To shave or not to shave

[tina-t]

My mom keeps on reminding me to shave ds's hair (on his head) when he turns 1. We're asian and I think this is more of an asian/cultural thing. It is supposed to make his hair grow thicker. My mom said that all of us (including my brothers and sister) had our head shaved when we turned 1. I don't think it worked for me anyway. My hair is not really thick.

Just wondering if anybody else did this? I'm not even sure how I can handle it. Ds is so wriggly.

[AngelaS]

He's your baby, cut his hair how you want. :D Frankly, I can't imagine trying to give a haircut to a child that age...eek! :D

[MelissaTC]

My DS got a haircut around his first birthday but that is because his hair was super long! His subesquent haircuts have all been crew cuts because the kid needs a cut every 6 weeks otherwise. I haven't noticed a huge difference in the thickness of his hair (my DH has nice thick, wavy hair). I say do what you feel best with....

[papal]

In my religion they do the same thing..shave off the baby's hair as an offering to God (at least that is why I think it is done). These days they have modified it to giving just a lock of hair... i have saved a lock from the first time i trimmed her hair, maybe I will just give that... i don't know... maybe if my mom is VERY interested in doing it (and i highly doubt that), i would do it for her.. but otherwise, i love Leela's wispy hair too much to have it shaven off! Just go with what you want to do.

[Kate888]

A lot of people told me to do so when DD was little, too. But I couldn't bring myself to do it. I think it's just a myth that people keep as a tradition. Some of my friends shaved their baby's hair, but didn't really notice a difference on the thickness. They did the shaving when their babies were little and used the fine hair to make a calligraphy brush for good luck.

I think people mistakenly think the hair grows back thicker, because the new growth is not the end (tip) of the hair, thus appears thicker (just like when you shave your legs).

HTH :)


Kate
Mama to Maya 2-17-02

http://instagiber.net/smiliesdotcom/kao/otn/ptrose.gif

[ppshah]

My sister and I had our heads shaved when we were young. I'm not planning on shaving DS's hair. Can you imagine - Poor little bald guy running around. Luckily I'm not getting any family pressure to do so. My parents know DH would NOT go for it.

[sarahfran]

Wow... I must have been living under a rock, because I've never heard of this!

I agree with the PPs--do as you please, he's your little one. But if the pressure from your mother is super strong and you think she'll harass you for years afterwards ("well, if you'd shaved his head like I told you he would be potty trained by now" or "fluent in 3 languages", etc), you might want to weigh that in the balance.

I love the wispy hair, though. I can't imagine making cutting it all! Perhaps the tradition is a rite that's designed to help parents make the break with the baby days and treat their growing child more maturely. I find it hard to imagine that cutting the hair would change its nature in any way. The many cuts I've had throughout life have never helped mine thicken!!

-Sarah
Mom to Dylan, 8/18/03

:) Motherhood is such a joy! :)

[nitaghei]

Yup! I think it's an Asian/cultural thing (I'm Indian). In my religion, a child's head is shaved at around 1 year of age (and not cut at all prior to that). In my family we actually make a trek to this small village in the Himalayan foothills to have the head shaving done - it's a whole ceremony!

The thickness thing is definitely a myth. I have really, really thick hair - always have, since I was born. My mother couldn't bear to shave my head, so had one lock cut off as a token. And I have cousins born bald, who did the head shaving, and still have thin hair. My nephew and niece, who have never had their heads shaved, have beautiful thick hair.

DS, sadly, seems to take after DH in the hair department - bald at birth, still very fine, and brown with blond highlights!!! AAAACCKKK!

Nita
mom to Neel, January 2003
dog mom to a cocker and a PWD

[candybomiller]

Seems to me if it is a cultural thing, it might be really important to you mother. You'd have to weigh out which is more important to you, keeping your mom happy or keeping your sons hair.

Someone told me that it was a cultural (Jewish) think not to cut ds's hair until he was 3. Since I could never find a written mention of this, we went ahead and had his hair cut at 18 months because it was so shaggy. I don't think we're going to hell for it! :)

I agree with it being a pain because of wriggly-ness. DS screamed and struggled through his whole haircut. Not a lot of fun.

Guess I don't have an answer for you. Sorry. Good luck keeping the peace though.