chart readers call the same shape: a group of candles stranded by a gap on each side. An abandoned baby is a one-candle island whose candle is a doji.

Bullish vs Bearish Abandoned Baby

Bullish Abandoned Baby

After a decline: red candle, doji gapped below, green candle gapped above it
Invalidated by a close below the doji's low

Bearish Abandoned Baby

After a rally: green candle, doji gapped above, red candle gapped below it
Invalidated by a close above the doji's high

In the bearish form, buyers chase a gap higher, run into enough selling to stop them, and the next session gaps straight back down. Everything else in this guide applies upside down.

How to Trade an Abandoned Baby

Check there was a decline to reverse
A run of lower highs and lower lows into the first candle. The decline need not be long, but it must be there.
Verify both gaps on the shadows
Compare the doji's high with the lows of the candles on either side. Any overlap and it is at most a Morning Doji Star (if the doji's body still gaps below the first body), which deserves more caution.
Treat the third close as the confirmation
The pattern carries its own confirmation: the third candle has already gapped up and closed well into the first candle's body. Entry is on that close or the next open.
Put the stop below the doji's low
The doji's low is the bottom of the selling. A close below it undoes the pattern. Because the third candle closes far above the doji, the stop is often wide; size the position to it rather than moving the stop closer.

Warning

The gap makes the stop wide. The distance from the third candle's close down to the doji's low includes the gap back up and the doji's whole range. On a volatile stock that can be several days' normal movement. If it is more than you can risk, pass, however clean the pattern looks.

Worked example

A stock has fallen for three weeks. Monday is a long red candle: it opens at $40.60, closes at $38.55 and has a low of $38.40. Tuesday opens at $37.90, trades between $37.60 and $38.10, and closes at $37.92. Wednesday opens at $38.60, never trades below $38.50, and closes at $39.80, above the middle of Monday's body.

Is this a bullish abandoned baby, and where would the stop go?

The approach

Yes. Tuesday is a doji (open $37.90, close $37.92), and its high of $38.10 is below both Monday's low ($38.40) and Wednesday's low ($38.50), so it is cut off on both sides. Wednesday's $39.80 close is above the middle of Monday's body ($39.58). The stop goes below Tuesday's low of $37.60, with a little room. From a $39.80 entry that is more than $2 of risk, so size the position for it.

Reading It in Context

Levels. A doji that gaps down to a support level, such as the floor of a range, and is then abandoned, is selling that ran into buyers at a price they were already defending. Read the Candlesticks + Trading Ranges guide →

Retracements. In a pullback inside a larger uptrend, a doji at a common Fibonacci retracement shows where the pullback ran out. Read the Candlesticks + Fibonacci guide →

Volume. Heavy volume on the third candle shows many traders joined the gap back up rather than a thin market drifting there. Read the Candlesticks + Volume guide →

Common Abandoned Baby Mistakes

Mistake	Instead
Checking the bodies but not the shadows The doji's body is below the red candle's, so it is an abandoned baby.	The doji's whole range must clear. If its upper shadow reaches the red candle's lower shadow, it is a Morning Doji Star.
Looking for it on a market that trades around the clock This crypto chart shows an abandoned baby on the hourly candles.	On a market that trades around the clock, each candle opens at the last close, so there is no untraded band. What looks like the pattern is a doji between two candles.
Trusting a rare pattern too much It's the strongest reversal there is, so the size can be bigger.	Rare is not the same as certain. Judge it by its context and size it like any other setup, against the stop at the doji.
Moving the stop up to make the trade fit The doji's low is too far away; put the stop under the third candle.	The pattern is undone only below the doji. A stop inside the gap can be hit by an ordinary pullback while the pattern still holds. If the real stop is too wide, take a smaller position or pass.

Key takeaways

A Bullish Abandoned Baby is a long red candle, a doji gapped below it, and a green candle gapped back above the doji; the Bearish form is the mirror
The gaps are the pattern: the doji's whole range, shadows included, must clear both neighbors
It barely exists on markets that trade around the clock, because each candle opens where the last one closed
The third candle's close is the confirmation; the doji's low is where the idea fails
It is rare, and rare is not the same as certain: size it like any other setup

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Bullish Abandoned Baby?

A three-candle reversal at the end of a decline: a long red candle, a doji that gaps below it, and a green candle that gaps back above the doji and closes well into the red candle's body. The doji's whole range, shadows included, sits below both neighbors.

What is a Bearish Abandoned Baby?

The mirror, after a rally: a long green candle, a doji that gaps above it, and a red candle that gaps back below the doji. The doji's whole range sits above both neighbors.

Why is it called an abandoned baby?

The doji is the baby. The gap on each side cuts it off from the candles around it, so it is left on its own on the chart: abandoned.

Do the shadows have to gap, or just the bodies?

The shadows. The doji's high must stay below both neighbors' lows (for the bullish form). If a shadow overlaps, prices were traded on both days, and the pattern is at most a Morning Doji Star (if the doji's body still gaps below the first body).

How reliable is the abandoned baby?

It carries its own confirmation: the third candle has already closed well into the first candle's body. That close doesn't promise a follow-through, and a later close below the doji's low undoes the pattern. Rare is not the same as certain, so judge each one by its context and size it against that stop.

Why is the pattern so rare?

It needs two gaps in a row that each clear a whole day's range, around a doji. Gaps like that are uncommon on daily stock charts, and markets that trade around the clock hardly gap at all.

Can it form on crypto or forex charts?

Rarely. Crypto trades around the clock and currencies around the clock on weekdays, so each candle opens where the last one closed and there is no untraded band between them, apart from the weekend open in currencies. A doji between two candles there is at best a loosely defined doji star.

How do you confirm a Bullish Abandoned Baby?

The third candle is the confirmation: it has gapped up and closed well into the first candle's body, so there is nothing more to wait for.

Where does the stop loss go?

Below the doji's low, with a little room. Because the third candle closes far above the doji, the stop is often wide, so size the position to it rather than moving the stop closer.

What is the difference between an abandoned baby and an island reversal?

An island reversal is the Western name for one or more candles cut off by a gap on each side. An abandoned baby is a one-candle island whose candle is a doji.

The Bottom Line

The abandoned baby is a reversal told in empty space. Selling gaps the price into a doji, nobody follows it lower, and buying gaps it straight back. The two gaps leave the doji stranded, and the traders who sold there stranded with it.

Check the shadows, not just the bodies. Expect to see it rarely, and only on markets that gap. When you do, the third close confirms it and the doji's low tells you where you are wrong.

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