Is 7 years old too young to start grooming habits?

Question

My neice is 7 and i would like to take her to get a hairstyle, maybe natural highlight, and too groom her eyebrows some. Part of me thinks this is too young but then again kids are bringing guns and drugs at school this age. And having s*x at 10. I just dont want to wait till she gets made fun of. I want to take care of it before that happens....

Answer 1

You wanted opinions.  This is my opinion:

Are you out of your mind?

What's the problem with her eyebrows?  Are they non-existent?  Do they grow to her chin?  Are they bright green?

She will only have an eyebrow 'problem' if you tell her that she has a 'problem'.  Then she will obsess about her appearance for the rest of her life.

If you do this to her, you will be the catalyst for your niece's long, arduous quest to alter her body in order to adorn it, sculpt it, heighten it, and squeeze it into shape.

It's insidious. She'll be unable to ignore the advertising that is telling her she's not good enough unless she gives other people her hard-earned money to help her fit some ideal of perfection, which only about 8 women in the world will ever hope to achieve anyway (the top supermodels).

Your niece has offered you the perfect opportunity to start educating her about her body (age appropriately) and advertising.

Take a stand, and let her know that she's too young for highlights.

And do all the parents of your niece's classmates a favor. Don't be the one who starts the "Can I?'s" in her class.

Highlights before adolescence are simply unnecessary and the start of the slippery slope towards dissatisfaction with and obsession over physical appearance.

PLEASE don't do this to your niece and by extension to her little friends.

And yes, I have highlights, and yes, I do my eyebrows, and yes, I wear makeup, and yes, I refresh my wardrobe on a regular basis.  But I do so as an adult, with my own money, and with a view that advertisers cannot part me from my money unless I think long and hard about it first.

Answer 2

just pluck her eyebrowns. just the uni brow part away. thats all all the girls who try to grow up too fast either get made fun of by the older girls by trying to be all coool. or become very trashy.

Answer 3

Yes 7 is too young  for a makeover.  This has nothing to do with good grooming habits.  Good grooming habits are keeping onself clean, brushing one's teeth, brushing one's hair...it isn't about getting "highlights" or doing eyebrows.  Besides this is not even YOUR child.  Back off auntie.

Answer 4

My hairstylist won't color, highlight, or perm a child's hair that is under 14.  Don't know if this is just her rule or what.  But I do think 7 is to young to put such an importance of physical appearance.

Answer 5

Most stylists will not style/perm/colour a child's hair until they're 14. Nor will they groom their eye brows

Answer 6

I let my daughter set her own pace. I first dyed her hair at 5. Sometimes she will want me to put make up on her, but only rarely.

EDIT.. I should mention that my daughter is not a little diva. She is now 8 and only asks for makeup if she is around when I am putting it on. If she asks it is for lipstick or such and is not noticeable.

EDIT again, lol... my daughter also has a little unibrow . Once again, I let her set her own pace. She mentioned it at 8 and we tried the NAIR, but it hurt her and she is content to leave it.

I totally disagree with some answers below me. If your child wants to dye there hair for fun, it does not mean they are not pretty enough for you. Also, you are not making them into Barbie. Kids like to express themselves. Along with the desire for this kind of thing is ketchup on the face... highlighter for lipstick, 3 colors of lipstick on each finger, lol.. you get the idea. It is only self expirmenting and at this age is not a serious thing. To the one answer, just because you let your child express themself this way, doesn't mean that you can't say NO to your kids. Heck my kids know what NO means very well. This is fun stuff.

Answer 7

WAAAY too young, in my opinion.  Just stick to painting eachothers nails and braiding each others hair...

Answer 8

You want to dye her hair because you think people will make fun of her haircolor??  You think kids are going to make fun of her because she doesn't have a professional arch on her eyebrows??  And your arguement is kids have s*x at 10!  So are you going to let her do that too??  First of all, let her Mother take care of her grooming habits, second of all, get your priorities straight.  Worry about being sure she can read and right and tie her shoelaces instead of how her highlights look.

Answer 9

I know you just want to be the "cool aunt," but really, 7 is way too young for her to think she needs to worry about things like that. Yes, kids are having s*x at age 10, but do you want to encourage her to be more like an "older" person? Let her be a kid and when her eyebrows become a concern for her, she'll take her own steps to change them. Look at Madonna's daughter... that girl's eyebrows are atrocious and she's a celebrity's kid!

Answer 10

Way to young in my opinion! Shouldn't you be asking her parents if they would allow this? WE are creating more problems by doing these things with younger and younger children. Promiscuity and teen pregnancy all starts with not knowing when to say NO to your /our kids!  ARe you going to take her for breast implants when she is 14?  Good grief! Buy her a Barbie, don't make her your real live one!

Answer 11

I don't think it's ever too young to start good grooming habits, if you are talking about taking regular baths or showers, washing hair regularly, brushing teeth, clipping nails, and keeping hair neat.  

However, I do think that seven is a little too young for highlights in her hair.   Certainly it would be fun to take her to a stylist, pick out something attractive and age-appropriate from a book, and get a new hairstyle.   And if she has a unibrow or anything like that, a little brow grooming wouldn't be out of line, as long as her brows were not over-tweezed into a thin line.

You could also shop for her and make up a cute little "grooming kit."  Get one of those pretty zipper bags, and fill it with a nice new toothbrush, special toothpaste just for her, special gentle face soap, a little hand lotion, hand sanitizer, nail clippers, hairbrush, comb, and some chapstick.  She will feel very special and grown-up, but it's all age-appropriate items that will help her keep herself neat and pretty.

Good grooming is always a good habit, even at a young age; but don't have her grow up too fast.

Answer 12

Too young.

7 is a good age to teach grooming habits such as showering regularly, teeth brushing, hand washing, dressing appropriately for the weather/situation, and other basics.

Save the highlights and eyebrow grooming for when she becomes curious...they stay young for such a short time...soon enough she'll be plucked and made up...don't rush it.

Answer 13

Yeah why not

i started getting my hair done early around 8-9[permanant] and my cousin who is two years younger so 6-7 her mom and my mom died our hair at the same time but she did non permanant. just to try it out

Answer 14

you should talk to her about it first...ask her what she tinks about the situation

Answer 15

I understand where your coming from. I think the highlights are a bit to much right now, but a hairstyle sounds fine, but dont over do it. Don't groom her eye brows too much. Maybe just a little. You don't want older adults to think bad about her. Don't be in a rush....when it's time, im sure you will know! Hold off on the highlights for a few more years! Don't rush her to grow up to fast and i hope your not constantly telling her she needs all this stuff.........cause she doesn't! Threes a lot of pervs and you definitely don't to put her in a bad situation. Let her be a kid.

Answer 16

What? That is way too young!! What are you trying to teach her, that she is not pretty enough for you? She is not even your kid!

Answer 17

Highlights are too harsh for that age, but styling and the rest are great

Answer 18

she's gonna get made fun of if she doesn't have highlights?

I think it's too young.  The chemicals used in hair dye are very strong and would ruin her hair.  If her eyebrows are really bad, I would suggest maybe just waxing the middle (unibrow) part, but leave the rest alone.  And I would go somewhere that uses Alexandria body sugaring as it's more gentle than other waxes.