Baby's first haircut

[Pupuce]

My DD was born with lots of hair... and they are now getting very long. When did you cut your child's hair first ?
DS was at 1 but DD is 7 months old and I just wonder what should I do ? Someone once told me that it would be better to wait until they are 1 but I don't know why.... ever heard of this ?
Thanks

[Joe1]

I cant bear to cut ds hair. He has never had loads of hair but it is growing now but he has all these little blonde curls. I now I wont be able to leave it forever, especially if we get some hot weather in the summer Im sure he would prefer to have shorter hair, but I wont like it.

[TigerFeet]

My ds had his first haircut last November (he was 18 months old). We've got this great place near us which has videos, toys etc. and he sat on a horse (could have been a motorbike and there was a 3rd choice but can't remember). After his cut he was given a certificate and a lock of hair. I think he loved all the attention being paid to him. He doesn't have that much hair so probably a twice-yearly cut will be enough for him.

[Pupuce]

TigerFeet - did you got to Harrods ??????

[Enid]

My dd was also born with lots of hair - unfortunately a lot of it fell out with cradle cap so she looked quite odd by 4 months!! I cut her hair myself until she was about 1 when I took her to a local hairdresser who tidied it up. She had regular trims every couple of months after that. She's 26 months now and today she's off for a proper cut and style.

If you can bear it, the sooner you cut it the better as it encourages the hair to grow thicker and gets rid of the baby hair which is very fine and wispy.

[TigerFeet]

No, Pupuce, not Harrods! (Do they do something like that)? This is a place in Edinburgh called Kids Stop.

[SueDonim]

I hated getting my children's hair cut and they were all at least two before they had the chop - the youngest was four when she had her first one and now she wants to go to the hairdresser's every five minutes, bah!

[hwr]

DD was born with a mane and has been going to the hairdressser every 6-8 weeks sine she hit 5 months (now 12m). Guess I must be weird but the mullet/ Indie look did nothing for me. My friend's dd has similar fast-growing hair. DD loves the hairdresser, big mirrors, lots of attention...If I'd left her hair to grow she'd have a squint by now. Also having their hair cut encourages growth and you can get it to grow into an acceptable shape.

[Rosy]

Tigerfeet - my dd goes to Kidz Stop too! She sits on the horse & watches Bob. I think it's well worth the £6 as she has to have dummy & Bob at home before she'll even let me brush her hair, never mind cut it.

[jodee]

DS was also born with a mop - a bit of a surprise as I was told by the midwife after she had a feel 'down there' that he had no hair at all (I also had the worst indigestion you can imagine, which is supposed to be caused by the baby having lots of hair, so maybe not such an old wives tale).

I trimmed it myself until he was one but I am so cackhanded I now take him to the hairdressers, I know people who have those clippers and give their boys number twos all over, but I think it makes them look a bit thug-like. My Mum hates me getting his hair cut and left to her it would be down his back with ribbons!

[Pupuce]

Tigerfeet - yes they do but you get that service for 24 GBP (special price for the first haircut... afterwards it's 25!!!!!!)
I will either have to cut it myself or go to the hairdresser.
Enid - When did you get rid of the cc ? DD still has some (not much) but as she has so much hair, it's not very visible. But it looks set to stay !

[Enid]

dd had awful cradle cap that started in her eyebrows then rose across her forehead to her scalp! It didn't go COMPLETELY until about 8 months. I am afraid I used to pick it off which was the only thing that got rid of it, only the big lumps though and dd never seemed to be bothered by my picking! (yuck, I know). Her baby hair came away with the worst bits. I've got a hilarious picture of her with patches of black spiky hair alternating with bald flaky bits. Can't believe I couldn't see how horrid it looked - I should have made her wear a hat, poor lamb. I tried all the recommended cures but nothing worked - the shampoo you get from boots made it much worse.

[Pupuce]

Thanks Enid - you know me.... I'd rather not use any chemicals... so I'll wait a bit and see how it goes. It was very bad at 4 months but she is now 7 and it's hardly noticable.

[jessi]

My son still has some cradle cap, hidden by his mop of hair thankfully. When does it go for good? He is 2.5! When he was a baby I used to rub olive oil on it, leave it overnight and then wash it. It does loosen the cradle cap brilliantly, but as washing his hair (let alone cutting it) is such a performance now he's a young toddler I haven't dared try it again.

[mollipops]

My dd was born with a mop of black hair too, I could never get halfway around the supermarket without someone saying "Look at all the hair on that baby!" She too had very bad cradle cap (and then eczema to boot) so there is a big gap in her photo album between 2 and 4 months when it was at it's worst! There is a brilliant product here for cradle cap made by Ego, not sure if it is available in the UK. She had her first haircut at 9 months - can't remember if I did it or if I took her to the hairdresser...I think she was developing a bit of a mohawk-thing at the time! It did help thicken it up and I can't see any reason why 1 year would be the magical time for a first haircut! I say go for it! (But keep a lock of it - some say it's unlucky but I can't bear to throw it away! It's a little bag stuck in her baby book!)

