Both Drake and Juliet were blessed with copious amounts of hair at birth. Other moms of babies with less hair, grandmothers, bald men… they all would quip about the dark head of hair on my children’s heads and how striking, long, and bountiful it was. For what it’s worth, I was also born with a full head of hair similar to Drake and Juliet so looking at my own baby pictures it never occurred to me that this was unusual, or that I would have children with less or no hair at all. With a lot of hair though comes a good set of issues — namely cradle cap, knots, and mullet like hair styles.

My raven haired girl

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I don’t remember much about Drake’s cradle cap except that he definitely had it. I remember reading all about it on the Internet when I discovered these huge yellow flakes all over the top of my baby’s head.  No matter how much I picked and combed at it, washed his hair, didn’t wash his hair, it was there. For a long time I resisted trying any kind of oil treatments I had read about as Drake just had so much hair, I thought it was gross to cover it in oil. Then one day I gave up and tried it, but it still came back.  Over time I just accepted it and it did eventually go away on its own, though I don’t recall when.

With Juliet I am now almost 10 months in with this battle and still don’t see an end in sight.  While over time her cradle cap has decreased, there are still 2 large chunks on her head and one on her ear that persistently stay despite my use of Mustela, oils, Cortisone (doctor suggested), etc. I wash and comb and brush every time I bathe her, but I am always greeted in the morning with those flakes nevertheless.

Battling cradle crap is hard work

Drake’s hair is more similar to mine, while Juliet has inherited her daddy’s fine hair. Drake’s hair is much thicker these days as a 3 year old than when he was a baby, but even as a baby his hair was never that hard to comb and didn’t tangle that easily after sleeping on it. Juliet’s baby fine hair though has been a different story. Since she was young she has always woken up with interesting hairdos. Because of how fine the hair is, it tangles and knots easily so I have to take more time after a bath to detangle it. Then once she goes down to sleep and wakes up, it’s inevitable there are a few new knots to contest with. She is still young so part of me hopes maybe her hair will get thicker and we won’t have these issues. Luckily for now Juliet doesn’t seem to mind when I comb her hair and knots. I remember being in tears as a child when my mom brushed my hair, so I’m hoping to avoid that with Juliet.

A typical Juliet hairdo after wake up

Drake had his first haircut at the tender age of 5 months. His aunt did it and we saved the clippings, but he was really rocking a full on mullet complete with rat tail.  I was so nervous about doing it since I had heard so many moms talk about not cutting hair til baby was at least a year old, but Mr. Chocolate insisted saying that the mullet was seriously awful looking (it was). His aunt did a great job and after that it was no big deal when he had a second cut around 10 months of age. Juliet’s hair isn’t the best right now, but I haven’t cut it yet as I’m not sure what to do for a little girl. Her hair isn’t as mullet-like as Drake’s was, but it’s still not quite right either for a girl. I am planning on taking her to see Drake’s hair cutter next time I take Drake to get a more professional opinion about what would be the best first steps for her since I do want it to grow long, but also look alright on a baby girl.

Drake getting his first haircut

Since Juliet is a girl, I am faced with another hair issue I never had with Drake, which is doing little girl’s hair. I am embarrassed to admit I really don’t know the first thing about hair styling (or make up to add to that). As a child my mom knew how to do one hairdo — a ponytail — and that’s all.  Sometimes she would braid it, but nothing fancy. I remember enviously looking at all the other girls with their bows, headbands and clips of all kinds, and wishing my mom would get some for me. One of my silly fears about having a girl is that I won’t be able to do her hair or makeup when she gets older since I never learned from my own mom. Now that Juliet is here I am overwhelmed looking at all the bows and clips and I so want to try them, but the few times I have it’s never ended well.  I really hope I can figure out a few cute styles before she knows mommy doesn’t know what she is doing!

Mommy doesn’t know how to work these 

 Did your LO have a lot of hair at birth? What is their hair like now?