baby tradition stuff

[InnocentVixen]

- shaving baby's head
- piercing ears at birth for girls
- baptism on baby's first birthday (catholics)


Everyone in my family keeps asking when am I going to shave his head. The thing is, unless he ends up with extremely obvious and unattractive bald spots, it is not in our plans. I did however already trimmed his hair a little bit, which is usually not done until they are older.


I remember pondering about the earrings before I knew the gender, I wasn't sure I would want to do it at birth but I liked the idea of having it done before she went to school. W thought we should only do it if she asks for it, we never reached an agreement on that so it's a good thing we had a boy haha


About the first birthday baptism, we are ok with it.


What about you guys? how do you feel about these kinds of things that are not exactly the rule in your country? have you come across any others?

[michaelb]

Shaving head - never heard of that one, is it a Mexican thing?
Ears pierced -  yes, we pierced my daughter's ears when she was about a week old.
Baptism at 1 year - why wait so long? Most priests will be gland to do it when they are two or three days old. In fact, they prefer that, especially if the baby is sick and looks to be in danger of dying unbaptized if it isn't done as soon as possible (of course I pray that isn't the case with your baby).

Another one about baptisms, in our family we've had 3 or 4 generations of babies (including me) baptized in the same dress. I think a lot of other Catholic families do that also.

[benjio]

- shaving baby's head

OMG! I've never heard of that either! Not even with all the Mexicans I know. Why in God's name would  you shave a baby's head?!! So what if there are bald spots. IT'S A BABY! Is that even safe?

[Awesome]

OMG! I've never heard of that either! Not even with all the Mexicans I know. Why in God's name would  you shave a baby's head?!! So what if there are bald spots. IT'S A BABY! Is that even safe?

Lol! I was wondering the same thing.  I just asked my aunt and she said yes it's a mexican thing.  Supposedly it helps their hair grow out nice and evenly.  I wonder if W is completely ok with it lol.

[Bob_S]

Baby traditions, let's see...
When our baby girl's "apple stem" fell off, my wife took it and put it in our girl's baby memory book, you know that book full of baby photos and stats on size and weight at birth.
When her hair got long enough, my wife trimmed a lock of our girl's hair and had it made into a calligraphy brush.  This is a traditional Japanese thing.  And the maker tested it by writing our girl's name in calligraphy style on a parchment to prove it works.
At a particular age, normally when a baby is ready to graduate to solid foods, they get a little ceremonial dinner of boiled softened mushy foods like carrots, sweet potatoes, and rice.  Even if the child is not ready for solids, and the very next day they are back on milk and formula, for that one evening they are expected to experiment with mushy solids.


No piercings.  That would be something we grown-ups would have to take care of if done too young to make sure the holes don't close up from non use, treat to avoid infections (babies are messy, you know).  So I declared she could get her ears pierced when she turns 15 if she wants.  We'll see if she's still squeamish about needles at that age.

[InnocentVixen]

lol love the reaction to the shaving guys.
It is safe, never heard of an accident but then again it is usually a stylist or nurse who does it. The hair growing nicer etc I am sure is a wives tale as the hair will change regardless but yes, I believe that is their excuse haha.


I've noticed that lately is rare to see girls have it done, but they still think I am weird for avoiding it... you know how it is with genders over here. W doesn't mind surprisingly, not eager either and I can tell he is glad I don't really want to.


As for the baptism with their first birthday, probably an excuse for the big party that comes with it? it's one of those things that has always been, don't really know why. Do keep in mind most people here are not religious, baptism is just a milestone really.


@Bob: love the calligraphy brush tradition!!!


-----
I hated jewelry when I was a kid so Drake will not have to put up with it, but now that I think about it, I guess it's also a tradition to have a gold bracelet with your child's name made when they are born (they don't wear it until they are a bit older obviously) and the traditional gift from godparents is some sort of necklace with a medallion.


I also had a necklace with my name, don't remember why I got it but most young girls have one.

[robert angel]

Some people used to say it's bad luck to cut a baby's hair before they're a year old, but I think that's an old fashioned notion that's gone by the wayside. On my Italian side, they use to have all kinds of superstitions about kids & babies, including that there should be no cats in the house with an infant, etc.

But I'm not superstitious, because I KNOW it's bad luck to be like that!

[robert angel]

A LOT of superstitions go across all nationalities. It's amazing how similar people in very different parts of the world think in somewhat odd ways sometimes.

[Ray]

 
Never heard of cutting an infant's hair either, but I guess it couldn't hurt.
 
 
Baptisms are usually recommended a month or two after birth, but I've been to baptisms recently where the kid was 5-7 years old. I guess it's more fashionable these days to procrastinate(?). My church had a baptism/confirmation/first communion ceremony at Easter Sunday mass for 22 children. mostly teens. Some of those may have been recent converts though.
 
 
 
Ray
 
 
 

[robert angel]

There's quite a range of customs out there!

http://www.babble.com/baby/15-baby-rituals-traditions-around-the-world/baby-rituals-around-the-world-9/

http://www.babyzone.com/baby/baby-care/baby-facts-traditions-around-the-world_243950

[benjio]

Some people used to say it's bad luck to cut a baby's hair before they're a year old..

That's a long-running tradition in my family that's taken very seriously with boys. My mother says it had something to do with the story of Sampson and Delilah and the tradition goes back as far as she can remember. I didn't get my first hair cut until I was 4 years old. Until then they cornrowed my hair because the afro was too big and unmanageable. The cornrow tails reached halfway down my back by the time they decided to cut it. Believe me when I say my girlfriends always get a kick out of seeing those baby pictures. My sister recently did the same thing with my 2 year old nephew, who is half Mexican...so he's got this curly 70's permed afro thing going on. Gives me a good laugh every time I see him. Not to mention all the crap we find in his hair.