Baird was born in Seattle, Washington to Eldon Baird, an aerospace worker, and Nikki Marcus, a future talent agent. She has one younger brother, Jimmy Baird, also a former child actor. Baird began dance lessons at age three, and won a "Little Miss Washington" contest at five. Her mother took her to California for the national competition and fell in love with the climate. So the family relocated to Los Angeles, where Baird continued her dance lessons with tap great Louis da Pron among others.