To shave my toddlers unibrow...?

[cactusdog]

I feel truly awful asking and I hate that it's even in my mind but the truth it he has one. DS 2.5, has a unibrow. It's not massive and bushy but you can see it.
Someone once made a comment about it when he was 8 months and I have irrationally hated that person since. However it did make me realise that it is noticeable.

So my question is, would you do anything about it? And if so, when?
Surely if I start now and it is just part of his routine then it won't raise any questions, but if I wait until kids start to make fun of him, then he asks, will that impact his self confidence more?

I wish it wasn't an issue and I know it's not a big deal in some ways, but also kids are mean and we've got to live in the real world.

Has anyone else had this experience?

Right, but at 2 years old?

Looking back at pictures of myself at 2, yep sure! I wouldn’t have known any different...just a part of grooming. If you weren’t a disproportionately hairy child who got called a monkey from preschool, you might not understand.

And I get all the, shouldn’t we be teaching our kids NOT to tease and to celebrate difference and yadayadayada. Yep, sure. But lots of OTHER people don’t teach their kids that. 2 second whipping off of a uni brow vs 10 years of bullying for being the hairy Middle Eastern kid? No question, I’d have preferred some parental care and intervention rather than be sent like a lamb to the slaughter and years of being called Bert (sesame street).

.......It's great that you're picking a healthy fruit snack to give to your child while you rip wax strips off his face so he conforms to your own beauty societal ideals, whether we like it or not.

I possibly wouldn't do it at 2 but I wouldn't wait til my child was getting teased before I did.

@SmileyClare
The reason I believed hair’s growing back thicker after shaving is because that was the impression I formed myself based on my own leg hair. So for some reason I must be wrong, but before I started shaving it, it was fine and fair (the hair on my thighs which I never shaved is still like this) but if I let it grow back now, it’s thick and black - even if I leave it for months (as I have been known to do). So I’m not mad or stupid to believe it...

(And one of my kids has a uni brow and I wouldn’t dream of touching it!)

My DS said whilst getting ready for school this morning "I've got to sort my unibrow out before I leave" and shaved it. He's not looked in a mirror much for the last six months.

He is 14 though.

I’d have preferred some parental care and intervention rather than be sent like a lamb to the slaughter and years of being called Bert (sesame street).

You poor thing.

I'm aghast at those saying to wax or pluck. My 14 year old gets me to pluck her eyebrows and she finds it so painful (she asked me to I didn't suggest it can I add) I asked a beautician about threading (to be honest I'm not sure what this involves) and she said leave it as long as possible due to it being painful and thus is about a toddler ?!?!
Waxing can feel like a slap and it stings after and often leaves a mark- I think that's pretty horrendous to do to a toddler

When/if he asks yes whilst he is unaware no, what’s the point?

I don't get the outrage...no one would object to a two year old getting a hair cut. I don't see a huge difference.

I would. I sort of equate it to considering laser treatment on a harmless birthmark and getting their hair cut into a smart style.

I don't get the outrage...no one would object to a two year old getting a hair cut. I don't see a huge difference.

This. 100 times over.

@IncludeWomenInTheSequel

I really want to pluck my daughter's but she doesn't care and she's 10 so gets a say in her own face

When she was about 6 months old a beautician walked up to me in Starbucks and offered to wax it for her. So that was lovely.

How rude! Great that your DD doesn't care though

There's something seriously wrong with some of you people. Really.

OP I can't even believe you would consider it but you're clearly not the only one on here who thinks this is ok. How anyone would think that shaving a two year old between the eyes is a good idea is beyond me. So fucking what if anyone notices? He's a baby. DD had one and no one said a word - because most people are actually normal. It gradually disappeared by the time she was about ten. No wonder young people are obsessed with their appearance when their parents worry about shit like this.

I'd be more tempted to put up a print of Frida Kahlo, who was seen as a great beauty with her unibrow.

I wouldn't change it till he asks for it. I firmly believe that it is the things that differ from conventional beauty that makes us more charming. Like Kahlo's unibrow, or Cindy Crawfords beauty spot. Perfect barbie faces are simply boring.

When he's older, how are you going to explain why you're doing it? 'Mummy doesnt like it and thinks others will tease you' ?

Let him choose! Children dont notice these sorts of things until the end of primary school usually. He wont care. This is your insecurity not his.

Really glad my mum didnt mess around with my brows. My friends mum plucked hers from about 12 and she has recently had them tattooed back thicker, which was what she was born with!

@RunningAwaywiththeCircus

2 second whipping off of a uni brow vs 10 years of bullying for being the hairy Middle Eastern kid?

Exactly this. It's all well and good if you've never been that kid. Heated malleable wax is relatively painless and it takes a second.

I've heard DS described as "the raghead's kid" at his (posh, private) school FWIW. DH is not even Arab - people are nothing if not ignorant. Why make life easier for them?

But where does it end? Although your DS is not Arab that kind of bullying does have a racist element to it. What if he actually was Middle Eastern? Or Asian or black, should they bleach their skin to appease the bullies who tease them for their skin colour, where exactly do you draw the line? Wouldn't it be better to show bullies that children are proud of what they look like, because changing yourself in order to fit in means the bullies have won.

Depends on your priorities

Breaking down pre conceived, cultural ideas of beauty
Or
Making your kids life as easy as possible

NO!

No. No. A 1,000 times NO!

Nope one if you to it will come in thicker and darker you are also teaching your child that you don't like him the way he is

you are also teaching your child that you don't like him the way he is

Does getting your child a haircut also teach them that you don't like the way they are?

@RunningAwaywiththeCircus. I have a dc with sn...honestly, do whatever you have to do to help them fit in. Cool shoes, bags, clothes, hair styles...make life easy for them..trust me!

I am sorry you had a tough time over a unibrow. Children can be cruel. I wish you had known about Frida Kahlo so you could embrace your unibrow as a feminine trait. Your son is only 2. I think you should try not to impose your own self-consciousness on him. Try to let him be himself. If he is ever teased for it then you can do something about it with his consent.

a lot of Indian beauticians are willing to remove dark hair from children’s faces / eyebrows but you generally need to be school aged and be able to sit still and tolerate a bit of pain (sugaring, plucking or threading is the best way to remove hair from a child). At 2 I would say he’s too young. Maybe review it again when he’s starting school.

As others have said, wait until he mentions it.

I understand your feelings - when DS2 was about 10 he developed a dark moustache that made him look very 'spivvy' 'sinister' 'older', you'll know what I mean. Of a Sunday evening I put a bit of facial hair remover on it, problem solved - it disappeared anyway after a few months, so maybe just a hormone spurt.