Kids With Dreadlocks

kids with dreadlocks

 

Kids With Dreadlocks

If your child is wanting dreadlocks and as a parent you've considering the implications of having kids with dreadlocks, you'll undoubtedly be currently sitting on the fence about if it is right for your family and your child.

We interviewed Amanda Corbin about her daughter Arabella to get an insight into life as a family that has kids with dreadlocks. This is their story!

 

image1Right: Arabella 1 month before

With summer approaching I wanted something manageable for our daughters hair. We showed her pictures of a little girl with braids and another picture of a little girl with dreadlocks. When we asked which ones she wanted in her hair she told us she wanted dreads. We told her all about dreadlocks and showed her more pictures of when I (mommy) had dreads and that she could keep them in for more then just the summer... I remember telling her she had to keep them in until at least grade 5!

Our Arabella has always had a quiet but fierce demeanour about her. Her name means beautiful Lion and that she has always been! We just knew she could pull off dreadlocks and that it would bring out her shy but beautiful little personality even more!  We have worked hard at parenting all our children by bringing out the best in them and showing them unconditional love... Bella knows she's beautiful with or without the dreads so if she ever faces the odd look or questions about her hair she shrugs it off because she's confident in who she is.

    We purposely didn't tell many people we were dreading her hair because I knew I would get the "are you serious?" look from a lot of people! I think I would've doubted our decision had I let people talk me out of it. But since we've gone dread head we haven't had one regret!

The time and maintenance of dreads kept me on the fence. I join a few dreadlock Facebook groups and found some encouragement and lots of info regarding maintenance that helped me face those fears! The other thing that kept me wavering was how beautiful Bella's hair was - thick, long, gorgeous! And I love playing hairstylist. I was afraid I would miss doing her hair in braids and twists. But dreadlocks have opened up a whole new door of hair stylist adventures for this momma!

Bella has only been in junior kindergarten for 2 months now and from what I've have experienced everyone seems to love her and her hair! For crazy hair day she told her teacher she wouldn't have to do much because she already has crazy hair! There have been a few parents who have asked me about the cleanliness of dreads and what would I do if she got head lice... I just asked them if their kids had clean haiimage2r and what they would do if their kids got head lice.... Told them dreads aren't much different and that they didn't need to be scared of them!

A few odd looks here and there but now people don't seem to notice it anymore. We live in a small rural community (2500 people) so most people at least recognize each other. Every once in a while we will get the "oh you have the girl with dreads!"  And at least once a week we are asked by some random person if they can take Bella's picture or just a picture of her dreads. Sometimes we feel like we have our very own famous supermodel with us!

    High school kids have told us that if a four year old can pull off dreads then they want to as well! And I often get told I'm a brave mom letting my daughter have dreads. Not sure what that means... But I've also been told I'm the coolest mom for letting my daughter get dreadlocks! I'll hold on to that one!

I would encourage parents who are considering kids with dreadlocks to get as much info as possible (maintenance, products etc) and to let their kid be involved in the decision. Make sure they understand what I means to have dreadlocks and the time commitment too! Having dreadlocks have brought out the best in our daughter! They have made her brave and boosted her self esteem, they have given her something that is different from everyone else she knows! Her confidence level has skyrocketed! She believes in herself and walks around knowing she is one of a kind!  Kids need that kind of 'special' in their lives. If it takes dreads to bring out the best in them then do it! Don't sit on the fence if you know you can make a positive change in your kids life!

 Leave your messages below in the comments to send love for Arabella and her journey!

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20 thoughts on “Kids With Dreadlocks”

  • Forrest

    Front line every time for lice! Nothing else worked on mine but front line obliterates them. My thoughts were if it's safe enough for puppies then it's safe enough for me.

    Reply
    • Shushu

      Frontline is NOT realy safe for puppies... I know the vet give it to them, put actually it was inventet for plants... Then they fond out it works for lices and bugs, but its actually f*** poison! Wouldt give that to my puppie and for shure would never use it for myself!

      Reply
      • Loz

        What would you use on your puppy? Btw, used kitten flea tick n live spray once as a last resort n worked a charm!!

        Reply
      • Forrest

        Each to their own I guess. I had tried cider vinegar,need oil and pretty much every over the counter lice treatment and was at the end of my tether. Yet to find delacet which is supposed to have 100% mortality rate and made from larkspur tincture. Very had to find. So I used front line. But it IS a chemical at the end of the day so you gave to use your own judgement. I just didn't want to shave my head just yet :)

        Reply
  • Abbie

    What a lovely story. My 3 year old has partially dreaded hair and loves it, over time more of her hair is naturally dreading. Kids with dreads look so cute!

