Why can’t you cut the hair of a child under one year old? Is it possible or impossible to cut a child’s hair under one year of age: signs and common sense Why children under 1 are not cut?

The birth of a child, especially the first, is a huge event in people's lives. Young parents, as a rule, are very afraid of doing something wrong, of harming the baby in some way. Moreover, this fear sometimes becomes irrational, so modern and educated people suddenly begin to believe in omens.

For example, there is a belief that it is strictly forbidden for a baby to cut his hair before his first birthday, but at the age of one, a child, regardless of his gender, should have his head shaved. Are these signs true and why can’t children under one year of age have their hair cut? Let's try to answer these questions.

Some babies are born completely bald, but many newborns have hair. Thus, hair begins to grow even before birth, while the baby is in the mother’s womb. Even those babies who at first glance have no hair are in fact not at all bald; if you look more closely, you will notice that there is translucent fluff on the head. Baby hairs are very thin, soft and fragile. Gradually, the baby fluff falls out, and coarser hair appears in its place. But still an “intermediate” option, truly “adult” hair grows only closer to the age of puberty.

The thickness of hair, as well as its color and structure, is determined genetically, that is, transmitted from mom and dad or more distant ancestors. Children's hair color is unstable. Having been born a “scorching brunette,” the baby may lighten up after a while, and touching white curls may turn into straight light brown or brown hair as they grow older.

Read also: How to teach a child to feed himself with a spoon? Adviсe experienced mothers and dad

Folk signs

Why is it considered wrong to cut the hair of children under one year old? Perhaps this belief has come to our world since pagan times. The fact is that most pagans attach great importance to hair, considering it a kind of “antenna” that provides “communication with higher powers.” A baby under one year old is very vulnerable, so it is believed that cutting his hair deprives him of “family support” and weakens his health.

Signs often change somewhat over time. Therefore, in some regions, “knowledgeable” grandmothers can explain that by cutting a baby’s hair under the age of one year, parents are “cutting off his luck,” so he will not be happy in life.

Naturally, parents do not want to harm their beloved baby, therefore, even well-educated people prefer to “not take risks” and not go against the opinion of their grandmothers.

But the tradition of cutting a child’s hair at the age of one is associated with the fact that the baby has already crossed a certain milestone in his life. In addition, it is believed that in place of the shaved down, thick and beautiful hair. Which parent doesn’t want their child to have luxurious hair, especially if the child is a girl, and thick braids have always been one of the main feminine adornments.

What do the experts say?

But the opinion of doctors with folk signs does not match on this issue. Pediatricians do not believe that cutting a baby’s hair can cause him any harm, much less deprive him of luck in life.

Read also: How to wean a child from swaddling? Do I need to swaddle?

Another thing is that a baby’s scalp is very delicate and thin. Moreover, on the head there are fontanelles - spaces between the bones of the skull. A newborn baby has 6 fontanelles. The first five close very quickly, in the first weeks of the baby's life. But the sixth one often overgrows only by the year (and sometimes later).

It is clear that under such conditions, cutting a child’s hair is still a risk of causing injury to the child. Moreover, it is impossible to explain to the baby so that he sits quietly and does not fidget.

However, if the hairs grow too quickly, you can carefully trim the ends. Especially on the bangs, since if the hair falls into the eyes, the child may have vision problems. Therefore, too long bangs will need to be either constantly combed back or carefully trimmed so that they do not get into the eyes.

As for the obligatory clipper haircut for a child every year, there is no point in this procedure. Density, color and structure of hair are qualities that are inherited. The number of hair follicles is established before birth. Therefore, you should not count on the fact that a “zero” haircut will suddenly be able to increase their number.

Of course, among your acquaintances there will definitely be someone who will tell you that at one time he cut his son or daughter bald, and the child grew luxurious hair. Indeed, at about a year old, a child’s baby fuzz is replaced with baby hair, and after cutting it grows more evenly. However, cutting hair does not improve the quality of hair.

Oh, and life is hard for superstitious people who have recently become parents. Sit, remember where to put the water after bathing the baby, where to hang the diapers washed in the evening, how to get around the mirror, and so on. Young mothers and fathers attach special importance to their child’s hair. And here the grandmothers are catching up. It turns out to be just a sacred sect of baby hair.

So, let's discuss whether it is possible to cut children under one year old. We will also analyze signs and superstitions.

