Why does mil want to cut babies hair?

[alesha123445]

My baby girls 10months old and doesn't have much hair, it's pretty short but enough to cover her hair in brown.
My mil keeps bringing up cutting, saying it will make it grow quicker. I know that's a myth and she should too as she's a hairdresser. She doesn't cross many boundaries but when it comes to cutting it she seems very determined? Why?
Today we saw each other from a distance and this is how the convo went
Mil tells me about how cutting it will make it grow faster, I said nah not yet when its longer and needs shaping and trimming.
She tells me about how I should look online to see pictures of a baby they cut, how it went really long.
I continued to say no.
Mil started talking to baby saying next time she's round she will cut it
I said No.
She talks to the baby saying how mummy won't let me cut your hair
I found her really rude. She's never usually like this.. what's with the hair obsession?

I'd say it's a generational thing. Oldies just will not believe the hair cutting thing is untrue, all older women seem to be obsessed with it.

Also - is MIL of a different ethnicity to you? My Indian MIL was obsessed with us shaving DS head completely bald around the age of 1 as it's a Hindu tradition. I refused though, and made it clear to DH I would not tolerate anyone doing it behind my back.

When she's talking to the baby about it maybe counteract with something like "looks like we can't trust granny alone with you then can we? What a shame" but direct it at the baby not MIL, and with a lovely sickly sweet smile! I'd also mention it to DH.

Is it a myth? I used to think so as my 1st DD never had a hair cut and had beautiful long hair so I wouldn’t cut my 2nd DDs hair which was essentially a thin balding mullet, then when I finally did it started growing so much better, thicker & longer. My hairdresser says it dose grown better. She has a little girl the same age as mine and would regularly cut her little girls hair, it was seeing this that made me relent.

I don’t agree with you MILs actions but she may be right about the hair. You could always piss her off and get DDs hair cut somewhere else and say o look I took your advice.

My MIL did this! But my daughter was the opposite, with loads of hair from birth. Literally every time we saw he she would ask what we were going to do with her hair/when we were cutting her hair etc. etc. It drove me mad. I could never understand why you would want or need to cut a babies hair, especially when it looked lovely.

It looks thicker if you cut off thinner straggly bits, so that more ends are the same length. That's all.

Cutting hair does nothing to help it grow, make it thicker, make it grow longer. Hair is a dead thing, like nails! Cutting your nails doesn't make them grow longer does it?

Hair can appear thicker when cut as you have blunt end that has been cut rather than a softer natural end (like when you shave your legs or wax your legs the difference to the texture is very noticeable).

Tell you MIL it is not anyones business when she has her hair cut and you will do it when you feel it needs it. If she carries on maybe threaten to take her to a different hairdresser and that might shut her up.

I'd never heard this until a couple of years ago when I was at my friend/neighbour having a cup of tea and she said she'd just shaved off all her daughters hair (she was around 1ish) and I was stunned then a few weeks later another neighbour walked past my house with her young daughter with all her hair shaved off! I'd never heard of doing it and it's not something I'd do, surly it just grows when it grows!

I hope you took note and made the decision not to leave them alone. Mil has no rights to your baby's bloody hair!

You need to make it absolutely clear to her that she is under no circumstances allowed to cut your baby's hair without permission. It's up to YOU when you think it's long enough to be cut.

When she's talking to the baby about it maybe counteract with something like "looks like we can't trust granny alone with you then can we? What a shame" but direct it at the baby not MIL, and with a lovely sickly sweet smile!

Don't do this! Horribly passive aggressive. Speak directly to your MIL and say "Please drop it. I am not cutting her hair, so stop mentioning it". Don't use your baby as a cipher to communicate with her. It's childish and silly.