    Reply
  • Arit

    i love how she looks :)
    I have 2 girls, and the oldest wants her dreads this winter.
    :)

    Reply
  • Erin

    Have you considered the cultural appropriation going on here?

    Reply
    • Elijah

      Hi Erin,
      At Dreads UK we have chosen to avoid politics. Even more so when the topic is of a racial nature. The cultural narrative of other cultures is not our place to comment. We do however have an article called 'The concise history of dreadlocks' which reveals the origins of dreadlocks and the cultural narrative birthed within the UK and the rest of europe. It can be found here
      https://www.dreadsuk.com/dreadlocks-guide/the-concise-history-of-dreadlocks/
      Many Thanks

      Reply
      • lenny

        haha dread locs ARE of a racial nature.... but we all chose to get our information from different places. Erin's question is valid.

        Reply
    • Aniya

      Saying a hair style is soley from one culture is stereotyping. Please take a moment and do some research on this.

      Reply
    • Elisabeth LaMouria
      Elisabeth LaMouria May 21, 2017 at 8:46 pm

      I have had dreads for about 3 years - I had wanted them for about 10 years and am sooo happy with them! I had lice once from my kids and essential oils and coconut oil worked. My 11 year old son has been growing his hair out to be dreaded this summer and I'm planning on dreading my little girl's hair as well once she has enough. It's such an easy and care free style - I wouldn't ever go back to non-dreads!

      Reply
    • Patrick

      Cultural appropriation? Pretty sure the first dreads were on a caveman.lol

      Reply
  • Hannah

    I got my dreads when I was 13 years old and it was an amazing confidence booster. I went from knowing nearly no one in my 1700 person high school, to a social butterfly that everyone knew! I don't know if this is the right word to be using, but I'm forever grateful to my dreads haha!! :)

    Reply
  • Aniya

    My son who is now 8 has dreads. I was nervous at first on his first day of school. It went well for him. The older kids love them. We put his dreadlocks in during the summer months so that he could experience having them around people who support him. As parents we advocate and have to educate others about dreadlocks. Their our babies, teaching them self acceptance and confidence helps in a world full of opinions.

    Reply
  • Simone

    One of my 8 year old twin sons, begged me to let him start dreads for several months...we are going with the neglect method and about 2 and half months into the process...he is dreading up nicely...he loves his dreads and had me knit a wool dread tam in his favorite color. he has recently taken to calling them elf locks, since we read an article about them having been called that and because he thinks he looks elf or fairie like with them.

    Reply
    • Elijah

      Aww, thats super cute!! Yeah, elflocks was the term given to dreadlocks in european origins.
      You might like this article :) https://www.dreadsuk.com/dreadlocks-guide/the-concise-history-of-dreadlocks/

      Reply
  • Tiffany

    Beautiful story..I recently dreaded my daughters hair. Living in cons edgy McGeeervative IS it wasn't accepted at first, but l

    Reply
  • Tiffany

    Beautiful story..I recently dreaded my daughters hair. Living in conservative KANSAS it was not accepted at first. Thank God I was blessed with a child that dances to the beat of her own drum. I told her if she loves her hair no one else has to. I also remind her of her natural beauty daily. Again beautiful story.

    Reply
  • Mercury

    I have a few questions...
    My son is four and has sensory issues...he will not let us brush or wash his hair without a fight, but since we also believe in bodily autonomy and he doesnt want it cut, it has never been cut. its past his shoulder blades and becoming a hassle as he started nursery last fall
    normally we let him keep it down if he wants and in the past didnt fuss to much with the brush
    but school requires him to keep his hair tidy
    so we have been talking with him about maybe doing elflocks so we wouldnt have to brush it anymore
    in fact we found this page by searching for kids with dread locks and he insists that Arabella is him ;) (they do look almost related!!)
    any suggestions for how to do it without just doing the neglect method (school wont allow that and we would rather not wait til summer)?
    also any experience on how kids on the spectrum/with sensory issues handle the dreads afterwards?
    and my last question is about the lice
    as thats our biggest hair concern with school now lol
    i have a great all natural treatment for lice but i have no clue how we would remove the actual nits and lice from the dreads? since you cant exactly run a nitcomb through them...? so any info on that would be much appreciated

    Reply
  • Jessica

    This is a late reply but my 8 year old son has sensory issues and dreads. We decided to give them a go as a result of the dreads naturally forming because he hated having his hair brushed. It was down his back (his choice to have long hair) so we went for it. We went to a salon and had someone put them in who is very knowledgeable in the art of dreadlocks. It did take 4 hours and not an easy process but now that they are in, we love them. They really suit him and he can wake up and go. There is some mainteananxe involved including using an all natural tea tree spray that keeps lice at bay.

    Reply
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