One thing is for sure…. content without context can lend itself to a variety of opinions, something we have never shied away from.
With over 100 comments this video of a tiny baby getting its head shaved was not exempt.
Watch below:
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We have a confession!
We were ignorant to the cultural practice with regard to removing a baby’s hair earlier in life and had to be educated.
Initially, the video made us sad.. NGL… but the beauty of a collaborative community from all over the world is that our platform creates space for conversation and correction.
Here is what we have learned:
Why do people shave a baby’s first hair
According to India Times the tradition of shaving baby’s first hair is important and mandatory in Hindu culture.
During the mundan ceremony, a barber is assigned the task of shaving off the baby’s hair. In Hindus, the mundan ceremony is done between four months to three years of his birth. In Islamic tradition, it’s done between 7 to 40 days.
The time and rituals of mundan are different in different communities. In fact, many communities only perform the mundan ceremony for boys and not girls. The ceremony is performed by a priest or the father of the baby.
From a scientific perspective, It is said that Vitamin D is absorbed faster and more quickly in the baby’s body when exposed to sunlight without clothes and hair. Even doctors recommend exposing newborn babies to sunlight without clothes in the early morning.
Another reason is that the baby’s hair is uneven, shaving the head helps in even growth of hair later.
From a Religious perspective according to Hindu mythology, a soul gets a human body after experiencing 84 lakh yonis. It is believed that every yoni has its influence on human birth. The shaving off the hair is considered to be a gesture of purification from the previous yonis and freedom from the past.
Does shaving a baby’s head ‘make the hair thicker’
The short answer is no! But most have us have grown up hearing so many different things about baby’s hair that we understand why the myths remain alive and well.
Researchers at the University of Utah spent some time debunking a few of the myths.
The thickness of a child’s hair, hair texture, and growth rate is determined by genetics, and the only time a person’s hair will change is if they’ve had chemotherapy.
If you cut a baby’s hair before their first birthday, it will give them bad hair. No, got to stick with genetics on this one, not the timing of your baby’s first haircut.
Another one is – eating carrots or the heels or crusts of bread will make your child’s hair curly. Again, back to genetics.
Eating healthy food will make your hair healthy, but it has nothing to do with curls.
There is one positive truth about eating the crusts of bread though. It actually contains eight times the anti-oxidants of any other part of the bread.
Then there’s the thought that you should wash your child’s hair until it squeaks, hence getting it squeaky clean.
Forget this one.
Shampooing your child’s hair until it squeaks strips the hair shafts of natural oils and can make it dry and frizzy. Stick to lathering just once and rinsing thoroughly with a tear-free shampoo.
Finally, there’s the old wives’ tale about how if your baby comes out with a full head of hair that would explain all the heartburn you had during pregnancy. Surprisingly, researchers have found this one to be true in some cases, although they’re not really quite sure how.
your comments
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