Children with dreadlocks, any opinions please?

[TheDevilWearsPrimark]

My friends children are 1/2 swedish 1/2 irish and they have washed but never brushed or shampooed their hair, so they have naturally formed curly dreadlocks.
My friends do the same, and their DC's hair looks really cute, but one is about to start school and I worry he may be picked on for it.
I also worry what they would do about nits (hot topic as we have them at the moment)
My friends seem very relaxed about it and aren't worried at all, but I know how mean children can be.

Would you judge a child/ his parents at your school if they were the same?

[DarrellRivers]

wouldn't think too much about it TBH
the nits thing would bother me, but why don't you see how it goes first?

[MaureenMLove]

Well, I wouldn't judge them all the time they were nit free! If and when they do get nits, do you think they will deal with them?

[Mumcentreplus]

I wouldn't judge tbh are they mixed?

[Twiglett]

sound like Boden models to me

[IamTheSpeedingHam]

its a parental choice - like a hair cut is i suppose.

and if i ws going to endear myself o the mnet hippies that is indeed where i would leave it.

but society has a certain level of conformity - we all must do this incertain situations.

this is why i think calling your kid a twatty name (merlin ffs) or sending them to school with dreadlocks is really rubbish.

unless you live in a diverse city with a diverse culture where dreads wouldnt even be looked at twice.

[Mumcentreplus]

Others might though...you know some people think just because they are dreads they are not washed...(looks sideways at Janitor)

[DrNortherner]

dreadlocks are manky mankola on adults let alone kids.

Why anyone would choose never to cut/brush or shampoo hair is beyond me.

YUK YUK YUK YUK YUK.

[TheDevilWearsPrimark]

mildmannered tbh my friend hasn't brushed hers for 15 years and just washes with plain ater and they don't look or smeel very bad. I am just worried about the Dc really, and how they will be viewed.

They are not mixed race, both parents are white.

[Mercy]

My SIL has dreadlocks - she washes her hair.

[Twiglett]

hair does not need washing it has a natural cycle of cleanliness .. supposedly if you don't wash your hair for 6 weeks the natural oils start to work and keep your hair in good condition

if these children do not have naturally curly hair then the creation of dreadlocks is patently a choice because I thought it needed a little bit of help.

I rather like dreds on kids I msut say

[DrNortherner]

I do not beleive this rubbish about hair cleaning itself.

[Twiglett]

I bet you also don't believe that the lather in shampoos is put in specially and does nothing in the shampoo cleansing process .. in fact there are different concentrations in different countries of lather for same product due to different expectations

[vinhotinto]

My dp has dreadlocks and he washes his hair too, he is slightly worried about how he will be perceived at school gates though.

I am worried about nits as well for both dd and dp but have been told by SIL that they are unlikely to get nits because of the oil that we use in their hair, not sure if this is true

[SuperGrrrl]

I think kids should have their hair however they choose.

I don't personally like dreds, but i am waiting patiently for DS1s to be thick enough for a mini-mohawk, before he's old enough to tell me to p**s off!

It's just hair. They'd equally be at risk of name calling for having glasses / braces / ginger hair / a crap car etc etc, that's how kids are.

You never know, they may just seem interesting to the other kids, or maybe they wouldn't even care.

If anything, i'd say they'd be less at risk of nits- they like room to move round in hair, which they wouldn't get in dreads because they're bunched up and expose scalp.

[TheDevilWearsPrimark]

Twigglet they are sooo Boden models

[terramum]

DS is 3.5 & I have never used shampoo on his hair. He just gets it rinsed in water when it's dirty & brushed through. nothing dirty or smelly about his hair at all. In fact he has nicer hair than me .

Dreads on children wouldn't bother me. Getting rid of them just to prevent teasing would bother me though. All that does is reinforce to children that being different is somehow wrong. Unless we start showing our children from an early that everyone is different & deserves respect then we are setting them up for a very nasty society

[MaureenMLove]

I know we're talking primary age here, but in response to Supergrrrl, my dd's secondary school actually have a hair supervisor! Seriously, any child with non-conformist hair, is sent packing until its put right!

[TheDevilWearsPrimark]

This is what I thought maureen, my aunts dd (5) was sent home after they died her fringe (with red food colouring) for a party and it didn't wash out.

[Fillyjonk]

i wouldn't tell kids they ought to have their hair a certain way to avoid teasing, no.

[PotPourri]

That natural cycle is not always true you know. I know a couple of dreaded/part dreaded people whose hair smells. Yeah, they can't smell it - but neither do people with BO or bad breath smell it.

Having said that, if they are clean and don't smell, and don't have nits, then I reckon the other kids would be interested rather than ridicule. Make the kids untouchable - make sure they know it is really cool hair and lots of really cool people have dreads - Bob Marley etc etc

[SlugsNSnails]

Children will not judge as long as they smell ok. It tends to be smell that puts off kids rather than looks imo.

Parents will. But let em. Parents judge that DD has worn short socks all winter and her coat is rarely done up.