When to cut a baby girl's hair?

[rachaelsscraps]

My daughter just turned 2 and has these adorable curls all over- well, it flips out and curls naturally at the ends, sort of reminding me of the Farrah Fawcett 'do (just shorter and not as thick)... but now that it's hot outside, her hair is always in her face and sweaty along her neck. Her bangs are about at the bottom of her eyes, but we brush them to the sides and it looks adorable... but her hair could probably use a little cut. It was easy deciding when to cut our boy's hair for the first time, but when do you decide when to cut a baby girl's hair for the first time? I'm really loving that her hair is getting thicker and longer- it's about to her shoulders but with the heat... Should I go for it? After all, it will make for some cute first hair cut photos, right? (funny how us scrapbookers think of this right away lol!)

ETA: She won't let us put her hair up, she'll only leave it up for 30 minutes at most..

[Leila]

When you want to cut it. Or you could just put it up in pig tails? IDK, I have boys.

[MamaBee]

I only have a boy, too... and when I cut his hair for the first time, his curls disappears... I guess that happened with me when mom cut my hair for the first time I probably was 2 or so.

[rachaelsscraps]

Oh no, I can't let her curls go away! I guess it's inevitable though. She does look really cute with pigtails but she won't leave them in. She gets curious about the hairbands and pulls them out. I just feel really bad because her head gets really hot, even when the AC is on.

[Jenn Barrette]

I would just keep trying the pigtails. She will eventually get used to them.

Of course we also didn't cut more than Ava's bangs until she was...four. Lilly turns 3 in a few days and we have never cut her hair at all. LOL So maybe my advice is a little biased.

[cardinalskate]

My DD's a bit over 3 and we haven't cut her hair yet. We do ponytails (or pigtails) everyday. She didn't keep them in at first, either, but she got used to them. My DD has these amazing curls and I'm afraid to cut them!

[jessica31876]

I gave my daughter little trims when she was little trying to get her hair to grow. It would not go past her neck. It did not help. She was bald for about 18 months (not bald bald but very little hair). It took her until pre-k for her to get it past her shoulders then her grandma took her without permission and got a pixie cut. Grrrr. So my advice is just let it grow!! Keep a brush with you all the time so when she pulls it down you can put it back up. She will eventually keep it up

[Lizzy257]

My 4.5 yr old has curly hair and has never had it cut! I would keep trying to put it up, it's just recently that she's leaving it. I just took my almost 3 yr old DS for his first real haircut last week and i'm still sad his curls are gone, lol (he's only had the ends trimmed before now).

[pewtertm]

Who says you have to cut her hair? LOL...Rachel's almost 6 and she's just had dead ends cut from her hair...that's about it. Well, she gets her bangs cut often, and a few months ago we had the rest shaped up with some layers...it's made it SOOOOO much easier to brush in the mornings.
We do a lot of pigtails and braids...very rarely is all of her hair loose. Not sure how long we'll let it grow...she wants Rapunzel hair, but we're not going THAT long!!

[scrapperjade]

We didn't cut my DD's hair until she was just passed 3. Not even a tiny trim. She had gorgeous ringlets, and now they're gone (cries). I didn't want to cut her hair, but because of the curls, it took a good 25-30 minutes to brush it out every single time (and tying it up didn't help). She'd get these huge tangles, almost matty, you know? More than once I had to cut a piece out of her hair because no amount of conditioner & spray could untangle them! I was sad, but her hair only takes a couple minutes now!

Before:


After:

[adrianka]

This is maybe totally off, but a friend of mine has a teenage daughter and never allowed her to cut it too much (only the occasional trimming) - she has this theory from her Grandma that to be able to grow pretty long hair, it shouldn't be cut short before you're 15.

My friend kind of thinks it might be true, as she herself had her hair cut when she was a kid and was never able to grow really good-quality long hair, while her daughter's is really pretty (she's 13). She says she has no problem with her daugher to wear it short for the rest of her life should she wish to, but she wants her to have the choice (to wear it long later on if she wants to).

I find it an interesting theory. And it applies to me and my Mum - my hair was cut when I was a kid and I couldn't never grow long hair in a satisfactory way, while my Mum wore her hair long until she was 15 and she always had gorgeous long hair.