Won't talk

One of the ancient beliefs says that a child under one year old should not cut his hair. They say if you symbolically cut the baby’s tongue, it means he will start speaking very late.

However, vague doubts plague me. The baby will start talking early if you constantly work with him. Of course, not full-time activities, after all, he’s a baby. And here are nursery rhymes, poems, short tales will be very appropriate. And in general, ordinary conversation gives the child more opportunities for development. For mothers who do not speak to their children, they begin to talk by the age of 3. What does early haircut have to do with it if the parents do not communicate with the baby by voice?

My child, at 1 year and 5 months, rattled off ditties and spoke quite well. Although they cut his hair to zero at 6 months, he was too shaggy. My hair got in the way, got into my eyes, ears, and got tangled in my fingers. And all because his father-in-law chatted with him all day long. He didn’t stop talking for a minute. Songs, ditties, rhymes, fairy tales, jokes. It happened that like an akyn: what I see is what I sing. And the haircut didn't affect it.

Interesting. There are many signs that require prohibitions on most actions with the baby. And some of them are somehow related to speech. Remember that to a large extent everything depends on the parents themselves and the child’s environment. But not from “one grandmother told me” or “my great-grandmother told me a belief.”

Will be very scared

Or you can carefully trim your child’s hair with good hairdressing scissors. If you distract the baby at the same time, don’t shout, but make him laugh, then most likely the haircut will go completely unnoticed. The choice is yours.

Interesting. The child will be much easier to bear the first haircut if everything is arranged in the form of a game. Just don’t talk about “he doesn’t understand yet.” Maybe he doesn't understand. But this does not give parents the right to treat the baby with disdain.

Will grow up unhealthy

The next superstition says that you can’t cut a child’s hair under one year old, because you’ll be cutting off your health. Sorry, this is some kind of obscurantism. Well, yes, but an early haircut will steal the baby’s health. And the fact that hygiene is more crucial, proper feeding, psychological development and other aspects, all this is not taken into account.

After all, the main thing is not to cut your hair! Now let's look at it from the other side. Situation:

• your child has long hair

Let's compare these three points, what do we get as a result? Right. Heat rash, irritation, spots on delicate skin, a whining and capricious child. Hey mommies, what will you choose? Will I accept or the health of my child?

Or another option. Has grown long bangs, is eye-catching. Well, is it really impossible to cut it to stop spoiling the baby’s eyesight? Or should we strictly wait until the year is reached and let the baby suffer?

Interesting. Ask any priest of the Christian church. And each of them will say that a child under one year old can be cut if the hair causes discomfort to the child or threatens his health.

Poverty will torture you

They say that it is impossible to cut a child's hair before he is one year old, because he will grow up poor. Yes Yes. Our people are accustomed to blaming anyone and anything for everything, but not themselves.

Sorry, but there is no causal relationship between “early haircut” and “poverty”. Wealth comes to the smart and hardworking. Sometimes to the evil and cunning. And who knows which of the current millionaires still hasn’t had their hair cut before they’ve been a year old?

Interesting. There has not been a single large-scale study on the connection between infant haircuts before one year of age and subsequent well-being. Independent experts also refuse to conduct such experiments. The thing is that too many influencing factors will have to be taken into account. And this is too expensive research that does not give any practical results.

Your hair will be bad

What else threatens us? folk wisdom? She categorically forbids cutting a child's hair under one year old, because the hair will not grow well. And so that the child will amaze everyone with a chic mane in the future, the ritual of cutting the baby’s hair should be carried out strictly at the age of 1 year.

There is a certain rational grain in this. Because if you carelessly cut your baby’s hair, for example, with a clipper or, God forbid, with a razor, you can damage the hair follicles. The fact is that they are still located very close to the surface of the skin. Therefore, if you decide to cut your child’s hair under one year old, do it very carefully.

Interesting. Did you know that no type of haircut at any age affects the quantity, density and thickness of hair. What mom and dad passed down by inheritance will grow on the head. The baby's haircut has nothing to do with it. Her Majesty genetics is responsible for the hair and its condition.

Is it possible to cut children under one year old: signs and superstitions are chosen by every parent themselves. If the hair bothers the baby, then stop listening to old wives' tales and cut his hair. Why is the child suffering?

If a child lives calmly with long curls, they don’t bother him, then don’t bother him again with your hairdressing troubles. Let there be hair.