[clary]

My ds was born with a fantastic mop of curls (very unusual said the midwife) and i too used to get comments in the supermarket etc. I really didn't want to cut it (ever!) but was persuaded by 7mths that he really did need a trim. Luckily a friend is a hairdresser and ds didn't seem to mind having it done. Pix throughout his first year show mop-headed baby, but once he was 1 or so it started to grow out straight, bizarrely, and now is very neat little boy's hair. Can't see any reason to wait till 1yr for cut, also i have heard that regular trims will help thicken it up. He had cradle cap too, but olive oil helped as jessi said.

[sis]

I know that ds's first haircut had a big build-up in our minds at the time but now that he is three yrs old, I can't even remember when he had the first haircut. We used to cut his hair whilst he was in his highchair and then straight for a bath to get rid of the tickly bits. Now, we just put him in the bath (without the plug) and let him play with the showerhead and cut his hair with a pair of baby nail-sissors.

I did try taking him to a hairdressers but as our local ones are not as much fun as the one in Edinburgh, we decided it was quicker and easier to just do it ourselves.

Personally, I don't think there is any reason to wait a specific period of time for a haircut - it should be cut when the hair needs it, surely?

[TigerFeet]

I have a friend in Houston, Texas who has a 4 month old with persistent cradle cap. I suggested massaging baby oil into it and then washing it with baby shampoo but I wondered if there was anything else she could do or if there was an over-the-counter product she could get in USA.

[Pupuce]

TogerFeet - I have loads of friends in Houston but none with young babies but I am sure she could find ideas on the web and recommended products via US websites.
BTW I think olive oil is far better for just about everything than baby oil.... full of chemicals ! Personal opinion !

[Pupuce]

TogerFeet - I have loads of friends in Houston but none with young babies but I am sure she could find ideas on the web and recommended products via US websites.
BTW I think olive oil is far better for just about everything than baby oil.... full of chemicals ! Personal opinion !

[SueW]

My DD had cradle cap, a small patch about an inch long and 1/4 inch wide, until her hair grew in properly (when she was about 3yo or more!)

After the first couple of months I stopped worrying about it. She didn't have hair to wash until she was around 18mo anyway and no amount of oil etc had shifted it in the beginning so there was no reason to believe it ever would.

[mollipops]

Found a few ideas for cradle cap:
This one for serious or persistent cradle cap is from a paediatrician and needs to be made up by a chemist:
2 parts ichthyol
2 parts salicylic acid
ether (sufficient to make good solution)
olive oil to make up to 100ml
Rub over scalp morning and night, wipe off excess. Then apply this cream:
1 part crude coal tar
1 part hydrag.ammon.
3 parts cetly alcohol
10 parts lanette wax SX
10 parts glycerine
water up to 100ml
Continue for a week - if still no cleared up see your HV or GP.

If you prefer a natural remedy try this:
3 tblpns almond oil
contents of 2 x 100 IU vitamin E capsules
Gently warm the oil in a non-metallic saucepan. Pierce the capsules and squeeze contents into oil, stir once or twice. When approx blood warm, massage firmly but gently into scalp, using sml circular movements. Leave up to an hour then comb thru with fine baby comb, lifting scales and combing thru to ends. Wash as usual, using a mixture of 3 tblsns normal baby shampoo with 2 drops tea tree oil and 1 drop lemon oil added.

[mollipops]

That's what I get for not proof reading! It should be CETYL alcohol!

[Bumblelion]

My daughter (now 9) was bald until she was 2 so thinking about when to get her hair cut was never an option.

When her hair did start to grow, she was "white blond" when it came through although she is now "dirty blond", but I think she looked more bald than what she really was because her hair was so far.

I started getting it trimmed when it got "wispy" - she has never had more than 1 inch off and it is now down to her bottom and she will not consider having it cut short although I know, one day, most probably when she is a teenager, she will have it cut short and then spend the rest of her life trying to grow it again!

My son had lots of hair from a young age and had his first proper hair cut at 6 months. He had a "No. 2" once but, as Jodee says, it did make him look like a thug. He now has to have his hair cut about every 4 weeks - he has (what I think is called) a flat top - to be like his dad! Whereas my DD is blond, my DS is darker. DD has blond eyelashes, eyebrows, etc. but DS has very prominent eyebrows and the longest and thickest eyelashes you have ever seen - why is it always the boys that get them?

My baby is nearly 5 months old and I think she is going to be like her elder sister. Although she was quite dark to start with, she is now a baldy and has very fair eyelashes and eyebrows so I think her hair is going to take a long time to come through like her sister.

One thing I would say in my two elder children's defence is that, although my son was very young when he first had his hair cut, we have no problem with him having it cut. Saying that, although my daughter was over 2 by the time she first had her hair cut, she has always been very good too. Because her hair is so long, as soon as she started growing it, I was very particular about it being brushed, etc. I would stand for no nonsense, and although it takes quite a while to brush, plait, etc. she is very good. She knows that if it isn't brushed, I would try and make her get it cut so she has to put up with the conditioning, treatments, etc. to keep it looking nice.