Anyone shave their kid's head?

[froggy76]

I'm not planning to do this, but just curious how common it is.

DD's teacher is Muslim and she keeps telling me that the hair on DD's head is junk and should be shaved off. Apparently, this is done for religious reasons ("Sunnah") and also so that the hair grows back thicker. It seems to be common in many cultures.

DD goes to an international Montessori school, and I've also noticed that a lot of the Indian girls have very short hair due to it being shaved off at some point. I was told it's done many times in the child's first few years of life until the desired texture is reached. The owner of DD's school was shocked when he found out that I wasn't planning to shave DD's hair.

Did anyone do this? I'll admit, I am a little tempted because I have the thinnest, crappiest hair ever and I don't want DD to have that.

Also, if I'm saying something totally wrong about this tradition, feel free to correct me!

[OscarQ]

I know nothing of this practice other than that my sister told me that she's been encouraged to shave her daughter's head for that reason - to make the new hair thicker. Sis lives in Spain. I figured it was a Spanish OWT but I guess it's a more widespread tale.

And no, I would never do it. My cousin's H shaved their son's hair a couple weeks ago and kid looked like someone suffering the side effects of chemo. I showed it to my H without explanation and he was like "WTF would someone do that to a kid?" My cousin was not impressed (her H did it without warning her).

[6fsn]

I've heard of it, but won't do it. I'd be annoyed if a teacher kept saying my kid's hair was junk too.

[liveintheville]

I know there's an Indian tradition about not cutting a child's hair until their 1st birthday and it involves a ceremony.

[thatgirl2478]

I'm pretty sure that shaving your head has nothing to do with it coming in thicker or with a better texture...

[curbsideprophet]

Hell no. I am excited that you can easily tell she has hair in pictures. For at least the first six months this was not the case.

[Deleted]

We did not cut DS' hair until after his 1st birthday. His hair was probably 6-7inches big by the time we cut it. lol. I am Filipino and there is an OWT about shaving a baby's hair off so it will grow thicker.

[thatgirl2478]

Aug 10, 2012 15:33:36 GMT -5 liveintheville said:

I know there's an Indian tradition about not cutting a child's hair until their 1st birthday and it involves a ceremony.

Yep - at least the people I work with have reported a similar tradition/ceremony.

[GailGoldie]

I know many cultures do it... but if yours doesn't I don't see a reason to do it. changing the texture is bullshit - the hair grows inside the follicles - not outside, so cutting the outside does nothing to change the outside hair --- other than make the hair more prickly to the touch.... perhaps making people THINK it's thicker.

I would be pretty pissed off that anyone told me my child's hair is "junk" - assuming you go to a school in the USA - I don't care what the teacher's culture is - she should know better than to tell a parent that, even if they are the same culture.

[Deleted]

My Swedish friend did it on the advice of her Navajo BFF....I'll have to ask if she remembers if it helped but it was 13+yrs ago. Her DD was super blond & had wispy hair the little she had.

[h]

Aug 10, 2012 16:30:27 GMT -5 GailGoldie said:

I know many cultures do it... but if yours doesn't I don't see a reason to do it. changing the texture is bullshit - the hair grows inside the follicles - not outside, so cutting the outside does nothing to change the outside hair --- other than make the hair more prickly to the touch.... perhaps making people THINK it's thicker.

I would be pretty pissed off that anyone told me my child's hair is "junk" - assuming you go to a school in the USA - I don't care what the teacher's culture is - she should know better than to tell a parent that, even if they are the same culture.

I agree on all counts. I have no problem with people doing this if it is their cultural practice, but it won't actually change the hair texture. And I would be pissed if one of my son's teachers commented on their hair that way. I find the comment to be pretty unacceptable; it isn't much better than commenting on skin color or any other feature that can't be changed.

[LauraMoser]

We shaved DD2's hair. However, it was not due to religion/culture. She kept pulling her hair out and had only one patch of hair left. DH finished off what she started. I'm happy to report that she has since stopped! Even after its been coming back in pretty well, and she no longer pulls DD1's either.

