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Parenting

08th Feb 2019

Mum furious after mum-in-law cuts off toddler daughter’s curly hair

Keeley Ryan

There are many special ‘firsts’ in your little one’s life.

From their first words to their first steps; there are so many special milestones that you want to be there for – or, at least, have a say in.

A furious mum turned to Mumsnet for advice after her mother-in-law took one of those firsts away from her – her daughter’s first haircut.

The woman explained that her daughter had been born with “quite a bit of hair” but, by the time she was six weeks old, it had all fallen out.

It grew back “thick, incredibly curly and a beautiful blonde colour” – and both she and her partner had decided they weren’t going to get her hair cut until she was older.

However, the woman’s mother-in-law kept suggesting they get it “trimmed” to help it grow. They decided not to follow through with the advice, as their daughter’s hair was growing fairly well already.

That’s when things took a massive turn.

The mum said that her mother-in-law had her now-17-month-old daughter for the day, and brought her home with a beanie on – which she didn’t think anything of at first, as it was so cold outside.

She wrote:

“I asked [mother-in-law] where the hat came from, and she looked sheepish and said she bought it as a gift. Thinking nothing of it, I thanked her and started chatting about how cold it is – assuming that’s why she bought the hat.

“She left quicker than usual. I started removing [daughter]’s outwear. I finally got to pulling her hat off and I was gobsmacked. All her curly hair is GONE! It wasn’t a trim, all her hair is complete gone. “

The mum said that she immediately rang her mother-in-law, who started apologising as soon as she picked up the phone.

She said that the hairdresser had taken too much hair off, before the (understandably furious) mum pointed out that she didn’t agree to her daughter getting a haircut in the first place.

Things got a whole lot worse, though, when the mum asked her mother-in-law if she had kept a lock of her daughter’s hair for her to have.

She continued:

“I’ve told her before that when she has her first haircut, I wanted to keep a lock of hair.

“She said she only got one lock, but that was for her to keep, not me. That added fuel to the fire and I told her she’s completely out of order and she best avoid me for a while.”

The commenters urged the mum to keep her little one away from her mother-in-law, talking about how it was an “outrageous” betrayal and pointing out she was trying to mark her territory.