Abandoned Baby
The Abandoned Baby is a rare three-candle reversal pattern where a Doji completely gaps away from both the preceding and following candles. It exists in both bullish and bearish variants. The "baby" (middle Doji) is "abandoned" because no candle's shadows touch it — it sits alone in price space, isolated by gaps on both sides. This is a legacy/overview entry in Engulfy — the specific bullish and bearish variants are tracked separately with their own dedicated pages and detection logic.
Side-by-side diagram showing bullish and bearish Abandoned Baby candlestick patterns
The Two Variants
Bullish Abandoned Baby
- Appears at the bottom of a downtrend — signals a reversal to the upside
- Candle 1: Bearish (Close < Open)
- Candle 2: A Doji that gaps completely DOWN below Candle 1 — c2.High < c1.Low
- Candle 3: Bullish (Close > Open) that gaps completely UP above the Doji — c3.Low > c2.High
- The Doji is completely isolated below the first candle and above the third, signaling exhaustion of selling pressure and a decisive shift to buying
Bearish Abandoned Baby
- Appears at the top of an uptrend — signals a reversal to the downside
- Candle 1: Bullish (Close > Open)
- Candle 2: A Doji that gaps completely UP above Candle 1 — c2.Low > c1.High
- Candle 3: Bearish (Close < Open) that gaps completely DOWN below the Doji — c3.High < c2.Low
- The Doji is completely isolated above the first candle and below the third, signaling exhaustion of buying pressure and a decisive shift to selling
How to Interpret
- One of the strongest reversal signals in candlestick analysis — the double-gap structure reflects a dramatic and sudden sentiment shift
- Extremely rare on daily charts — the strict gap requirements on both sides of the Doji make this pattern uncommon even in equities
- More common in stocks than crypto or forex, since cryptocurrency and foreign exchange markets trade 24/7 and rarely produce true price gaps
- One of the highest-ranked patterns in Engulfy — the specific Bullish and Bearish Abandoned Baby variants are among the top-priority patterns detected
How Engulfy Detects the Abandoned Baby
- This is a legacy pattern type in Engulfy — detection uses the specific BullishAbandonedBaby and BearishAbandonedBaby pattern types, which are among the highest-ranked patterns
- Bullish: c1 bearish, c2 is Doji with c2.High < c1.Low (full gap down), c3 bullish with c3.Low > c2.High (full gap up)
- Bearish: c1 bullish, c2 is Doji with c2.Low > c1.High (full gap up), c3 bearish with c3.High < c2.Low (full gap down)
- The doji must be completely isolated — no shadow overlap with adjacent candles
The generic AbandonedBaby pattern type exists as a legacy entry. Active detection uses the specific BullishAbandonedBaby and BearishAbandonedBaby types, which are among the highest-ranked patterns. See their dedicated pages for full detection details.
Expert References
- Steve Nison, Japanese Candlestick Charting Techniques — describes the Abandoned Baby as the Western equivalent of a pattern well-known in Japanese charting. The dramatic double-gap structure makes it one of the most visually striking and psychologically significant reversal patterns.
- Thomas Bulkowski, Encyclopedia of Candlestick Charts — reports a very high reversal rate for the Abandoned Baby, but notes that sample sizes are tiny due to the pattern's extreme rarity. Statistical conclusions should be treated with caution given the limited data.
Controversy & Limitations
- The strict gap requirement on both sides of the Doji makes this pattern almost impossible in 24/7 markets like crypto and forex, where continuous trading prevents true price gaps
- Some implementations relax the gap to a "near-gap" (very small overlap allowed), which increases occurrences but blurs the line between an Abandoned Baby and a Morning Star or Evening Star
- Even in equities, the pattern is exceedingly rare on daily charts — limited sample sizes make robust statistical analysis difficult