The timing of a baby’s first haircut often coincides with a classic stage of wariness of strangers, which can make a trip to the barber tricky…
Get the hairdresser to swing the chair away from the mirror if seeing the scissors bothers her. Or let her sit on your lap. After a few years, a child’s hair thickens and can start to change color.
African hair often changes from soft to more wiry at this stage, and children born with blond, strawberryblond, light-brown, or red hair might find it darkens as they grow. Certain genes responsible for hair color can be turned on or off during early childhood and puberty, and as children grow their levels of the pigment melanin increase, which also makes hair naturally darker.
Whatever your child’s hair type, she will inevitably end up with that bane of childhood bath-times—tangled hair. Children have sensitive scalps, and combing out tangles can be painful. You can buy detangling sprays, but you can make your own, too: just mix one part of your own conditioner with three parts of water in a spray bottle, and lightly spray your child’s towel-dried hair before combing using a wide-toothed comb.
For true tangle emergencies— involving “foreign bodies” such as sticky candy or dried paint—wet the hair a little and apply baby oil, or even olive oil. Work it in with your fingers and comb through.
Eventually, regular haircuts will become a routine part of your child’s life, together with the inevitable disasters, such as your child cutting off a chunk of those angelic locks. Just remember hair will always grow back.
