Young girls, including toddlers, are not exempted from the practice of wearing intricate hairstyles for their school nursery parties, weddings, birthdays, and Sallah. These hairstyles range from braids to twists and cornrows, all styled with hair extensions. Most times, the toddlers' hairstyles are further adorned with a variety of colourful beads. Relaxers are also used to tame hair which is regarded as wild and difficult to handle. During these special occasions, it is not uncommon to see parents, especially mothers, queued up at a hair salon with their toddlers, while a hairstylist works on the hair of a wailing toddler with large volumes of hair extensions. The child's parents would then hold her in place and pacify her with foods like biscuits and chocolates.
Blessing, a hair stylist we spoke to, states that she does not style toddlers' hair during festive periods for these reasons. "I don't make hair for toddlers anymore because of their disturbances and the way they move their head and never sit still," she says. She also complains that the hairstylist would have to move around a lot to be able to style the hair perfectly. "For adults, they just sit down and you style their hair without stress. For babies, styling their hair is stressful, not to talk of festive times when their parents would insist that they add wool, attachments, and beads," she explained further.
This practice is prevalent because many parents want their children to look beautiful on special occasions. Some mothers would even choose to leave their hair undone instead of their childs’. Janelle Akahomen, a natural hair expert and stylist, affirms this. "As Africans, we believe that special occasions call for special looks which is why parents take time to make sure theirs have the ‘best look’ in town, class, church and anywhere," she says.
While it is not a crime to style a toddlers' hair so they can stand out, over manipulating the hair with hair extensions and chemicals can cause long-term damage to their hair and scalp, as well as negatively affect their view of what beauty should look like.
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Implications
Scalps and hair of children under the age of three are not fully developed hence the need to do away with high manipulation hairstyles. Rosemary Balikita Amma, a natural hair expert, talks about the dangers these hairstyles pose to the health of their scalp and hair. "Everyone tries to look good and extra during festive periods. Mothers also try to beautify their kids but a lot of them go overboard with the tight styles, heavy extensions because toddlers' hair is more fragile by nature and they are tender-headed. This practice leads to breakage and damage of the hair follicles and at times the effect can be irreversible because the tension from such styles can take a toll on the scalp and hair strands,” Amma says, “It can lead to loss of edges, traction alopecia, which is caused by repeatedly pulling, hair breakage and excessive shedding, injury on the scalp, and boils. If the hair follicles have been permanently damaged through such styles, hair might never grow there again."
Tightly pulling the hair close to the scalp, which is a major part of the Nigerian hair scene, is a huge contributing factor. Because these hairstyles are inappropriate for toddlers, they may further tug at it when they feel hot or generally uncomfortable, thereby ripping their hair off their scalps with the hair extension. In other cases, toddlers are also exposed to the dangers of swallowing beads and physically harming themselves with other hair adornments.
To get these hairstyles done, toddlers are usually subjected to pain that in the end, they have to take painkillers to relieve them of the migraine that comes with the high tension hairstyles. Besides this, wearing these hairstyles means that they have to carry twice or thrice as much weight on their head which is not good for the neck. "Extensions may be too much for a toddler. You want your child to love their hair, not fear the process. I believe a child can look beautiful for festivities without going through pain. Extensions can weigh down the hair, cause pain, severe breakage and hair loss," Akahomen says.
Adetoun Animashaun, a mother of 19 and 5-year-old girls, also confirmed the use of painkillers for her teenage daughter as a toddler to subside the possible migraine from the hair tension and crying. "Once the hairdresser started styling her hair, especially if it was braids, she would start to cry. Sometimes she cried throughout. Sometimes she would cry for a while and sleep off. Once she woke up again and saw that she was not done she would continue crying so the hairdresser would have to stop and we would pet her with biscuits. Before and after making the hair, I always made sure to give her paracetamol because she used to cry a lot. Sometimes, she would run a high temperature and her forehead would be so hot," she says.