That said, there's a huge chance it might be bullsh*t, but I would never underestimate the power of Eastern European Grandma wisdom. :-)

[rachaelsscraps]

Well, I know I don't have to cut her hair, I'm just trying to think of ways to cool her down in the summer since she won't keep her hair up I'll keep trying the pig tails and pony tails for now to see if she'll eventually get used to them and keep them in.

[emmasmommy]

we first got my youngest dd's cut when she was about 18 mo. it was sorta curly but not super curly and i just wanted to get it so it was evened out and not so well, weird looking. she had a mullet. lol

we cut it and it's even curlier now :/

[nikkiARNGwife]

Ella's 2 1/2 and hers has never been cut..it's down past her shoulder blades now but she's pretty good about wearing ponytails..in fact if it's in her face and bothering her she'll come ask me to put it up. She doesn't have any natural curl though...she got her daddy's straight hair.

How about trying something like this...I do this with Ella's often and it stays up longer and better than a regular pony..It might be harder for her to pull out too.

[scrapperjade]

Nikki - that's so cute! Do you take the top front hair, put it in a pony, then use the pony tail & all the rest of her hair & tie it in piggies?

[nikkiARNGwife]

Thanks! ...yes I pull it up on the sides just the front and then I split that little pony in two and combine it with the rest of her hair on each side. It helps hold those little wispy strands in front stay put longer

[AmyG]

Hmm, El had her hair cut at 14 months. After that her hair started growing in so thick! Some pics of Big Red:



After:



Few months later (we let it grow long after her first haircut)



Recent:

[mrshobbes]

There's this old wives' tale here that if you cut your baby's hair really short (as in, close cropped), the hair will grow back thicker. I have no idea if it really works, except that my mom did it for me and my sister and we have crazy thick hair (not just a lot of hair, but the strands themselves are thick).

[jessica31876]

oh and I wouldnt worry about it not being able to grow long if you cut it. My daughters hair grows so fast now that she had it cut almost shoulder length (which made me cry cause I love her hair long) and within six months it was halfway down her back. Mine grows slow but is very thick and I have had it cut short many times as a young girl.

[pewtertm]

*sigh* after my earlier post...I have to share what Rachel just did. According to her, she didn't want bangs anymore. Well, girl, now they have to grow IN and then OUT. Seriously, I'm seeing scalp.



Mama not happy.

[color of my heart]

Originally Posted by Jenn Barrette

I would just keep trying the pigtails. She will eventually get used to them.

Of course we also didn't cut more than Ava's bangs until she was...four. Lilly turns 3 in a few days and we have never cut her hair at all. LOL So maybe my advice is a little biased.

mom did this. when i pulled them out, she put them back in. and i got used to them. then again, i had like, no hair until i was two. so i was a bit older when they did this method.

my brother had the curls. my mom let them stay for ages, and then finally my dad got all mad and told her she had to cut them off. she cried when she took him for his first cut.

[Kara]

I'm in the same boat. Maia is 21 months and her hair is constantly in her eyes. She hates anything in her hair, but she's starting to leave barrettes and pigtails in now for about 1/2 hour; before, she'd pull them out immediately. I'm going to keep trying. I can't bear to cut her hair!

[mariewilcox]

How do you feel about bangs to keep it out of her eyes anyway. DD went through a phase of always pulling out her ponytails also but got over it after a bit.

Cheyanne is blessed with thick thick hair - even at 2 months premature she had so much hair and tight tight curls. That said, I did have to start cutting her bangs when she was about 2 because it kept getting in her eyes and drove me and her crazy. The back was never cut until she was 5-1/2 - it was down to her butt and she complained that it got in the toilet so she wanted to cut it. She decided to cut it up to just below her shoulders and give it to Locks of Love. I have to admit that I wanted her to have long hair because my mom always gave me pixie cuts (until about 5th grade), and I was always mistaken for a boy I always swore if I had a girl I'd let her grow it - LOL. She's had many styles over the past 6 years - even had the back chopped into a 1-inch spikey style with the sides and front in a swing toward the face. Now it's about halfway down her back again, which actually is easier for her with all the sports she does.

[kscwgirl]

I let abby's grow for a long while.> I can't remember for sure. I had J's cut finally when he was almost one and cried and cried.

My niece turned 5 in March and has never had a hair cut. Ever.

[MandaT]

2 was our magical girl number, & 1 for the boy.
He's 15 months & has had as many & more haircuts than the girls... they are 4 & 2