Starting kindergarten - wig or no wig?

My 5 year old little girl is starting kindergarten in a couple of weeks. I thought she was excited about this, but it turns out that she's actually terrified that the kids will laugh at her. She told me last night that there was a "friend" in preschool that was making fun of her after she lost her hair. She's afraid the new kids (she wont know anybody) wont like her in school because she doesn't have hair.

She has a nice wig that she wants to wear on the first day, but after that she wants to only wear the wig "sometimes". I'm torn about this. On the one hand, I dont want anybody picking on her for being bald...and if they see her with hair one day and no hair the next, it seems like that's just asking for trouble. But I also don't want her to "hide" from her Alopecia. I dont want her to feel like she has to wear a wig at all times and can't ever let anybody know her "secret". I dont want her resenting me someday when I'm only trying to protect her...

Please help. I'm leaning towards letting her do whatever she wants and dealing with whatever happens, but I need to hear from other parents or kids who have gone through this to ease my mind.

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Permalink Reply by Emmy on September 29, 2011 at 12:20am
I think she should go wigless! i chose the wig route and now i have to keep it that "secret" and i wish i would have just gone bald in the first place, cause it is too late now.
Permalink Reply by Dee on October 7, 2011 at 9:30am
Oh, my...do I understand your pain. My 4 year old is in kindergarten now and is going through a loss cycle. She has lost most of her hair. We just sent her and have not yet had any problems. Small kids can be very accepting. I am hoping to hold off on the wig until she is older because of the reasons you stated. I don't want her getting itchy from the wig and pulling it off in the middle of class. I think that would be worse.

I noticed you wrote this in August...what did you decide?
Permalink Reply by kellyc on October 7, 2011 at 12:19pm
Dee, she decided to wear the wig. These kids have never seen her without it and dont know about her Alopecia. This was her decision to make, and I tried not to sway her either way. HOWEVER...this past week or so she has told me that she wants to tell her friends, which I encouraged her to do. She told one boy, and he had zero reaction. I was so proud of her... She told me that what she wants to do is to tell everybody so that she only wears her wig sometimes, rather than everyday. So far though, its just been the one boy (that I know of).

Good luck with your daughter.I would say wait as long as you can on the wig, but ultimately let her choose :)Let me know how it turns out for you...

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