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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Have you/would you ever shave your baby's head?
My crazy SIL did this to my nephew - he's almost 10 mo.
He has a big round head and sticky-out ears and now he just looks ridiculous.
My mom is beside herself livid, I just think he looks dumb but it's their kid, haha.
Is this a common thing? SIL kept saying that all her friends have done it and it's totally no big deal, it'll grow back in a month or so (it's taken him 10 mo. to grow the patches he had!) No one I know with a baby has done this.
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Re: Have you/would you ever shave your baby's head?
Is she Indian by any chance? It is traditional to do this in some cultures. Otherwise, meh. Her kid. Cheaper than a haircut I guess.
Mundan Ceremony
The child usually receives his/her first mundan in either the first year or the third year of age. A priest is called to conduct the rituals according to the traditions and a barber is called to shave off the hair. The priest recited sacred hymns and chants and shaves a part of the head. The barber then shaves the entire head, sometimes leaving a clump of hair at the back of the head. Some of this hair is offered in the sacred rivers in holy cities like Haridwar and Varanasi. To cool down the head and to cure nicks and cuts, a paste of turmeric and sandalwood is sometimes applied on the entire head. Thereafter, a child may be shaved now and then or never, depending on the desire of that particular family.
There is a significant reason as to why the head is shaved in such an elaborate ritualistic way. According to the Hindu beliefs, the hair present at birth is supposed to represent unwanted traits from the past lives. In order to make sure that the child has no undesirable qualities of the past birth in this life, the head is shaved off to ensure a new beginning and a fresh start. Medically, it is said that shaving off the hair stimulates the cells and improves blood circulation to the brain. Some also believe that this gives the child a long life.
I've never heard of doing that. I thought most moms put off the first hair cut so they could save a lock.
Persian. Oh I couldn't care less, just seems odd - I've never heard of anyone doing this - it wasn't like he needed a haircut, it was just because it was patchy (from sleeping and rubbing off) and she wanted it all to grow in full.
You mean shaved bald or given a buzz cut?
While it seems odd, it isn't something I would get worked up about. Is the kid happy? It really doesn't matter if he has hair or not.
Me and my siblings all had this done to us (three girls, one boy) - it is prevalent in several cultures.
Yes, we looked silly when we were young and bald, but we all do have thick hair that grows very fast, so maybe there is something to this custom. No way to really prove that it was due to us having shaved heads or just genetics, but all the families I know who've done this too have kids who've grown up with thick, fast-growing hair.
<a href="http://www.thenest.com/?utm_source=ticker&utm_medium=HTML&utm_campaign=tickers" title="Home DI've heard this and it goes out more evenly.
My Indian mom and all the aunties swear by this too.
Then she may be doing some version of the Mundan. My mom (who is constantly trying to get me to do this to my l'il guy) is from a race of people originating in Persia (Gujaratis). The info I posted talked about the Hindi religion, but my mom is Zoroastrian so I don't think it's limited to Hindus.
I also have ridiculously thick and fast-growing hair, so maybe there is something to it!
Do we have the same DH? Sometimes I fear leaving DS home with DH when I'm not there. I think I need to hide the dog's clippers.
Gotcha - she's not really religious I think she's just doing it because others are and she didn't like it patchy. Again, her kid, she can do what she wants with him!
His hair is too cute! Don't let her cut it!
My mom did all kinds of research online and said she couldn't find a thing about it. I also have very thick fast-growing hair and I didn't get my first haircut until I was much older - I had a curly baby mullet my mom refused to cut.
Yeah, I think the line between tradition/old wives' tales/religious ceremony can get really blurred in American generations. I had a naming ceremony for my kiddo, but I'm not religious at all -- just an excuse to show him off to the extended fam (gratuitous picture in post warning)
I just want to add that there's a Chinese head shaving ritual for babies, too. Dr.g's probably right that this could easily be a cultural Persian thing.
H is obsessed with this, he is already planning pink or blue mohawks for our future children. I won't enable it, but I won't freak out if he does it either.
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