As far as it changing texture, yes its thicker now, but part of that may be attributed to her age (22 months) rather than shaving. No way to really know for sure though.

[zeewifeandmama]

We are Muslim and we shaved both of our childrens heads on their seventh day of life. For my daughter, her hair took FOREVER to grow back....seriously, couldnt do any clips or anything until like 14 months. Her hair now is beautiful and very curly. My sons hair at one month is already as long as hers was at 6 months...lol crazy.

The reason we do it is both culturally ( thicker, nicer hair supposedly) and religious ( aqiqah)

ETA; there is sort of a ceremony that goes along with it.

[froggy76]

I didn't really mind the teacher's comment. I guess you have to know her personally but she really didn't mean to be rude. She says a lot of weird things, but she is amazing with DD, so I just let it slide!

[statlerwaldorf]

When DD was born, she had very fine straight hair. It all fell out on her own and got weirdly patchy for a while. She now has super thick curly hair.

[mslhb]

Yes I have heard of this. My friend was adamant I shave DDs head at age 2. I did not. She had just finally got hair at 2! Based on DH and I she is destined to have baby fine hair no matter how much head shaving we do.

[vanillacourage]

I would be super uncomfortable with her comments. Totally not her place.

[anna7602]

Some Hispanics do this, but not all. I honestly can't remember which countries do and don't, but in my neighborhood in NY, I've definitely seen it and people have asked us if we planned to or did do it. Cubans don't, for the record. So, no, I never shaved DD's head.

She and I both have pretty awesome hair, regardless. I doubt shaving it would have made it any different/better.

[madringal]

Aug 10, 2012 15:18:42 GMT -5 froggy76 said:

I'm not planning to do this, but just curious how common it is.

DD's teacher is Muslim and she keeps telling me that the hair on DD's head is junk and should be shaved off. Apparently, this is done for religious reasons ("Sunnah") and also so that the hair grows back thicker. It seems to be common in many cultures.

DD goes to an international Montessori school, and I've also noticed that a lot of the Indian girls have very short hair due to it being shaved off at some point. I was told it's done many times in the child's first few years of life until the desired texture is reached. The owner of DD's school was shocked when he found out that I wasn't planning to shave DD's hair.

Did anyone do this? I'll admit, I am a little tempted because I have the thinnest, crappiest hair ever and I don't want DD to have that.

Also, if I'm saying something totally wrong about this tradition, feel free to correct me!

My family is from Iran and it is common for us. It is usually done between ages 2-4 and done a few times. My mom didn't do it to my sisters or me, but it was common for cousins. I don't actually think it does anything and would never do it to my girls.

[birdmom]

I don't know about hair, but my DS has very long eyelashes. When he was born, H asked if we were supposed to trim them (?!!?WTF!!??). I was chatting with a Chinese lady in the shoe store, and she commented on how long his lashes were. I told her what my husband asked, and she said that wasn't so ridiculous because she said that in her culture they would trim them to make them grow back longer because their lashes are typically pretty short.

[dr.girlfriend]

Yeah, this is a Hindu thing too. My mom was trying to get me to do this for DS, but given that he was born with a head of super-thick hair she had trouble justifying the "it'll grow back thicker" argument.

What happens at a mundan ceremony?
The mundan ceremony marks the baby's first haircut. It is an important ritual, for various cultural and religious reasons. Traditionally, it is believed that shaving a baby's head is important as:
it rids the child of his past life's negativity;
the hair on a newborn’s head is impure, and only a mundan can cleanse the child’s body and soul;
it helps release excess body heat and keeps the baby's head cool;
it helps relieve headache and pains associated with teething;
it stimulates cells and improves blood circulation, which may help in the growth of better and thicker hair.
The mundan ceremony is usually done on a specific day, at an auspicious time that is decided by the priest, based on the time of the birth.