Will a child's hair keep its curls?

[Themyst]

My DD8 has naturally curly hair at the ends. I've never made any significant cuts to her hair, only about three 1/2" trims over the course of three years or so.

I'm assuming all of her hair is naturally curly but the top appears to be straight because the weight of her hair is pulling it down (stretching the curl).

She doesn't want to cut it, she wants to grow it to her ankles. But I'm curious - if she ever does get a few inches cut off for a trimming, will the ends of her hair still curl like it is in the picture? Or will the curls just be cut off?

[DreamingLong]

When my DD got her hair chopped off by my nephew her curls never returned.

[spidermom]

My GD had curls at that length. (that's so pretty!) At shoulder length, she does not.

[Themyst]

My GD had curls at that length. (that's so pretty!) At shoulder length, she does not.


When my DD got her hair chopped off by my nephew her curls never returned.

:wail:Oh no!

I wonder why it grows in curly at first. She was just a little fuzz head up until two years old - I thought she'd never grow hair! But it grew in curly little ringlets. I wonder why some hair does this, only to straighten out later in life.

[Tangles]

Well, I had ringlets as a child, and my hair is still pretty wavy, and gets curlier at the ends when longer. There is no way of telling for sure.

[inspiral]

i agree, those look like baby curls, if you cut them, it wont be the same.....

[Themyst]

Well, thanks everyone. I'll consider myself warned!

I guess we'll just enjoy the curls while we can. Eventually though, (years later I hope) a good trimming will probably end it all.

We're going to try a cassia treatment this weekend. Just have to pick up some fenugreek! I'm really going to start focusing on keeping her hair nice and manageable. Hopefully, this will start some good hair habits for her. She's excited about trying it - she even wanted to make sure we had some cucumbers to put on our eyes while our hair was soaking!:)

[eyesofsummer]

She's excited about trying it - she even wanted to make sure we had some cucumbers to put on our eyes while our hair was soaking!:)

How cute!
My hair has always been curly, but it definitely has changed since I was your daughter's age...I think it's more likely the weight that's keeping the rest of her hair from curling, although her hair was most likely a lot finer when it was baby hair, and it's certainly tapered into nice fairy tale end ringlets---so it might not curl as much if it were cut more bluntly.

[DecafJane]

I kept my loose curls/waves. (The hair in my profile picture is relatively "straight" for me - it has dried while tied back.) The hair gets coarser with age, so the curls probably need a little encouragement, as the extra weight of the hair density pulls out the curls more, but if her hair is wavy at that length then there is a good chance that she will keep them to some extent. They don't appear to be very strong curls, so they might disappear if she goes above shoulder length.
Who does she get her curls from and what is their hair like now?

[Magdalene]

I would try trimming one test curl- if it curls up it's the weight that's straightening it.

[Curlsgirl]

I don't think necessarily that the curls won't return if you cut it. I had curls when I was young almost exactly like I do now. They did go away a bit when I was in the middle years but it was mostly because I wasn't kind to my hair and tried to straighten it, brush it, iron it bleck. I am sure she'll always have some kind of curl anyway. If you look at my album pic of me as a baby, you'll see little difference in that and now in my hair!

BTW. her hair is beautiful!!!

[curls2grow]

I had curly hair ever since childhood. Chemically straightened it through high school and college (and my roots would come back curly throughout this self-inflicted hair trauma). And then curly hair as an adult (but it didn't look good until I found LHC and NC.com) while I got it colored, hightlighted, etc. So my curls never stopped, despite big chops, small trims, and chemical processes.

[nastasska]

I had curly hair till I was about three then it got straighter

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v339/Nastasska/scan000earlyhair1.jpg

[Demetrue]

Those look like "baby curls" which she will lose if you cut it short. Just keep it long and enjoy!

[Katze]

Please tell her she has beautiful hair!

My BF has very similar hair, and as a little boy wore it long. As a toddler, he had pale blonde ringlets, which straightened out a bit as he got older. As a teen, he wore his hair short, so it was fuzzy and wispy, but every time it has been long it has been ringlets like your daughter's. He says his hair is getting curlier, but I think that's my extra care. It does get less curly when it's cut, and his ringlets seem to develop best when they are below shoulder length.

Hormones will change everything when she hits puberty, too.

No matter what, it's great that your daughter wants long hair!

[Fencai]

when I was little, I had shirley temple ringlets. As I got older, they turned into waves.
When I keep it at shoulder length, its fairly straight, but the longer it gets, the wavier it gets, and its at the ends of the length.

I guess there's really no way to know for sure, but her hair is gorgeous nonetheless!

[Siava]

People's hair can change with age. My daughter had fine, loosely curled hair as a young child. Now it's thick and really curly. I had straight hair as a young child and now I have natural curls. Hormones 'n stuff. :)

[Laila23]

I don't know the answer but I liked all of the replies you've already gotten.

I just wanted to say that your daughter has very very very pretty hair. And she is lucky to have a mom to help her take care of it and learn about it and enjoy it! :)

[Alana2000]

Her hair looks a lot like my Nieces hair used to look like, shes 8 years old too, all her curls are gone now.