Video: baby's first haircut

One of the pressing questions of young parents is: is it possible to cut a child’s hair before he is one year old? What answer do mom and dad want to hear - folk (i.e. signs and superstitions) or medical? Let's look at both, maybe in this case a compromise will be found.

The roots will show why you can’t cut them before you’re a year old

In the first case, we can recall Samson and his wife Delilah, who cut off her husband’s hair at night, thereby completely depriving the ancient ruler of his strength.

The superstition that a child cannot be cut is rooted in the depths of not only ancient but also eastern culture, where a man’s braid against the background of a shaved skull was considered a sign of distinction and grew from birth.

The transitional stage from “paganism” to knowledge can be called misconceptions that have turned into signs:

• if you cut a child’s hair when he’s young, his hair will be stronger and more voluminous, which means healthier and more beautiful;
• if you cut a child under one year of age, his hair color will change (become darker or lighter);
• Some recommend cutting your child's hair in the summer to avoid irritation on the skin.

There are a lot of similar “grandmother signs” among the people, and this despite the fact that radically opposite statements can come from the mouths of the same people.

General concepts about cutting babies

From the very beginning it is necessary to delineate the boundaries between a haircut and a trim, the first implies the complete removal of hair from the head, which for quite adequate reasons forbidden.

Why you can’t cut hair for children under one year old:

• there is a risk of damage to an unovergrown fontanel;
• possible damage to the hair follicles, leading to hair thinning and asymmetrical thinning;
• there is a fear of causing injury to the scalp (cuts), which will result in at least a scar, and at maximum – a place where hair does not grow at all;
• The psychological component cannot be discounted, because for children with an unformed psyche, a haircut is a powerful stress (as a result: hysterics, sleep disturbances, neuroses and mental developmental disorders).

If we talk about a haircut as about shortening hair, then this is a way out of the situation. Haircuts recommended by pediatricians in cases, When:

• hair “fits” into the eyes and ears (a purely hygienic procedure);
• comes summer period(to make the head feel lighter and the skin to “breathe”);
• for certain diseases (individually for medical reasons).

Tools and Techniques

There is no fundamental difference in the use of manual and electric tools, but there is an opinion that the noise of an electric machine can scare the baby or cause some discomfort, after which whims will begin.

Majority professional hairdressers, specializing in children's haircuts, prefer to work with mechanical hand tools, avoiding sharp objects (razors, machine tools).

There are no guidelines for cutting young children's hair, so each case is individual. The only thing that almost always remains the same is game uniform with maximum interest of the child (watching cartoons or reading fairy tales, poems in mother’s voice).

Special cases

Each baby is born with a certain amount of "fuzz" on its head. For some it barely comes through, but for others it looks like a full head of hair. In such cases, it is necessary to approach haircutting with common sense:

• if there is nothing special to cut, then there is no need to think about it (no need to look for a problem from scratch);
• Too much hair is not a reason to sound the alarm, because in 99.9% of cases it will fall out and change (along with color and texture).

Cutting girls' hair is the most problematic, since hair growth is accompanied by more frequent and active washing. IN this issue A haircut can only be used to straighten bangs or to style a hairstyle (for children under one year of age, braids are not an issue).

Moms' opinion

The opinions of mothers differ radically, because everyone chooses for themselves what seems most reasonable to them. Someone takes a risk and shaves the baby with a machine (under the influence sun rays or when wearing thick, warm hats, allergic reactions may develop).

Another option, when the option that you can’t cut your hair for up to a year wins, mothers try to get out of the situation with grown hair with the help of bobby pins and small “crabs.” And this is also not good, because the scalp does not receive enough oxygen and becomes clogged. sebaceous glands and there is a high probability of lice.

The question of whether or not to cut the hair of a child under one year old becomes relevant in a family where a baby has recently been born. Parents are faced with a lot of problems: in the heat, due to the “powerful hair”, the baby’s head becomes covered in perspiration, long bangs get into the eyes, the back of the baby’s head becomes bald, and in other places the strands can be made into ponytails.

Old Believers advise you to be patient with cutting your baby’s curls until he is 40 days old.

There is an irresistible desire to cut off the extra curls, but the ban on not doing this until the baby reaches the one-year mark is frightening. It is worth understanding how this sign appeared in order to make the right choice for yourself.

