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We have two sons, one from Ethiopia (almost age 5) and one adopted domestically (just turned 1). My oldest son has always been petrified of the barber, like tantruming for days after a visit, so I've taken to cutting his hair at home with a pair of clippers. I have to go pretty fast since that's all he can handle. On Monday, the baby's birthday, I gave him his first cut right after cutting his brother's hair, just a quick go over with the clippers (well, a few go overs to catch everything). I was kind of proud of myself for getting the baby to sit still for it, and I'm pleased that I won't have to dig down in his hair for awhile to get out all the sand or cheese or egg or whatever else he'll put in their :-PBut I've already got a few comments about their hair, not necessarily positive. Apparently I'm supposed to be working on a hairline, especially for the baby. This totally went right over my head! I can't even seem to find anything in Google about this, all I find is info for receding hairlines. So what am I supposed to be doing? Cutting a certain way? Using a certain type of clipper? Straight shaving to form a straight hairline? I'm totally lost (and I'm not exactly up for doing too much to my 1 year old!). For the record the baby has a high hairline, at least near the temples.Any advice appreciated :)
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I am not 100% sure if this is why you are receiving comments, but yes, you are generally suppose to shave the hairs around the hairline in order to create a "clean cut" kind of look. For many AA boys, there are little hairs that grow on the forehead that may be dark in color and these are generally shaved to make a distinct hairline. On a side note - I received a stern warning from an AA father that I should NOT shave his hairline until he was older because I would cause his hairline to recede! (I am pretty sure that this is an old wives tale, but it sure did scare the crap out of me for a minute). Our AA barber always shaves along the hairline and our AA friend's sons all have their hairline shaved at their weekly (or bi-monthly) barbershop appointments.All this to say: I think it is a personal opinion or maybe a cultural opinion... but I don't think that it is the kind of thing where if you don't groom his hairline now, he will have poor hairline later. You may want to consider what is culturally relevant for him, but I don't think you have to worry that you are hindering his hairline permanently.
My son is 22 months old. I have never shaved a hairline into his head. I think his natural hairline if fine. I keep it all 1 mm in the summer and let it grow out to about 3 mm in the winter. I cut it at least once a month. I sometimes have to cut it twice a month. His hair just doesn't grow that fast. When he gets big enough to ask me for a shaved hairline I will get it done for him though.
The first barber I took my son to said he wouldn't cut a boy's hair under 2 yrs old because they needed to grow in their hairline. Well, his hair was getting rather unruly, so I called another shop and asked specifically if they do toddlers (he was about 18 mos at the time). So I got a barber who's comfortable with kids, and I asked him about the line, and he said he's too young for that, people know babies can have funky hairlines, and just wait until he's older and then he'll shave in a line for him.So, I guess it just depends? I've never had anyone say anything about my son's hairline (AA or otherwise). I just keep it real short in the summer, and I've let it grow a bit right now. I'm thinking by the time he's 3, he might have filled in to have a line.
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