# Do I finally cut my 2 yr olds hair? -A boy with blond banana curls UPDATE PIC ON POST 25!



## Koalamom (Dec 27, 2007)

My 2 yr old ds has super blond hair and thin but very tight banana curls. But they are getting very wild and long and kind of messy. I love his long hair which is past his shoulders when straightened but halfway down his neck when curled. I was going to let it grow, but my sister has been giving me grief but she gives her boys buzz cuts. And my dh has been complaining about it especially since ds wants to wear dresses jewelry, and carry around purses. He says the long hair is just too much. So ds has a 4 yr old sister and that is all he sees. I am cool with his dressing up and the long hair. What would you guys do?


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## JBaxter (May 1, 2005)

here is my curly blond almost 3 yr old. I think we have cut his 4 times?

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o130/jeanaspictures/531.jpg

Everyone loves Jack's curls I refuse to chop it "short"


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## mommy212 (Mar 2, 2010)

I would probably get it trimmed so it looks neat and stuff, though not necessarily buzz it or anything (though I did that with DS, for other reasons). Plus my husband's mom let him grow his hair long and wild when he was little so all the pictures of him as a child he looks like a weird little girl with a mullet-type hair, lol.


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## transylvania_mom (Oct 8, 2006)

If it's wild and messy, I'd cut it. My 2 y/o dd absolutely hates having her hair combed and I cut it short (ear length). She also has blond curly hair. Maybe she won't be crowned the next beauty queen







, but she feels very comfortable, and that's the most important thing.


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## crunchy_mommy (Mar 29, 2009)

My 2.5yo's hair is down to his shoulders in loose curls (sometimes banana curls, other times more straight, depends on the weather!) It was a few inches longer but I trimmed it recently. It was getting really matted in back and he wouldn't let me brush it, so taking a couple inches off made it more neat & manageable but it's still long enough for a ponytail. I have no plans to cut it shorter & certainly not to buzz it (unless he asks, and I doubt he would, he loves his long hair!)

But everyone mistakes him for a girl. I am not sure I've ever seen a stranger refer to him as 'he' -- even though he looks like a boy to us and our friends! It doesn't bother me & DH & it doesn't bother DS, so we're good. In fact, DS has inspired DH to possibly grow his hair out this fall! So obviously I'm a bit biased toward not cutting it.







However, I would take your DH's feelings into account & decide with him -- a hair cut is not (usually!) something to risk your marriage for or anything!


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## Mittsy (Dec 29, 2009)

It's his hair, let him decide how he wants it styled, he has to live with it everday.


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## onlyzombiecat (Aug 15, 2004)

If it is looking wild and messy I would trim it up a bit. You don't have to do a buzz cut.


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## meemee (Mar 30, 2005)

oh no. NO BUZZ CUT please. a trim - sure.

i was 4 years old when my parents took my bro to get a short hair cut. oh i still remember the shock. to date. clear as if it happened yesterday.

my favourite little sweet boy in dd's dc also had beautiful long golden curls. even after 4 years he comes running to me when his hair is longer to show his curls. they never went back to the beautiful curls he had before. more waves just like my bro.


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## MadameFancyPants (Dec 12, 2009)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Mittsy*
> 
> It's his hair, let him decide how he wants it styled, he has to live with it everday.


This.

My son's hair is just below his shoulders. We are of the belief that it's his body and he can get a haircut when he asks for one. I usually use bobby pins to hold it back or put it in a ponytail. He even brings me a ponytail holder and asks for help occasionally. It gets messy, but kids get messy and dirty. I'm sure if I had a DD with long hair it would be the same.

He loves to carry purses and my jewelry, too. Yes, people call him a girl and I politely correct them and say that he's currently interested in mommy's things.


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## meemee (Mar 30, 2005)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MadameFancyPants*
> 
> He loves to carry purses and my jewelry, too. Yes, people call him a girl and I politely correct them and say that he's currently interested in mommy's things.


inspite of her long hair and colours and dresses till dd was about 2 seh was always mistaken for a boy. i will say though she mostly wore boy clothes adn never tied her hair or put clips in there. i never corrected them. they were strangers. they really didnt need to know if she was a boy or girl. they just found the child cute.


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## MadameFancyPants (Dec 12, 2009)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *MadameFancyPants*
> 
> This.
> 
> ...


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *meemee*
> 
> inspite of her long hair and colours and dresses till dd was about 2 seh was always mistaken for a boy. i will say though she mostly wore boy clothes adn never tied her hair or put clips in there. i never corrected them. they were strangers. they really didnt need to know if she was a boy or girl. they just found the child cute.