About children's hair

Some babies have very sparse and soft hair, while others are born with a thick head of hair. Accordingly, we cannot “cut everyone with the same brush.” Therefore, if long locks of hair bother the baby, they need to be cut. But Old Believers advise you to be patient with cutting your baby’s curls until he is 40 days old.

Trimmed baby hairs up to one year old are considered “magical” (they can restore health to their little owner), so many mothers do not throw away the trimmed strands.

What else is done with a child’s cut hair:

1. The cut hair is rolled into a bundle and stored in a medallion - this is how it turns out to be a talisman for the baby and mother.
2. In some countries (for example, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia), strands cut from a child are placed between the pages of a thick book (secular or religious). It is believed that this will make the offspring smart, since the curls have feedback from the person.
3. To prevent the use of children's hair by magicians (who can cause damage) or birds (who use any material to make nests), cut strands are burned or buried.
4. In order to attract wealth and success to a child, hair clippings are buried in an anthill, in a garden bed or in the forest.
5. Some experts on omens recommend burying baby hairs at a crossroads.

Many modern mothers They don’t know the old rituals, so they cut their hair and store the “baby fluff” as family heirloom. For this purpose, there are special envelopes and bags that are attached to a children's album with photographs and other artifacts.

Signs and superstitions about haircuts up to a year

Not only modern esotericists, but also the ancient Slavs believed that hair has the strongest energy. They even called the curls “braids” from the word “space”.

Hair was a link between man and heavenly forces. Maybe for this reason in ancient times everyone walked with long strands, regardless of gender and age.

Among many nations, it was not customary for girls to cut their hair from the moment they were born until marriage. Boys went without a haircut only during the most vulnerable period of their lives.

In the old days, many children were born, and they often died in infancy. Poor living conditions and lack of medical care. This is how the belief arose that during the first year of life, the baby’s soul “looks closely” at the family in order to leave its relatives if it does not like them.

Shortening a child's hair before one year of age was associated with tongue cutting

To prevent mothers from being “killed” by grief for a long time, folk wisdom did not recommend that they become too attached to their babies at this time. That's why it was forbidden to cut children under 1 year of age. tonsure one year old baby symbolized his full “infusion” into the family.

In addition, gender differences emerged in one-year-old children. For example, girls did not have their hair cut short (the strands were cut off on four sides). It was believed that a haircut would interfere with a woman's happiness.

And the boys had their hair cut very short, after which they put them on a horse and allowed them to hold a dagger or other weapon.

Superstitions about why children under 1 year of age should not have their hair cut:

• There will be problems with speech. Shortening the hair of a child under one year of age was associated with tongue cutting. Superstitious people claim that a baby cut prematurely will not be able to talk.
• Trimming your hair will cause great fear. Indeed, babies do not distinguish between hair, which has the ability to grow, and other parts of the body. Little children perceive themselves as a single whole. It is no coincidence that children scream with tears during the haircut process. No one likes cutting off an arm or leg - and this is exactly how a baby perceives a procedure involving scissors. And after a haircut, a child feels uncomfortable - just like an adult who has had his hair cut shorter than he would like. Many nations do not cut children's hair until they are three years old.
• Need will torment you. Ancient people believed that cutting the nails and hair of a child under one year old attracted poverty to him. The strand was allowed to be cut only during baptism.
• Health will deteriorate.
• The hair will be bad.

Regarding the last point, there was also an opposite opinion: the sooner you cut your child’s hair, the better it will be.

Another question: whether it is possible and whether it is necessary to cut a child’s hair under one year old haunts the parents of boys. It is worth looking at the root of this tradition. If we ignore the difficult period when children's haircuts were done for hygienic reasons (to make it easier to fight head lice), the meaning of the ritual becomes clear - this is initiation into men.

The ritual of cutting a child's hair at one year old was invented to mark the transition from infancy to childhood. After all, at this time the baby begins to walk. So they trim the hairs so that they do not “pull” the baby down, do not get underfoot, and do not interfere with taking the first steps.

In order to cut a child's hair at one year old, peasant families had a whole ritual of the first haircut. It was performed on Maundy Thursday or on the anniversary of the child’s life. The cutting took place in the presence of the midwife who delivered the baby and the godparents.

The child was seated in the middle of the room on a sheep's skin, and the scissors were given to the most respected guest or the eldest man in the family. Today, the right to cut off the first symbolic lock is granted to godparents.

