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Permalink Reply by Jules1984 on May 7, 2012 at 9:08pm

I totally feel for you. My daughter started losing her hair just before her 3rd birthday and she will be 4 in a couple weeks. It has been a year now and she has been AU since September. We decided to shave her head after 4 months of her losing her hair as she didn't have much left. She used to comment on the fact that she has no hair left and when we shaved her head she started saying that she has no hair because she got a haircut. We explained to her the best way we knew how about alopecia areata. She now knows that she has alopecia and can explain that it's when people lose their hair.

I know how hard it is to see your little girl losing her hair... I was emotional almost every night for the first several months until I came to terms with the fact that this is how it is and how it's going to be and that I can either dwell on it or see past it and raise her to be a confident smart girl who loves herself for who she is. She starts school in September and I'm really nervous what that scene will bring... but all I can really do is prepare her and her school as best as I can if a child happens to make fun of her.

The fact that she has no hair doesn't bother her right now... but I suspect that it won't be like that in a while. My mom crocheted a bunch of little beanie hats which are adorable just in case she ever wanted to cover her gorgeous little head. Anyways... if you have any other questions please feel free to ask. Hope you're daughter is coping well... just remember that it's much harder for you than it is for her right now.

Julie

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Permalink Reply by Emma on May 8, 2012 at 8:52pm

I can't answer this as a mom, but I can answer this as me.

I lost my hair when I was little around 3 - however a small part remained.

My parents never shaved it off, although they were told it would never grow back.

Two years later, I had regrowth and gained a head of hair back. Not a full head
but enough to look normal from a distance. At the age of 14 my patches started to develop again and as time went on the harder it got, I was never given the idea of shaving it. But on the 22nd of March of this year I shaved my hair off without discussing it with my parents. It had to be my choice. I had a normal head of hair with a few patches but for me it was a risk that I couldn't take.

I can't at the minute bare to consider growing it back, in fear that it would fall out again.

All I will say is, it has to be her decision 100 Percent, but the younger you are in children the easier it is to get used too it because you've been bought up not knowing any different xx

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Permalink Reply by Mya'sMommy on June 5, 2012 at 4:32pm

Thanks for your replies, it's taken some time to come to come to a point of acceptance... the moment I realized that I love that bald little head just the way it is :)

She has very little left, and I ask her occasionally if she wants to cut it, but she says no. So I will wait it out.

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