[Magicknthenight]

i used to have baby curls for a little bit but i don't anymore. 2 of my sisters also did. One's was really curly at the end but once it was cut they haven't really came back. Maybe she will have wavy hair? Either way its very pretty :)

[Periwinkle]

Some people lose curls, but others gain them. I have a friend who used to have wavy hair (probably 2a/2b) when she was little and now as a teenager has the most gorgeous, perfect ringlets you could ever imagine.

Also, my hair was stick-straight when I was little, but now it's quite similar to your daughter's (a bit straighter though).

[Themyst]

Who does she get her curls from and what is their hair like now?

We have no clue where she got them from! So, I have nothing to compare it to. My hair is fairly straight (when brushed & frydried) but if I let it dry naturally, it gets scraggly waves but certainly no curls and ringlets. DH has straight hair, he wears it in a perfect flattop. I prefer long hair on men but I must say the flattop looks good on him.

I don't believe either of us had ringlets as children. Not sure about the grandparents though - have to dig out some photo albums!

[spidermom]

My daughter had curly hair as a baby, and it's still curly/wavy, so unlike my GD, cutting DD's hair didn't eliminate the curl. (Unfortunately, she's very fond of the flat iron.)

[sahiba]

I havent read other's answers but my DS has curly hair and I hope he outgrows them for its a daily struggle to comb his hair.

[Themyst]

I havent read other's answers but my DS has curly hair and I hope he outgrows them for its a daily struggle to comb his hair.

His little curls are so lovely! I assume you are grooming his hair for now - when he gets older it should be easier for him to learn how to detangle.

I still detangle my DD's hair - her solution is to rip through it and so I am trying to preserve it until she is responsible enough to understand not to do that.

My own mother became tired of taking care of my hair when I was little and so she just cut it really short. That's always bothered me.

[Lady Lilya]

I was born a 3c. Then I turned into something like a 1b for a while. Then when I hit puberty I went back to curly. (I'm guessing my mother's hormones while she was pregnant with me were the cause of my original curls.) Since I had a baby, I've noticed I am getting some straighter hairs (they are also finer and lighter in color) but they don't seem to change the overall curliness. The curly hairs pull the straighter ones along with them.

[Lady Lilya]

I'm another one whose parents just chopped her hair short because they didn't know how to care for it.

[Themyst]

I'm another one whose parents just chopped her hair short because they didn't know how to care for it.

Sorry to hear that.

I remember it was somewhat traumatic for me as I did not want it cut. My father jokingly called her 'Mommy Dearest' (you know, from that book about Joan Crawford).

If hair didn't have a special meaning for some people, well, this forum wouldn't even exist. There are just so many that don't even think twice about their hair and so it is probably difficult for them to empathize with those that do. Including some mothers, I suppose.:(

[mommy101405]

My oldest dd has very short hair still but it is very tight ringlets. I really hope she keeps them. My dh had curly hair before he started buzzing it and my mil is like a 3b at least so I am hoping genetics work in her favor. I am trying to learn to take care of curls so that I can help her learn to take care of them. At this length they are a big puffy mess most of the time though.

Your dd's hair is really pretty. I can't wait until my dd's have long hair.

[basketcase413]

I can't wait to see what Granddaughter's hair looks like in a couple of years...she's almost two....thin hair that's taken forever to grow....but her Mama and Nana(me) have ALOT of hair.....her's is in curls now....hoping is stays that way. Her Mama says she is NOT cutting it! Your DD's is gorgeous!

[Oskimosa]

What lovely hair she has :)

And mine was like that, up until about 6 or so. Now it's slightly wavy, but pretty straight.

[HotRag]

I had curly hair as baby, but lost the curls at age of 4 or so.
Since then I have had 1b/1c, straigt with tendencies to wave. Not stick straight and can get frizz.

As some one else wrote about, I know a person that had straight hair until puberty, then 3c/4a. During pregnancy she grew straight hair.

[Katze]

there doesn't seem to be any rule for it, does there?

I have a straight haired mother and wavy father, and had stick straight hair until about age 12 or so - the same time it started going dark. Now that I am pregnant, it is much straighter.

BF is the wavy haired kid of two only mildly wavy haired parents - and we are both the only "blondes" in our family. While I am hoping our kid gets his genes, so that it's god blonder and wavier hair than me, it looks like there is no predicting this! Kind of like eye color, if you think about it...who knows what our kid will have, given his warm bright blue eyes and my cool grey-green-color-changing ones...

[Lady Lilya]

Sorry to hear that.

I remember it was somewhat traumatic for me as I did not want it cut. My father jokingly called her 'Mommy Dearest' (you know, from that book about Joan Crawford).

If hair didn't have a special meaning for some people, well, this forum wouldn't even exist. There are just so many that don't even think twice about their hair and so it is probably difficult for them to empathize with those that do. Including some mothers, I suppose.:(

Everyone else in my family had short hair. They thought of hair as an inconvenience. They couldn't imagine anyone thinking it was worth the trouble. And add to that the fact that mine needed non-standard care due to the curliness, and there was even more incentive for them to chop it off. They didn't know how to take care of it, so how could they teach me to do it myself?

It was very traumatic for me too. And every hair cut it was traumatic all over again. I always said "just a little trim" and I always got a big chunk removed.

It has contributed to my determination to respect my children's sovereignty over their own bodies as much as possible.