Parents ask us a lot of questions. When should I book the first cut? Why is my toddler’s hair so thin? Will it grow back thicker if I shave it? We have answered all of those before.
But some of the most interesting things about children’s hair are things nobody thinks to ask. After years of cutting thousands of children’s hair at Kids Hair Play, here are the facts that surprise parents most.
Your baby’s first hair will probably fall out
Most babies lose the hair they are born with within the first six months. It is called telogen effluvium and it is completely normal. The hair follicles go through a synchronised resting phase, and the original hair sheds to make way for the permanent hair underneath.
This is why some babies look bald at four months despite being born with a full head of hair. It is also why the hair that grows back is often a completely different colour or texture to what they started with. A baby born with dark straight hair can end up with light curls. Genetics is unpredictable.
Children’s hair grows faster in summer
This is not a myth. Hair growth is influenced by blood circulation to the scalp, which increases in warmer weather. Studies have shown that hair grows roughly 10 to 15 percent faster during the summer months compared to winter.
This is why parents who keep a regular six-week haircut cycle often notice their child’s hair seems to grow out faster between June and August. It genuinely does. If you find yourself booking more frequently in summer, you are not imagining it.
Redheads have fewer hairs than blondes
The colour of your child’s hair directly correlates with how many individual strands they have. Blondes have the most — around 140,000 individual hairs. Brown-haired children have roughly 110,000. Black hair averages 100,000. And redheads have the fewest at around 90,000.
But here is the trade-off: each red hair strand is thicker than a blonde one. So while redheads have fewer hairs, each one has more volume. This is why red hair often looks thick and full despite having the lowest strand count.
For us as stylists, this matters. Cutting techniques that work beautifully on fine blonde hair do not necessarily suit thicker red hair. It is one of the reasons specialist training in children’s hair makes a real difference — we adjust technique for every hair type we see.
Your child’s hair texture can change multiple times
The hair your child has at two is not necessarily the hair they will have at seven. Hormonal changes during childhood can alter texture, thickness, and even colour. Straight hair can develop a wave. Fine hair can thicken. Dark hair can lighten over summer and not fully darken again.
The most dramatic shift usually happens around puberty, but smaller changes can occur at any age. Parents sometimes worry that something is wrong when their child’s hair texture changes — in almost every case, it is just normal development.
Cutting hair does not make it grow faster or thicker
This one is worth repeating because the myth is so persistent. Cutting hair has absolutely no effect on the rate of growth or the thickness of individual strands. Hair grows from the follicle beneath the skin. What you do to the visible shaft above the skin cannot influence what happens below it.
What cutting does do is remove split ends and breakage, which makes hair look healthier and feel thicker. It also prevents damaged ends from splitting further up the shaft, which can make hair look thin and ragged. So regular trims do improve the appearance of thickness — but they are not creating new hair.
Children feel less pain from haircuts than adults think
When a child cries during a haircut, parents often assume they are in pain. They almost never are. Hair has no nerve endings — cutting it does not hurt at all. The crying is about fear, unfamiliarity, and loss of control, not physical discomfort.
This is important because it changes how you respond. A child in pain needs you to stop. A child who is scared needs reassurance and patience, not necessarily an end to the haircut. At our Sutton Coldfield and Hagley Road salons, our stylists are trained to tell the difference and respond accordingly.
Wet hair is weaker than dry hair
Human hair can stretch up to 30 percent of its length when wet before breaking. Dry hair breaks at around 20 percent. This means wet hair is more elastic but also more fragile — it tears and snaps more easily when brushed roughly.
This is why we always tell parents to never brush wet hair with a regular brush. Use a wide-tooth comb, start from the ends and work upward, and use a detangling spray or conditioner. Yanking a brush through wet tangles from root to tip is the fastest way to cause breakage and make your child hate having their hair done.
Every child’s head shape is different
This sounds obvious, but it matters more than you might think. A haircut that looks great on one child can look completely different on another, even if the hair type and length are identical. Head shape, face shape, hair growth direction, and where the natural partings fall all affect how a style sits.
This is where experience counts. A stylist who cuts children’s hair all day, every day, reads these differences instinctively. They know that a cowlick at the crown needs to be worked with rather than fought. They know that a round face suits a different fringe length to an oval one. They adjust without you having to explain it.
At Kids Hair Play, our stylists cut children’s hair exclusively — not as an occasional add-on, but as their entire focus. That repetition builds the kind of skill that a general salon simply cannot match.
Bring your questions
If you have ever wondered something about your child’s hair and felt silly asking, bring it to us. We have heard every question imaginable — from “why does my child’s hair smell different when wet” to “is it normal for a three-year-old to have grey hairs” (yes, occasionally, and it is almost always harmless).
Three locations across the West Midlands — Sutton Coldfield, Hagley Road Birmingham, and Wolverhampton. Walk-ins welcome, or book online.