In ancient Slavic culture, forced shaving was a punishment for serious offenses

Parents sought to protect the baby from the influence of dark forces, so the strands on the head were cut in a cross shape. The cut strands were tied with red thread and stored until the offspring came of age. This hair had magical powers.

When the time came for a guy to go to serve in the army, a lock of his hair was cut off and intertwined with the child’s hair. The result was a powerful amulet that was sewn into the conscript’s clothes. It was believed that the amulet would help avoid suffering, illness, death and injury.

In ancient Slavic culture, forced shaving was a punishment for serious offenses, since the complete absence of hair on the head was considered humiliating. And in those days there were no devices that would allow you to safely shave your head.

The tradition of exposing boys' heads appeared during the Cossack times. Since the 18th century, a shaved head has been an integral attribute of army discipline.

Later, when forced conscription “flourished”, the expression “shave” was synonymous with “take into soldiers.” But even then there was no question: is it possible to cut the first hair of a child under one year old, and whether it is necessary to shave the baby. Children had their hair cut much later than a year, already at a conscious age.

Why does the back of my head go bald?

There is a Muslim tradition to cut a baby's hair on the seventh day of life. In addition to the religious background, there is also a practical explanation for the expediency of this ritual. Many children lose hair before they are one year old, the back of their heads go bald, and bald spots form in the neck area.

It is believed that this is a sign of rickets. But experienced people reassure the parents of “bald” babies: exposure of the back of the head occurs because the baby spends a lot of time on his back, but at the same time, showing curiosity, turns his head in different directions. Delicate hairs roll off and remain on the pillow.

No need to worry. Instead of “fluff”, new strong hair will soon appear on the child’s head. Thus, there is no need to cut a baby's hair up to one year old if the hair does not bother him (does not provoke excessive sweating of the head, does not get into his eyes).

Popular superstitions do not advise cutting your hair during pregnancy - they say that this can shorten the life of the unborn child and generally promise all sorts of misfortunes. Traditions also strongly advise newborn babies to refrain from cutting their hair in the first year of life. These signs are based on the beliefs of our ancestors - the ancient Slavs. The beliefs that came to us from grandmothers and great-grandmothers say that if you cut a child’s hair before he is one year old, then the poor thing can be “cut off” his intelligence or his happy life. It’s very interesting who came up with all this, and when this sign appeared.

The word “hair” itself appeared only in Russian, and in Old Church Slavonic the word “braids” was used instead. We now pronounce this word only in cases where we want to say that it is loose and unkempt hair, that is, in a negative way. The word cosmos and cosmos have the same root, and if you think about it, there is a clear connection and they have sacred meaning. It was believed that if you cut a child's hair before he is one year old, the child will lose contact with the cosmos. After all, we know many myths that there is hidden power in hair, and a warrior, having lost his hair, lost his strength. Thus, we associate cosmas with the source of strength of a person, even such a small one, who, as a rule, has practically no hair on his head, but only a soft fluff. Thus, it is believed that cut hair can disrupt the child’s connection with his bioinformation field and the child can often get sick.

There are other legends. It is known that in ancient times infant mortality was very high. In addition, the death of women during childbirth was also common. The fact is that medicine in those days was practically at zero level and healers often could not cope with the high infant mortality rate. The end of the critical period in infants was considered one year. It was believed that if a baby celebrated a year since his birth, this means that he accepts this family and remains in it forever. It was in the year that the child was tonsured, which symbolized the baby’s initiation into the family, and he received its protection.

Psychologists say that almost all children cry during a haircut and sometimes this cry develops into a form of hysteria. Children do not know that hair is not arms and legs and that cutting it off does not hurt at all. After the baby is cut, he feels discomfort for some time, which quickly passes.

An important fact is that, for example, Jewish children do not have their hair cut until they are three years old; parents of some other nationalities also adhere to this. The Slavs are accustomed to cutting their children's hair bald at the age of one! And the fact that a child will experience some stress from the sound of a machine is not considered terrible. But now the hair will grow thick and beautiful, and not just fluff.

It is recommended to cut a child's hair for the first time in the first three days of the new moon - suitable date can be found in the haircut calendar. Also, the first haircut should not occur during Lent or on Sunday. The first cut strand of hair during the child’s first haircut should be saved and hidden in the house away from prying eyes - it will serve as a reliable amulet for your baby from the evil eye, damage and various kinds of magical influences.