3.5 Yr Old Hair Won't Grow

How does her scalp look, is it dry and flaky or is it oily or normal. I am a liscensed stylist and with that question being answered I can provide you with the information you want. N.

I really have no advice to help only to respond to the "If you cut the hair it will grow faster"

Your hair is dead...your hair grows from the root of your scalp. The hair is dead cells being pushed out to be replaced with new cells. Cutting your hair will NOT promote hair growth it only removes the split ends. So dont rush to cut your little girl's hair in hopes for rapid growth it will result in nothing.

Hi S..... You can try a good conditioning shampoo. Make sure to really condition the ends so that they don't break. You do not have to cut her hair to get it to grow. We do not cut our girl's hair and it is growing. Your hair does not grow form the end. Hair is dead cells and grows from the root. I used to think that I had to trim my hair to get it to grow, but that is not the case. I have only trimmed my daughter's hair one tme b/c it was very uneven, but I regretted it and will not cut it again. Someone also told me that you can put her hair up(somehow tucking the ends in) so that the ends are not rubbed at night therefore causing them to break. Good Luck. And if you don't want to cut her hair, you don't have to.

My 3& 1/2yr. old daughter was the same way. Actually it only got to her shoulders a couple months after she turned 3. Her hair is very fine.
While my other daughter has thick, fast growing hair.

I wouldn't worry about it if your Dr. agrees that she is perfectly healthy.

S.,

I'm not directing this at you...so don't be alarmed :)
I just wanted to let you know about a friend of mine whose girls both had REALLY short hair. I'm talking fuzz. It turns out both of her girls had a kidney condition that required treatment. Their lack of hair was an effect of their poor health. She had no idea, just thought they had short hair, and were on the petite side. Luckily, her ped diagnosed them with a genetic condition around the time the oldest was four, and they had surgery. They are now both healthy, with hair growing! I don't know how that works since hair is technically dead cells though??? I know my doctor has checked the condition and color of my nails at check-ups, so maybe it's along the same lines.
99% of the time it's probably just slow growing hair, but I did want people to be aware it can be an effect or symptom of other health issues.

My daughter was pretty much bald until after her 3rd birthday. Until then she had "comb-able fuzz".
By age 4 she finally had a good "halo" of curls. She got her first trim on her 4th birthday (under the same advice of trimming it will stimulate it to grow)
She is now 6.5 and it is just touching her shoulders. It is also VERY curly. She has cried that she can't have the beautful long pigtails that the other girls in her class have.
I just tell her that her hair is taking its time because it's going to be more beautiful than the other girls' hair.

Her hair will grow when it is supposed to. Trimming it won't stimulate the hair. My husb the biologist informed me that the hair on the end is dead, and you can't stimulate dead things. ha...ha.. He said it is all about genetics. Her hair will grow when it is supposed to.

My Mother told me that my hair took a long time to grow in as well. Now it grows at a crazy rate. I cut my hair Feb of 2006 to shoulder length. 2 weeks ago I just chopped off 11 inches - enough to donate it to Locks of Love. (and my hair is shoulder length again)

We all want our girls to have the beautiful long hair - sometimes we just have to be patient and wait for it. Trust me, the wait is harder on us as Moms than it is on them.
Don't worry.
-Angie-

This may be what my otherwise perfectly healthy daughter has - a hair disorder called Short Anagen Syndrome. Check out Short Anagen Syndrome and Loose Anagen Syndrome. Check out the Facebook group for SAS for pictures and stories of LAS and SAS.

My six year old's read, curly hair took it's sweet time growing! People always thought she was a boy. It's only been in the last year (she's six now) that it's really started to look like little girls ringlets, rather than sticky out boy hair. :) And, boy, do I miss those days of being able to go out with trying to tame her hair! :)

My daughter's hair was the same way...She didnt get her first haircut until she was 4 and just had her 2nd one at 5.....It will grow...I know you have prob. heard if you cut it it will grow....The thing to that is, if you trim all the dead ends off, her hair wont split and it will stay healty....The hair cut my daughter just got, i think finnaly cut off all the baby hair and it looks so much better and thincker....Just give it time and it will grow....

Have you had her hair trimmed regularly? Believe it or not, hair that is trimmed regularly grows faster. It's not really growing faster, but what happens to hair that is not trimmed is the ends get brittle and break off and when they do they take a little extra with them. Healthy hair needs to be trimmed like once a month, just a little bit - not a lot.

Good luck!!!

Hi S.,

I don't really have any advice but just wanted to send a note to say I sympathize with you. My daughter is 5 1/2 and is in the exact same boat. Her hair is just now barely reaching her shoulders and she has never had a real hair cut. Of course I trim the ends because everyone says that will promote growth but nothing has helped.

To top it off one week before she is to start Kindergarten she decides to give herself a hair cut. She gaves herself bangs where she did not previously have any. Needless to say I was devastated thinking it is now going to take another 5 1/2 years just to get back to where we were a week ago.

Good luck.