This article compares household income level and pre-schooler weight-for-age across household groupings that are differentiated by female headship variables which are reflective of the heterogeneity of female-headed households. Data from Kenya indicate that it is the interaction of income and female headship at low-income levels which promotes pre-schooler nutritional status. For Ghana, incomes have to be quite large (in the upper tercile of the distribution) before a reduction in the child's likelihood of having a low weight-for-age is achieved through further income increases. We argue that an absence of complementary child health inputs is more likely for households in the Ghana sample, and that in this type of environment, differences in nurturing patterns, as proxied by headship status, will have a muted impact on child nutrition.