Prior research has examined predictors of shunt failure in children with hydrocephalus and concluded that the majority of shunts do not survive long-term. However, risk factors such as etiology, birth weight, and gestational age may vary across institutions and populations. We sought to identify the social, clinical, and neonatal factors associated with initial ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt failure in the intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) patient population and the patient population with an etiology other than IVH (non-IVH). A retrospective review of patients, born during 2000–2005 diagnosed and treated for hydrocephalus at Children’s of Alabama was conducted. Survival analysis identified factors associated with time to shunt failure. Analyses were done separately for the IVH and non-IVH cohorts. Age and weight at initial VP shunt insertion were found to be associated with shunt failure in the non-IVH group (p