My HAIRY child

[NYCGori]

@njgal

My younger daughter who is 3 has "roohaan" (hair) on all over her back. I recall some desi "totka" about rubbing kids with atta.

In Pakistan - I recall they use to rub babies with oil and atta.

Before I dump a bag of golden temple - can someone please advise what to do with babies and kids with hair on their bodies.

NJGal, my experience so far with hairy kids is nil. But I can tell you that my sister's little daughter, at the age of 1.5 yrs, finally just lost a little tuft of hair that she carried at the small of her back since birth and it seems like its not going to grow back. I know you're looking for practical, proactive solutions, but there's also the hope that perhaps some of the hair will resolve itself as she matures.

[AnGeL_EyEs]

@NYCGori

I wouldn't be surprised and I think use of hormones is likely contributing to other physical changes in younger generations: obesity rates, birth weights, etc. 30 years ago, 10-pound babies were almost unheard of, and now I hear on a regular basis of women having 10-11 pound newborns. I don't think we have a good grasp of how different production processes and additives in our food supply affect our body, and at least here in the United States where food is such big business, there doesn't seem to be a lot of political or economic will to shed too much light on the grimmer side of these things.

also growth hormones are a contributing factor to girls starting their periods early. GO ORGANIC! ladies. At least with milk if nothing else. It may be too late for us but its not too late to start your kids (especially girls) with organic.

[maroush]

Re: My HAIRY child

OMG at some of the responses!

NJ, the reason why young children have hair on their ears, back etc… it’s an automatic human protection mechanism! You see it all the time on models who are underweight… they have hairy backs etc as your body is going into survival mode. this is why young children, especially new borns have a lot of hair… they’ll grow out of it!

[TLK]

Re: My HAIRY child

Its not just aata , its dough with some oil mixed .. you roll that dough on the baby skin. dough pulls the hair out (like waxing does) and oil not only keeps the skin oily but does not let dough sticks to the skin

[S08]

Re: My HAIRY child

^my daughter screamed when i used that dough thingi...uff

i heard when baby scream thats when u see hair come off...lol its torturing...will never do it again..

[Muzna]

Re: My HAIRY child

TLK and I come from families of similar origin.......the method is still used in my family.....all newborns are subjected to a daily rub down with the atta and then a sunbath. Then bathe in warm water, feed and put the kid down for afternoon nap.
None of the babies in my family have EVER cried or even been upset by the process....in fact, quite the contrary....they have always enjoyed it tremendously as it is done like a full body massage. It's great.

I did it with Noor when she was little and got rid of much of that fuzz....especially from the forehead and facial areas where you really don't want there to be growth of any kind.

[njgal]

Re: My HAIRY child

I am too much of a chicken to do anything that even makes her cry a bit but I thought she might like the messiness of the atta

I have to agree with Munza that I have seen it done to babies and they are not crying at all and infact some even fall asleep during it.

[TLK]

Re: My HAIRY child

^ Just make sure that dont make Paratha out of the same dough to serve to MIL for the breakfast

[njgal]

@maroush

OMG at some of the responses!

NJ, the reason why young children have hair on their ears, back etc… it’s an automatic human protection mechanism! You see it all the time on models who are underweight… they have hairy backs etc as your body is going into survival mode. this is why young children, especially new borns have a lot of hair… they’ll grow out of it!

Models have hairy backs? (thank you Allah mian)..

back to the topic…

What if she doesn’t grow out of it and has self esteem issues? Or resents me because I could have done something about it

Or what if I apply that dough thingy and she thinks I tortured her as a child and resents me.

Why don’t they have books about THESE parenting issues?

[njgal]

@TLK

^ Just make sure that dont make Paratha out of the same dough to serve to MIL for the breakfast

If I only knew how to make a paratha....

[S08]

Re: My HAIRY child

yea right baby don't cry when that thing used...i have seen it and done it myself.

baby screamedddddddd like hell...anyway its ur choice.

[TLK]

@njgal

Models have hairy backs? (thank you Allah mian)..

Off topic but I just googled 'backless gowns' and khoob aankhain phaaR phaaR ke images ko dekha ..

Maroush is wrong

[S08]

Re: My HAIRY child

^:rotfl:

[njgal]

Re: My HAIRY child

Maroush is never wrong. She is the pir of rightness.

TLK - they probably photoshopped the long curly back hair. (eeewwwww)

[maroush]

Re: My HAIRY child

I wanted to write A LOT more in my first post, but had to attend to some urgent matter....

Guys, i can take a laugh and joke, and i don't know if it's cos i've got a bun in the oven that my emotions are magnified x100 but i'm seriously surprised, saddened, disgusted and horrified by some of the responses here... i think it's pretty barbaric that some people are removing hair off children... at such a young age, and with such extreme measure such as waxing!

I've honestly never heard of this atta besan whatever method... i even asked my mum during our normal daily call... even she hasn't heard of it...

Firstly, the excess hair in young children, like i said before, is due to a normal bodily protection mechanism...this is called Lanugo hair. It grows for the purpose of insulation for your baby. The reason why i said models have excess hair also, is because when you are in starvation mode, the body automatically tries to protect itself by making up for the fat and insulation lost, thus Lanugo hair is triggered. Now i understand that some people think that rubbing the hair will make it fall out quicker, but i think it's wholly unecessary.

Secondly, NJ, i understand that your child is 3 years of age. This is still very young, and the excess hair could indeed be due to Lanugo hair still being active. I've known of cases where a 5 year old still has Lanugo hair, so please wait before executing one of these drastic desi totkay.

Thirdly, you say it's primarily on her back. This makes me think that it either is indeed Lanugo, or the unfortunate south asian excess hair gene.

I was going to say it may be some form of hypertrichocis, but as it's just on the back, i really want to reiterate to not do anything with the hair on her back, and wait to see if nature takes it course.

I can see i'm heavily outnumbered, but i had to give my two pence worth, else i would've been disgusted with myself. :)

[TLK]

Re: My HAIRY child

I am with you on this maroush ..

shame on the rest of you people ...

[maroush]

Re: My HAIRY child

I don’t need a chamcha! Now go back to inspecting hairy models… at least you now have a legit reason for when Nik finds you ogling them…

“No nik meri jaan, i’m just checking if they have hairy backs…”

[TLK]

at least you now have a legit reason for when Nik finds you ogling them....

few things need concentration that requires total privacy .. and I like to keep it that way

[Niksik]

Re: My HAIRY child

Well I did this atta thingie for my older daughter as she had quite a lot of hair on her back and forehead but she broke out in a rash. So her doc said that just wait till she is older and most of it will fall off by itself. And it has indeed.

PS: TLK

[eastern11]

@Masi_Museebtay

My SIL waxed her baby when she was a few months old. the poor child cried her lungs out but her mum said, you’ll thank me for this later.. Another friend along with her hubby ‘scotch-taped’ the hair off their newborn..lolzz

People are starting to get their girls start waxing at an early age now, it is said to be effective.

NJgal I’ve also heard the ‘stone’ totka from a class fellow of mine but she wouldn’t give the name away…had such beautiful clear skin.. Can you ask your friend the exact name of the stone please?

I think that’s awful!!! Esp the part about the scotch tape, is like child abuse! Please South Asians are prone to beinbg more hairy and elder people lose hair (all over) as they grow older. That said, the haldi besan etc are good remedies or at least harmless. I did the same for my daughter but she still at almost 4 has a very hairy back. Maybe it will go down or when she’s older we can decide on something else.