On using hair relaxers, Akahomen narrates her experience, "I've also seen parents relax their child's hair to make them more beautiful for the festive seasons," she says. "Growing up, I hated relaxers. I hated the smell and the feeling. I hated that I had to wait to feel a burning sensation before it would be washed off and even then, I would often hear the stylist say, ‘It's not relaxed yet. Bear it a bit.’ Then I'll end up with scalp injuries and hair pulling out of my scalp. It was a nightmare but I was made to believe it was the ‘necessary step to look beautiful’, ‘beauty is pain’, they would say. It took me years to break out of this. I didn't have to go through that. But the idea that I had to, was in my head for a long time and if not for self-realisation, it would have still been an idea in my head."
Amma also talks about the dangers this can pose to the toddler, "For parents who also relax their toddler's hair during this period, they need to know all relaxers contain chemicals. Processed hair is more prone to breakage, alopecia, dryness, etcetera. It can also sting, burn, irritate, and cause irreparable damage. Now imagine applying this to a toddler's hair. It may result as a health hazard," she says. Just like the practice of festive hairstyles negatively affects the scalp and hair of a toddler, it does the same to their attitude towards their hair. A child who is used to having her hair styled with hair extensions during celebrations for the sake of appearing more beautiful than their usual self may never appreciate the idea of rocking their natural hair on a special day as well as a normal day. They may also grow up to be insecure about their hair as they may regard it as less than beautiful in its natural state.
"People would say, ‘it's just hair’, but it's not. It is part of what makes them feel good. Adding extensions, relaxers and all that to their hair may create a feeling that their hair isn't beautiful as it is. It was how I felt for the longest time. You may make them think their hair is too ‘strong’, ‘looks unkempt’ and ‘needs to be hidden’ with relaxers and extensions. No child should go through that," Akahomen says."Make beautiful hairstyles for your child all the time and not just for Christmas and other holidays. Again, it may form an idea that the only time to look glamorous is for Christmas. Your child should look good all the time and should feel that way too," she adds.
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The Role of Parents and Society
Parents who make elaborate hairstyles for their toddlers during festive periods or special occasions do so for different reasons, such as the enhancement of their child's beauty, their child's preference for the hairstyle, and even societal expectations.
Balikis Olayiwola, the mother of a three-year-old girl claims she makes festive hair for her daughter because of the beauty the hair extensions and the beads bring, which she also likes. While we may argue that the kids love these hairstyles as well, it is necessary to agree that they are just being placed under weird and unnecessary pressure by their parents and society to appear more beautiful. Who does not like the idea of their beauty being enhanced? Definitely not kids. The use of hair extensions to create the illusion of fuller hair and colourful beads would look appealing to a child because that is what they have been conditioned to address as beautiful and befitting for special occasions. Therefore, parents need to break away from the shackles of societal pressure to decorate their child's hair, especially if they are below the age of three.
"For pressure from society, I believe this goes for everything else. Do you, because it's what you want not because it's what people expect or see as right. Is it right for you? Is it right for your child? Are they happy? Why is being socially accepted so important to you? If someone thinks your child’s hairstyle is too ‘basic’, show them it's not. Show them confidently how beautiful your baby is. There is nothing basic about your child's happiness," Akahomen says. Parents should also be educated on ways they can effectively care for their toddler's fragile hair and scalp. "I believe there is also a need to teach parents to embrace a child's natural hair. They should invest in caring for the child's natural hair rather than spending all that money on extensions," Amma says.
Adetoun seems to be among the parents who have acquired this education from her experience with her older daughter. "Now, I've stopped that practice because of the time that is usually wasted at the hair salon. Also, I've realised that the child's scalp and body should not be made to pass through such stress just because of a season or celebration. So festive and non-festive periods are no longer different for me. All I ensure is that my little daughter's natural hair is well-cared for and styled into different low manipulation hairstyles," she says.
On what to do instead of high manipulation hairstyles that are go-to for special occasions and festive seasons, Akahomen advises that toddlers go with simple hairstyles like mini buns, chunky twists, and other easy styles that can be done at home. And if need be, it should be styled by someone who will handle the hair gently.