The maternity haircut
Categories: Just for moms, Babies, Pregnancy & birth, Mommy musts
I used to have long hair. Long, long, long, hair. The kind that you dream about having when you're a little girl--the kind that makes you look and feel like a princess or like you should always and only be seen riding atop a racing stallion on the beach. I loved my hair.
And I hated it. Frankly, I didn't look that great with long hair. It took a long time to wash and I never bothered to do anything more than pile it on top of my head in a makeshift bun with a pony tail holder. Depending on what time of year it was, it was various shades of color from the sun and the elements. And it cost just as much to get it trimmed or styled as it would with a shorter 'do but didn't ever really look any different.
I'd grown it out nearly to my elbows for my wedding, where I naturally wore it back in some sort of bun (this time sans the pony tail holder). After that I cut it. I kept it mid-length and styled in a way that was both easy to manage and that grew out well. 'cuz it was expensive.
Then I had a baby. Whereas I had little time to get into the city for a cut before now I had essentially none. When I finally made it back in to see my guy, I had him cut it short. Really short. It was the same hairdo, just a lot shorter than normal. This way it would eventually grow out to the cut I'd always had but give me plenty of time in between cuts without looking too shabby.
Turns out it was a good move--my shampoo lasts a lot longer and I've stopped needing to invest in buckets of detangler. Plus it looks clean and crisp and I feel presentable even when I can't be bothered to put on something dressier. Getting my hair cut short also is economic in the sense that although it costs a fortune to get it done it takes fewer trips in general because it takes so long to grow out.
And I'm not alone. Most of the new moms I know have opted for shorter 'dos. Perhaps that seems stereotypical--I remember when I was younger taking note of how all the moms seemed to have given up their princess hair dreams for something practical--and boring. They looked boring to me until I became one of them. And now I understand. Ultimately, short hair--or shorter hair--isn't boring, or doesn't have to be. Frankly, considering how much this 'do costs, it better be anything other than boring.
What about you--did you chop it all off when you became a mom? Or did you refuse to cave and give up your princess hair?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Sabrina 4-06-2008 @ 1:50PM
I never had true princess hair as my hair starts to break off at slightly past shoulder length, and I kept my hair until I had my second child. Almost 2 months before he was born I went for the chin-length bob, and I've loved it ever since, I also got rid of my heavy bangs in favor of sideswept ones that were easier to straighten, I have curly hair. I also dyed it red, which I've kept since I love it so much.
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caitlin 4-06-2008 @ 2:07PM
I keep my hair long, since if I got the "mom do", it would turn out closer to a Shirley Temple do, no thanks to my curly hair. I did have hair that short once, but it took an hour with a flat iron to make it look decent. Most of the curly cute short hairdos are women with naturally straight hair and a perm.
I usually keep my hair in braided pigtails and pin those up.
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SKL 4-06-2008 @ 3:08PM
I let them cut too much and then go for months without a cut. I have had exactly one haircut since the kids have been home.
My hair isn't that long, but not short either. I put it in a ponytail most of the time. It's relatively easy to care for, but never has been "princesslike" because it's the wrong kind of hair for that. If I cut it "short," I would look like my brother; my "longish" hair is about the only thing "feminine" about my looks.
My mom used to have long, straight, dark hair - I mean down to her butt - and my dad really liked it, so she kept it that way through three babies. But, she told my dad that if she got pregnant a 4th time, she'd get it all cut off. Well, along came pregnancy #4 and she headed straight for the beauty shop at the corner and told them to cut it a short as possible. They obliged, much to her horror. She claims it was 2" in the front and 1" long everywhere else and she cried for ages and has no pictures of herself for years after my sister was born. Oops. Be careful what you wish for, I guess.
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Michelle 4-06-2008 @ 3:58PM
I went the total opposite direction. Before having my daughter 7 years ago, I was an attorney, and I had a more conservative, just below chin length bob. I grew it long when I became a stay at home mom and have kept it long, give or take a few inches, ever since. I'm now 38 and finally pregnant with my second and there is NO WAY I will be going to a short, frumpy "Mom 'do"! (Not that all short hair is frumpy, but that is how it feels on me.) I'm already feeling old this time around, and long hair makes me feel younger, not to mention looking better on a 9-month pregnant or post-partum bloated face!
My hair is also not very time consuming. It is long layers that I can take extra time and straighten if I want to, otherwise 10 mintues with a blowdryer and round brush and it looks fine.
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Ethel 4-06-2008 @ 4:56PM
I haven't found a happy medium. I used to have my hair longish for a long time, not princess long - just gorgeous hair. Really, it makes me sick when I see pictures now that there is really no way for me to go back there. Now it hurts to have my hair up for any amount of time, ponytail or pull back, bun or braids, they all give me a headache. Plus with the white wings (that I will not dye) having long long hair seems, well, childish.