My friend has been telling me that I should stop correcting them. A will correct them if he wants when he's older. I'm just one of those people that always gives a reason for what I say. It's a bad habit that I need to break.


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## FAmom (Oct 28, 2010)

DS#3 has hair below his shoulders..... and he is almost 3. He is my wild one, and I can't imagine him without it! Sure, other people think he is a girl, and DH makes a few comments here and there, but, soon enough well cut it. For now, I love it and it suits him. My other boys ended up having their short haircuts more regularly starting at around 3.

As long as there isn't a maintenance issue, doesn't pose a safety or hazard risk, and you don't have to yank and pull a comb through it causing him misery, I say enjoy the long curly hair.

What other people say just reflects their issues. His hair is about him. Not them. They can cut their own hair if they like.


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## Koalamom (Dec 27, 2007)

Thanks everyone. Yeah my ds is the cutest even with a dress on, lol. I will see if I can post a pic to see if you all think the hair is too messy.


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## K1329 (Apr 6, 2009)

Like a pp, I would be influenced by my spouse's opinion, too. If your DH feels strongly about it, I'd go for a compromise trim.


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## kylie1 (Sep 2, 2011)

Trim it a little if it's messy, but if he likes it long, then don't cut it short by any means.

The dressing up like a girl...My transsexual (born male) DSD apparently did that when she was younger-apparently many eventually-transsexual kids do that?


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## crunchy_mommy (Mar 29, 2009)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *kylie1*
> 
> The dressing up like a girl...My transsexual (born male) DSD apparently did that when she was younger-apparently many eventually-transsexual kids do that?


Um, and many non-trans do that too.... I don't think it's indicative of anything except 2yo's liking shiny colorful pretty things or just wanting to be like mama/gma/big sis.


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## kylie1 (Sep 2, 2011)

I know a lot of children do it, but I think I heard it was statistically more common, or something. *shrugs* I was just saying.


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## funkymamajoy (May 25, 2008)

Is grooming becoming a hassle or is it in his eyes? Does he want a haircut? If no, then leave it if you want.


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## meemee (Mar 30, 2005)

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Koalamom* 


> the hair is too messy.


messy is in the eye of the beholder.

i am more concerned with scalp issues. my dd has a v. sensitive scalp. as a baby she tolerated NOTHING in her hair and i had to be VERY CAREFUL with combing/brushing her hair.

she started combing her hair when she was 3 years old as she did it better. that's when i rarely combed/brushed her hair. at that time i gave her a choice. either cut ur hair or comb it urself.

my thing is IF brushing hair to a 'decent' level means a shreiking screaming child then the hair has to go. by 7 dd was braiding her own hair. by 8 i never had to help her with her long hair again.


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## ShadowMoon (Oct 18, 2006)

DS's first haircut was at 4yrs old. He had long, whispy curly hair down to (almost!) his bum. Now we keep it just above his shoulders in a long, shaggy cut.


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## stellabluz (May 24, 2006)

For really low maintenence and to give your sis really somethin to talk about~ how about dreadlocks  I loved mine, and then had another appreciation for long smooth tangle free hair after I cut them.


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## To-Fu (May 23, 2007)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Koalamom*
> 
> My 2 yr old ds has super blond hair and thin but very tight banana curls. But they are getting very wild and long and kind of messy. I love his long hair which is past his shoulders when straightened but halfway down his neck when curled. I was going to let it grow, but my sister has been giving me grief but she gives her boys buzz cuts. And my dh has been complaining about it especially since ds wants to wear dresses jewelry, and carry around purses. He says the long hair is just too much. So ds has a 4 yr old sister and that is all he sees. I am cool with his dressing up and the long hair. What would you guys do?


I'd let him wear dresses, purses, and whatever he wanted. If he was older, I'd say to ask him what he wants to do with his hair. But since he's 2, I would probably just leave it if it's not causing problems and you both like it.

This is coming from the mama of a shaggy-haired boy who wears skirts, purses, and fingernail polish.


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## LynnS6 (Mar 30, 2005)

Is it in his eyes? Is it hard to wash? Does it get in his way when he's trying to play? All of these are reasons to cut it.

When my daughter was younger, I kept her in a (really cute) bob just above chin length because anything else was too hard to care for and too much in her way. Now she's 7 and she very definitely wants long hair. She's been growing it out for 2 years. I trim the ends now and then when it gets too hard to care for, but I won't cut it shorter until she wants it to be.

