Cutting baby's hair - ok to cut before a year old???

[looneytune]

I'm a childminder and one of my babies mums has asked me if she's allowed to cut his hair yet? I laughed and said of course, why not but she's been told by someone you shouldn't until they are 1! I said i'd check on here for her but i think its probably some hairdressers won't for health and safety, i think its ok for her to though.

He's 9 months btw.

Thanks

ds1 had to have his cut at 6 months or he would have looked like a victorian boy!

i've never heard of any reason not to
I would have thought that some kids just don'need there hair cut before they are one

dd1 certainy didn't but dd2 needed her fringy bit cut when she was about 9 months as it was getting in her eyes

Im a hairdresser! and i cant think of any reason why you cant cut his hair! i cut my ds2's hair when he was 8 months as he looked like a hairy hermit im sure the hairdresser will be very careful and he will look gorgeous!

great, thought that was the case and he does need it

thanks MN!

Some religions don't approve of cutting their hair until they turn one (I know someone on another board in this category but can't remember what religion it is now). I imagine the mother would know if this applied to her, though, rather than having to ask you . Personally I think would be safer with a hairdresser than doing it oneself -- am very impressed at how hairdresser manages to cut normally v wriggly DS's hair with minimal fuss and no bloodshed.

thanks, will let her know. i think she was planning to do a tiny trim of fringe when he's asleep

In Romania there's a tradition of cutting the baby's fringe at 1 year old, with a small party and objects presented to the baby on a tray and he picks up one which then "predicts" his future occupation.

My partner is hindu and we're supposed to shave all the boys hair off at a certain age, was suposed to be 15 months but now they are talking about next year and we're not allowed to cut their hair before then. I think muslims also do something similar. I'm planning to chop it before then anyway - I don't want my boys being scalped!

My mum reckons some hairdressers won't do it because it's considered unlucky. In this heat though it'd be the parents of a small sticky person with too much hair who would be unlucky in my view!

DS is 11 months and has had 3 haircuts already. I hope I haven't jinxed him I'd never heard of it being unlucky

dd3 had her first haircut at a few months old.

One of mine was born with a clump of long hair my mum told me it was unlucky to cut it before he was 1. Since everyone who bent over the pram called him she I thought i would chance the luck over giving him a complex!

Hi my son is coming up to 5mths and is badly in need of a haircut. Any ideas how to go about it do we take him to the hairdressers, use clippers, or scissors? And could the clippers be distressing for him because of the noise? Please help.Thanks

my ds had his hair cut when he was about 8 months old, and gets it cut every couple of months now as it grows in really quick, he's look like a girl if it didnt get cut

You can cut a child hair when you want. Some cultures have traditions about "when" a childs 1st hair cut is but other wise its up to parents. My SiL wiats till 1yr with her foster kids as they are African American and there is a cultural tradition to wait.
Boy has been sat on daddies lap and had clipper runover his head once a month since he was 6 months, nothing actully came off till he was 14/15 months but thats coz hes a baldy like his dad.

I was told by one hairdresser that it "shocks" the baby hair if cut before they are one. Dont know why one is the magic number though as the hair is still the same after! My latest hairdresser said this wasnt true so I suppose it's who you speak to

hope its ok as both my kids have had lots of hair. DD's was cut several times before 1 year and ds had his hair clippered a few weeks ago (at 9 months). He wasnt too bad with the clippers and dh held on to him for me. I think next time we wont go so short though as we practically scalped him - poor sod!!

I'm sure that some Muslim parents cut their child's hair when they are very new (a few days? after birth?) weigh the hair and give the same amount in gold/money to charity in thanksgiving.

I find the best implement to use when cutting small children's hair is CBeebies.

Dd was a hairy babe, we looped loads of it off at 4 months, mainly because her fringe was so long she couldn't see, the hairdresser never said anything about it being against the 'baby rules!!

My DS is 21 months and had lots of hair cuts already as its grows so quickly - but out instead down!

DS is nearly 2 and still a Loooooong way from a haircut. I looks very neat, as if has already been cut, when in fact he takes after his sister, who had her first haircut, just to neaten the front bits, when she was 3!

I shsaved my twins hair on top of their heads when they weren't quite 8 months old. I didn't know what I was doing and sheared their hair. I went against the grain (the direction or way the hair naturally grows) and in some places cut down to the scalp or root of the hair (not cutting baby's head...). Immediately, when the boys' hair started growin back in it grew in course and not "baby fine" like the rest of their hair. The hair that grew in to replace their fine baby hair felt like a man's stubbly beard hair. Instead of growing in in a downward direction as hair does, the part of their head I shaved grew in literally in a westward or horizontal direction. I feel so guilty that because of my ignorance I ruined my boys' soft, supple, beautiful baby fine hair. I look at other people's comments that it is a myth and so on and so forth, but in my experience it does somehow alter the texture of the hair at the root. My husband and I both have fine hair and the boys' hair on the back and side of their heads (the area I did not shave) is soft and fine to the touch and dark brown, yet course and darker colored on top of their heads???? Because of this their hair is two toned. You can actually see the difference in the sunlight which brings out their natural highlights in the "healthy and unmolested" part of their hair versus the top part of the hair which was shaved. I have grieved the ruination of my sons' lovely hair and feel guilty that I have ruined the look and texture - for life.

You can have changed their hair for life by cutting it, it's impossible!

hra - you can't possibly have changed the texture of your babies' hair by cutting it. Honestly - stop feeling guilty!

I have had my daughters hair cut for the last 4 months and she is one this month. Her hair is cut by a hairdesser and grows really long really quickly after a cut. She has beautiful thick glossy hair.