However I hate my hair shorter too! It's just what it is and I feel frumpy no matter what. Even when I wanted to go super short the fellow at the saloon had a hard time cutting it. I'd like it if I'd look good with super short hair but I am chicken to do it. Plus I hate the mom-dos, or at least the dos that I see women my mom's age wear (65 years and up). Short no fuss liberated hair, which is great, but I am not that old. So now I have this half-assed thing that I flip to the side and looks like the middle aged gal down the street had that I'd see when I was off to grad school, except she is me now. BLAH!
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pbhj 4-06-2008 @ 5:52PM
Grade 3 once every 4 months. No muss, no fuss!
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Jenna 4-06-2008 @ 10:26PM
I grow mine. I cut mine. I grow mine. I cut mine.
Much like pre-motherhood.
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Michele W 4-06-2008 @ 11:25PM
I did the same thing except I did it when I got pregnant cause I couldnt stand my hair being that long so i cut it just about shoulder length. Then came after he was born it went super short ASAP. I felt bad though because at first my son loved to rub my hair between his fingers but as you know you do not have all the time in the world for your hair after having a baby so it was alot easier. It was one of those hair cuts like zack and cody's mom has on the sweet life of zac and cody where it isnt super short like a buzz but short and you just run your hands through it with some hair glue and stick it up every where and you are good to go. I actually just grew my hair back down to about the middle of my back and I started having thyroid trouble and my hair was falling out badly so they started me on meds but now my hair looks like half the fullness it was so I will be getting it cut short again. I am waiting till it is long enough for the locks of love programs though so some child can benefit from it.
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Tamyu 4-07-2008 @ 12:31AM
I only cut my hair maybe once a year before getting pregnant... And cut it even less now that it`s a pain to take a child with my to a salon. I got it cut for the first time in 2 years a couple weeks ago.
The funny thing is, I actually like short (just above the shoulder) length hair, but hate the hassle of getting it cut.
So, no, I didn`t give up my hair when I had a baby.
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isisaquaria 4-07-2008 @ 4:44AM
Never-short hair is unattractive on anyone-including men. I have kept my hair long since birth literally. I had pigtails @4mo, I hate short hair--there is nothing more saddening to me than to see a woman chop off the hair because the baby is here or chop of a child's hair. I have cut mine to mid-back once--HATED IT-- it was horrifically short, I wanted to gag daily until it got back to my waist. NONONONONONONONONONO-do not cut your hair short, learn to manage it so you can have the freedom of length w/o the hassle.
As for shampoos and conditioners-I use paul mitchell and one bottle every two months--it doesn't take alot--never used a detangler. The $$ spent would go to wigs or weaves so it cost less for me to keep it long.
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Heidi 4-07-2008 @ 9:14AM
I've had princess hair most of my life. Down to my butt, blond, wavy, people commenting on it's beauty hair. Strangers feeling they could touch it. DO NOT TOUCH. Just before my second I had it cut short. Really short. The stylist kept asking if i was sure. Yes. It only hair. It will grow back if I want it to. And under all that long hair I have beautiful short curly hair. People still comment but tend to keep there hands to there selves
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Michele 4-07-2008 @ 9:30AM
I have a lot of hair and it grows abnormally fast. Most of my life it's been really long (almost to my waist) but because I have layers in it, it has some shape even when it's flat and straight. I've chopped it all off thinking it would be easier but in the end it was always more maintenance with me always having to blow dry it so it wasn't all crazy looking.
I'm not a mom yet (still an incubator for another 9 weeks) and I've debated chopping off my hair but I have to say, it's much easier to put it in a headband and ponytail or to leave it straight than it is to sit with a hair dryer and make sure the back of my head looks right. I don't think I'll be chopping off my hair anytime soon but like I said I haven’t reached that sleep deprivation period yet.
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Judy 4-07-2008 @ 11:54AM
When my first was a few months old I cut my waist-length hair to about chin length, thinking she wouldn't be able to pull it as easily. That backfired - now I couldn't pull it back, and so all she could do was pull it!
When my second was about a year old, I was sick of my long hair, so I went in to have a few inches cut off. The stylist convinced me to cut off enough to donate to Locks of Love, then *after* she cut it asked me when it had last been colored, and told me it was too recent and I couldn't donate it. She then went on to butcher it so badly that she probably cut off another 3 inches. It was a nightmare.
I've been growing it back ever since, and it's currently about waist-length again, maybe a little longer. I don't plan on cutting it any time soon. I don't like the boring mom hairstyles, and the sense that once you are a certain age it must be short. I'm about to turn 30, and long hair makes me feel feminine and sexy and like myself.
It's a PITA sometimes, but I always look at people with short styles that must be carefully done every day, and think what a PITA that must be. (Not that all short hair is that way) Most of the time I just wear it straight and down, pull it up with a clip, or a ponytail if I'm active. I braid sometimes. My husband loves it, and the only thing that really takes a long time is waiting for it to dry after I wash it, but I only wash it every 2-3 days, so no big deal there.
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Jenn 4-07-2008 @ 8:35PM
I've been cycling between long and short my whole life, so the fact it's short now is really nothing new. It's just so much easier -- mine is right now about 2 inches long all over. I wash it, rub a towel over it, and use my fingers to make sure it's not sticking out in weird directions, and that's it.
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