Web/API/Node/firstChild

The Node.firstChild read-only property returns the node's first child in the tree, or null if the node has no children. If the node is a Document, it returns the first node in the list of its direct children.

Syntax

var childNode = node.firstChild;

Example

This example demonstrates the use of firstChild and how whitespace nodes might interfere with using this property.

<p id="para-01">
  <span>First span</span>
</p>

<script>
  var p01 = document.getElementById('para-01');
  console.log(p01.firstChild.nodeName);
</script>

In the above, the console will show '#text' because a text node is inserted to maintain the whitespace between the end of the opening <p> and <span> tags. Any whitespace will create a #text node, from a single space to multiple spaces, returns, tabs, and so on.

Another #text node is inserted between the closing </span> and </p>tags.

If this whitespace is removed from the source, the #text nodes are not inserted and the span element becomes the paragraph's first child.

<p id="para-01"><span>First span</span></p>

<script>
  var p01 = document.getElementById('para-01');
  console.log(p01.firstChild.nodeName);
</script>

Now the console will show 'SPAN'.

To avoid the issue with node.firstChild returning #text or #comment nodes, ParentNode.firstElementChild can be used to return only the first element node. However, node.firstElementChild requires a shim for Internet Explorer 9 and earlier.

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
DOMThe definition of 'Node.firstChild' in that specification.	Living Standard	No change
Document Object Model (DOM) Level 3 Core SpecificationThe definition of 'Node.firstChild' in that specification.	Obsolete	No change
Document Object Model (DOM) Level 2 Core SpecificationThe definition of 'Node.firstChild' in that specification.	Obsolete	No change
Document Object Model (DOM) Level 1 SpecificationThe definition of 'Node.firstChild' in that specification.	Obsolete	Initial definition

Browser compatibility

The compatibility table on this page is generated from structured data. If you'd like to contribute to the data, please check out https://github.com/mdn/browser-compat-data and send us a pull request.

Update compatibility data on GitHub

	Desktop						Mobile
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari	Android webview	Chrome for Android	Firefox for Android	Opera for Android	Safari on iOS	Samsung Internet
firstChild	Chrome Full support Yes	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 1	IE Full support Yes	Opera Full support Yes	Safari Full support Yes	WebView Android Full support Yes	Chrome Android Full support Yes	Firefox Android Full support 4	Opera Android Full support Yes	Safari iOS Full support Yes	Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes

Legend

Full support  

Full support

Node.firstChild by Mozilla Contributors is licensed under CC-BY-SA 2.5.