I think your son is too young to know whether he really wants it long, but if it doesn't bother him and it isn't too hard to care for, I don't see a reason to cut.


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## D_McG (Jun 12, 2006)

We need a pic 

Nice, well kept longer hair on boys CAN look nice. Uncut, scraggy hair doesn't look good on anyone.

IMO very few boys can pull of long hair. So... we need a pic!


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## Koalamom (Dec 27, 2007)

Here is a pic of the hair as of last night. It looks a bit more tidy than usual but then here is the kids making funny faces and you can see the more wispy pieces.

Crazy how curly their hair is as my hair is brown and straight as could be.


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## Koalamom (Dec 27, 2007)

LOL, just noticed he has on a dress in the one pic!

So what ye say ladies- cut it or leave it?


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## purslaine (Feb 20, 2006)

They only way I would cut that hair is if he wanted it cut. It does not seem to be interfering in his life (ex - in his eyes) at all.

Cute kids!


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## D_McG (Jun 12, 2006)

I am confused by the pics. The child in the first pic has short hair? Maybe that's an old pic?


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## meemee (Mar 30, 2005)

no way. that's not even 'long' hair in my books. that is glorious hair and i would not touch it. even if he asked for it i'd make sure he really wanted it cut.

silly kids.


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## justrose13 (Jun 23, 2009)

don't cut it... it's adorable!

cute kids, btw.


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## Koalamom (Dec 27, 2007)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *D_McG*
> 
> I am confused by the pics. The child in the first pic has short hair? Maybe that's an old pic?


Yeah that is the craziness of his hair. The top pic was a few hours later after he changed his clothes several times and ran around. His hair just curled more. Most of the time it is more wispy. These were taken last night.


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## D_McG (Jun 12, 2006)

I would definitely get a good trim for it! I'd be concerned less with the length and more with the shape.


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## transylvania_mom (Oct 8, 2006)

very cute. It doesn't look messy and it's not in his eyes. It doesn't even look that long.

I wouldn't cut it.


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## onlyzombiecat (Aug 15, 2004)

If his hair mostly looks like the top picture I'd leave it alone for now. That pic doesn't look messy or very long at all.

If his hair usually looks like the bottom picture then I'd trim it- maybe 1/2" off- just to tidy it up. That pic looks like odd and messy hair.

I don't think he looks particularly girly in either picture so I don't think it is going to change perceptions if he has a hair cut or not in that regard. Random people will still guess he is a girl if he is wearing a dress and has painted nails even if he were totally bald.

Your kids are very cute!


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## IngaAnne (Nov 19, 2009)

In the first photo, his hair looks fine, but in the second it looks like he could use a trim to clean up a bit. My son has sort-of wavy white blond hair, and our rule of thumb is to cut it when it reaches the point of not being able to make it look "tidy" (meaning within minutes of being brushed it's already pointing out in all directions). He hair usually needs to be trimmed every few months.


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## crunchy_mommy (Mar 29, 2009)

I agree that I might trim it (maybe 1" or less) if it usually looks like the second pic -- just to make it a bit more tidy. That's what we do with DS's hair, which is a whole lot longer than your DS's, even after multiple trims! So you can still grow it out even if you trim it, it will just look neater. If it tends to lean more toward the 1st pic, I'd just leave it alone.

Your kids are adorable.


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## Tjej (Jan 22, 2009)

I agree. First pic looks good. Second one looks like it could use some trimming to even things up a bit.

Tjej


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## meemee (Mar 30, 2005)

here's the thing. his hair is at that middle irritating space.

do you guys want to grow it long. if yes then i wouldnt cut it. i'd put oil and slick it back.

but if you dont intend long hair then yeah go for a trim.

however even with short hair dd's could be messy. esp. at that age. so keeping things short did not mean necessarily neat for us.


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## coldandsleepy (Aug 5, 2008)

His hair is BEAUTIFUL. I wouldn't want to cut it either!

My son (also almost 2) has only ever had his bangs trimmed. He's got fairly long (hangs far down his back when wet, but curls up at his nape when dry) thick hair that curls at the ends. People sometimes mistake him for a girl because of it, but honestly? I could give a rat's behind. It's freakin' adorable and he has his whole life to have short boring boy hair if that's what he wants when he's older.


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## limabean (Aug 31, 2005)

It doesn't look long to me, but if you want to grow it longer you could always just have it shaped rather than getting a full-on haircut. That's what I did with my DD when she was 2 and her hair was in that grown-out baby-mullet stage -- I just had the back trimmed a bit and shaped so that as it grew out it didn't look so funky.


