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Parenting

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Original poster

Should fathers shave their beards for their baby?

27 replies

mamamazzini · 21/09/2011 21:56

Mil insists that beards are unhygienic and too rough on a baby's skin.

I would think it's unhygienic if you've got a beard like Mr. Twit's, but surely if you're personal hygiene is ok, the beard would be ok? And a grown beard always feels softer to me than stubbly skin.

Does Mil have some basis for her anti-beard stance or am I right to stand up for my beardy man?

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StellaAndFries · 21/09/2011 21:58

Your Mil sounds random to me.

eaglewings · 21/09/2011 21:58

Is she for real?

DH had a beard (clean and short) when both of our youngest were born

meditrina · 21/09/2011 22:02

I can't think of any reasonable basis whatsoever.

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Original poster

mamamazzini · 21/09/2011 22:11

It does seem pretty random - surely beardy men have been fathering children since the beginning of time! She says the same thing every time we see her - it's getting a bit tiresome!

OP posts:

butterflyexperience · 21/09/2011 22:21

Just slobber her with beardy kisses, that'll teach her

WhereTheWildThingsWere · 21/09/2011 22:24

Tell her you are gong to grow one too.

Or that you think that if dp has to shave his beard off, then she should tackle her 'tache

UsingMainlySpoons · 21/09/2011 22:26

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

AngelDog · 21/09/2011 22:53

20 m.o. DS does give DH more cuddles & rubbing his face against DH's when he's shaved though.

SerenaJoy · 21/09/2011 23:02

Weird thing for the MIL to be fixated upon. Is she just using this as a way to get him to shave because SHE doesn't like the beard?

I'd love it if DH grew a beard but he won't do it, the big spoilsport. 3 month old DS does make some funny faces when he gets stubbly kisses from Daddy though

TastyMuffins · 21/09/2011 23:05

Is she going to ask Father Christmas to shave too?

Avantia · 21/09/2011 23:10

My dear Dad had a beard from the time I was born until he shaved it off when I was 21 yrs !

I think I survived !

plumtart · 22/09/2011 08:43

i think she doesnt really like the beard herself

shes talking rubbish, obviously before gilette men have had beards for 1000s years

TrillianAstra · 22/09/2011 08:48

Sounds like a great grandparent your baby has there, one who will use but it's better for the baby to try to make you do things that they want.

SheCutOffTheirTails · 22/09/2011 08:48

The new-Daddy beard (even among men who are normally clean shaven) is a venerable tradition, not to be disrupted by MILs with weird ideas about hygiene.

AuntieMonica · 22/09/2011 08:55

honestly, your MIL is blowing out of her arse. she probably doesn't like her little boy having a beard, i've never heard such shite.

Cyclebump · 22/09/2011 09:01

DP has a beard, as does my dad. DS is 24 weeks and LOVES their beards. He even strokes the chins of men he's not met before and pulls a sad face if there's no beard/stubble to be found. It's hilarious!

Bartimaeus · 22/09/2011 09:08

My dad has always had a beard. My mum said I would smile broadly at any man in the street who had a beard .

I have asked DH not to let his stubble grow too much once DS arrives (11 days til due date!) but only because it irritates my skin when he kisses me with stubble, so I imagine it won't be great for the baby. Beard would be different though as they're softer than stubble.

Our friend's DS (aged 3) was really funny this summer though. He was bugging me to be picked up and kissed (not easy when 7 months pregnant!) so I told him to go and give his dad a kiss instead, to which he replied "eugh no! He's all prickly!" (several days of holiday stubble...)

Pudding2be · 22/09/2011 09:16

When I was small my dad shaved his beard and it really upset me. I was in floods if tears because he didn't look like my dad anymore

Bartimaeus · 22/09/2011 09:18

pudding my dad once shaved his beard off (years before I was born) and my mum hated it! Refused to kiss him until he grew it back again.

i've never seen him without a beard - just too weird to imagine

NoTeaForMe · 22/09/2011 12:33

My Dad has always had a beard. He shaved it off once when I was a teenager and all of us hated it (he loved it actually!!) and we've all made him promise never to do it again! He just doesn't look like him!

My daughter likes to stroke and pull at his beard she finds it fascinating. He has had some children in the past be upset by him but that was children who he didn't know and I can't see a child being scared of a beard if it's one of the first faces they see!!

I think your MiL is being silly, what does she think cavemen did?!?!

sjuperwolef · 22/09/2011 12:36

my mates oh had a shave for their dds first birthday party - ppl round, look presentable type thing - his dd wouldnt go to him all day or week for that matter till his furry face came back poor wee thing hates her dad when he's had a shave. he was really upset by it as she is such a daddys girl :(

HoHoLaughingMonster · 22/09/2011 12:45

But how can he give your child a decent chin pie without a beard?

Tell me that.

PrettyCandles · 22/09/2011 12:49

Your MIL is a sandwich short of a picnic.

Nothing whatsoever wrong with a well-kept beard. No harm at all to a baby.

My dc had hours of pleasure digging their fists into my dad's beard and tugging...you could say they bonded well with him

Original poster

mamamazzini · 22/09/2011 14:18

TrillianAstra you've summed it up nicely. Can't wait to hear what other things she thinks are 'better for the baby'!

HoHoLaughing, do excuse my ignorance but what's a chin pie? Sounds like we might want one!

OP posts:

camdancer · 22/09/2011 14:36

My Mum has never seen my Dad without a beard, let alone me or my DC's. Mum says him shaving would be grounds for divorce! My DC's love it. It's all white like Father Christmas.

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