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## StephandOwen (Jun 22, 2004)

His hair looks exactly like my ds's did! I loved it and didn't cut it until he asked for it to be cut (he was 4 when we finally cut all the curls off, though we had trimmed a little here and there to keep it from going too crazy). Now he likes his hair short short short.

I vote don't cut (or just minimally trim).


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## Quinalla (May 23, 2005)

I would just trim it personally. We just trimmed my daughter's hair, she has similar curls though less wispy, and I know it is more socially acceptable for a girl to have a long curly hair, but it was getting too long. Honestly, his hair looks pretty short to me, though those curls can make it deceptive! But yeah, I do think a trim to reshape it a bit would be fine. He has beautiful hair though! My DD too did not get her curly hair from me or DH, we both have straight-as-a-board hair, but my Dad has curly hair. I didn't know it until she got hers as he keeps it very short


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## Xavismom (Dec 22, 2009)

I LOVE boys with long, golden curls. But I am obviously biased, (see my DSs hair in my profile pic







)

Yeah, its in his eyes now, but I'm holding out cutting it until it gets to his shoulders, and we can tuck it behind his ears. We use hats a lot to keep it out of his eyes, and he just started to let me put clips in it when we are in the house.

I have trimmed the back a few times, because it starts to look like a mullet! Thankfully, my husbands only complaint about his hair, is the in the eyes thing.. but we solve it like I said. Yeah, sometimes people think he is a girl. Sometimes I ignore it, sometimes I politely correct them. I dont think its a big deal.

I love his curls too much to cut them. And I love the color of his hair, I have NO idea how he ended up with this hair. I have stick straight dark hair, and so does my DH. Not that you can tell from my DS, but my DH is part Japanese, and had coarse textured hair on top of it being really dark. So I dont think DS is going to have these amazing blonde curls for very long, and I'm going to let them be while he still does!

Edit to add a very recent photo of my DS's curls. I am trying to 'train' the front to eventually tuck behind his ears, and you can see how different his hair is from mine!


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## adoremybabe (Jun 8, 2006)

Looking at your picture, I don't even see a reason to trim it yet. Do not even listen to people who tell you to cut it.


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## DaughterOfKali (Jul 15, 2007)

I made the mistake of cutting my son's hair when he was a toddler. I regret it to this day. He had curls like that but now his hair is completely straight.


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## Koalamom (Dec 27, 2007)

So, ladies, I trimmed a little bit in the back of my sons hair and left the bulk of the curls. It looks really cute! I am going to keep it like this and when it gets fuller, I may grow it longer, but by then, he will be old enough to decide for himself.


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## Koalamom (Dec 27, 2007)

xavismom, your lo's hair is super cute. Love it. You do have totally different hair, just like me and my kiddos. Mine is brown and straight.


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## VocalMinority (Apr 8, 2009)

Cut it when you're ready, or when he asks you to! If you're not sure - or if you're thinking of cutting it because strangers think he's a girl - then put the thought clean out of your mind. That's adorable hair!

My 3-1/2-year-old son just asked to go to the barber with his Dad and brother. This will be his first hair cut. He also has wonderful curls. Regardless what I dress him in, strangers assume he's a girl. But when I correct them, no one ever reacts as though there's something weird about his hair; only that it seems somehow unfair for a boy to be so beautiful. And he is! And he has the rest of his life to struggle to make his soft, fine hair work in some traditional male hair cut; whereas the style he has right now is perfect!


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## VocalMinority (Apr 8, 2009)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Jeannine*
> 
> My 3-1/2-year-old son just asked to go to the barber with his Dad and brother. This will be his first hair cut...


Nix that! This afternoon, my Mom walked in, saw my son with wet, combed-back hair and asked if he'd had it cut. He responded in a tone of voice as though she'd asked if he wanted to move to Mars: "No. I have curls. You can't cut my curls!" OK by me!


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## jenrose (Apr 25, 2004)

My rule of thumb for my kids is that the person who maintains it gets to decide how long it is. Which means my kids keep shortish hair until they hit grade school, then they get to decide how long they keep it, as long as they keep it combed and clean, I'm not in their business about it. But I WILL cut hair on my kids if it is not being kept clean and detangled, at any age short of puberty.


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## jenrose (Apr 25, 2004)

Oh, and my niece has curls like that... Sis periodically has me cut off the little nests that form because it's SO curly, but the overall look stays the same length and will until the hair has enough weight to stretch the curls out. I don't consider hair "long" until it hits a length where it tends to tangle a lot.


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