Mohawk Hairstyle for 4 and under...maintenance and Styling

my boys both had short 'hawks when they were little (well, my older still has one occasionally now, only the tall lacquered kind) and they were adorable and very easy. we went very very short on the sides, almost to the skin, and short on the 'hawk part, not much more than an inch. as long as it's relatively short it will stand up with basically no upkeep at all. as they start to grow out they may need a touch of mousse or hairspray, but nothing labor-intensive. i'm with you, i have no patience for hair primping. but my boys' mohawks were incredibly easy.
i think it will be absolutely enchanting on a little girl.
:) khairete
S.

Mom, I don't want to upset you, but you need to rethink this idea and reconsider letting your child dictate to you how she wants her hair, or believe me, she will do this in the future with many other things. Have you considered the comments and possible ridicule she will take with children her age and also some adults? Why would you expose her to this? I teach young children and they are so sweet and lovable at your daughter' s age age,but they are also very honest and have very little tact/social skills when it comes to what they say. They are also very observant and very unusual hair will likely cause her to be made fun of. I know this is a cool and very trendy thing to do right now, but please rethink what is best for your child. Also consider if she is going to go to kindergarten, many public schools have rules about dress code and mohwak hairstyles (not allowed in CA). THis is one style that will not be easy to grow out on a girl. Please give my comments some thought for your daughter's sake.

What you do with your kids' hair is certainly your business, but all I want to say is that if my 3 year old daughter wanted her long hair cut off and shaved on the sides, my answer would have been NO.
It's just hair, it grows back....but my 3 year old wanting the sides of her head shaved would have been out of the question. Simple as that.
If your daughter has really long hair, I would do a "transitional" cut because at this age what she thinks she wants and the reality of her hair getting chopped off might be two different things.
You can always take a little more off at a time, but you can't add hair back.

I always kept my son's hair short and we could use gel to make him look nice for his school pictures or use it to kind of make him spikey on top. The days he didn't want to fool with it, he just had a normal boy haircut but still looked groomed. He tried letting his hair grow out like some of the other boys a couple years ago, but he didn't like having to mess with it after a shower or in the morning before school and wanted it short again.
There's nothing wrong with short hair or even using something to kind of spike it up, and I'm sorry, but for a girl I really think you should take the process in small steps. If she doesn't mind getting her hair cut shorter and shorter then you can always do a faux hawk.
At 3, almost 4, your daughter might want a mohawk one week and dreads the next, then she might want her long hair back.
I just think at this age, little kids shouldn't have the final say on doing something drastic to their hair.
That's not being judgemental...it's just my opinion.

I didn't read all of Janey's reply but had to pipe in about a few sentences. As I write this my almost 10 yr old son is laying on my arm. He has had a mohawk style of hair since he was 4 yrs old. It was by his request that I started doing it. But we had a long discussion about it because I knew he would have to face ADULTS being rude or such toward him. No one child has been rude to him about his hair. Most adults love it as well. The two schools he has been in with this hair style have had no problems with it as long as it is worn down during the school day. So weekends and summers are the times he wears it up. During soccer season he wears it up as well.
We go almost to the skin. Also during the summer if he has maintained good grade we bleach and dye it wild colors.
I think you could pull off a mohawk easily on a girl and not have to worry about it growing out. IF she gets bored with it leaving it down will take care of that. Most people are unaware that my son has a mohawk when his hair is down. It is just past his eyes in length.
When his hair behaves I can have it all up and ready to go out the door in under ten minutes. He has hair like mine in that is it very fine hair(but tons of it). We use a Got2b product called Glued. It doesn't take all that much and stands up great during soccer games(sweaty). Tends to wash out rather easily if you use dish soap on it.
If you want to see pictures of his send me a private message on here and I will let you see them either on my facebook or myspace.

I think a faux hawk on girls can be very cute. Natalie Portman had one for a while, and she wore it very well! She just had a shorter cut and would style it that way. When I want a style in my hair (I do the pomp a lot) I use garnier fructis hair putty, and I get it at wal-mart. A little goes a long way. When the hair stylist is cutting your kid's hair don't be afraid to ask what products to buy and how to style it.
This is just my personal opinion but kids are teased for everything. If it's not her hair it would be something else. Rather then sheild her from ridicule teach her how to stand up to it and stand by her decision. Also you can wear a faux hawk to school in cali, my nephew does it every day. I would just check to make sure your school district allows it, and if they don't she can keep her hair short then do the hawk after school and on weekends. =) I am sure your daughter will look cute and rock her style! Good Luck!

I don't think I've ever seen an actual Mohawk on a girl. But you can achieve the look without cutting it that way. Get some small hair rubber bands then gather a series of small pony tails starting at the top of her head and work back. Each time you make a new pony tail, include the hair from the one above it.
Simple braids are easy, too. If you braid right after you wash and brush, it can stay very neat for a day or two. A Dutch under braid is a more challenging (kind of an inside out French braid or a corn row braid) but is a really nice look (like one long continuous braid down the back of the head).
The thing with cutting a Mohawk is once you've done it, it's not easy to recover from. My son had one for Halloween once, but for him it was easy to go to a brush cut next, and I can't think a lot of girls (or their parents) would go for that. Average hair growth is about 6" a year (or 1/4" a month), so cutting off long hair means it's going to take a long time to grow back.
Your daughter might like it, but if she changes her mind after the fact, there is no going back and she's stuck with it. Good luck!

My son went to kindergaten the whole year with a mohawk. His hair grows really fast, so it was kind of a pain. We had to get it cut about every 5 weeks. The sides grow out and then it looks really shaggy. By the time he wanted to shave his head, his mohawk was about 10inches long. We also needed to get product (gel, hairspray, or wax). My younger son (who was 3 at the time) wanted one too. But his hair is much thinner, so we kept his pretty short. Looked very cute.
I didn't read what other people wrote, but I am sure someone said something about how others will perceve her. No worries. My mom was the same way, really gave me some grief about it and how people will look at him and what they will think about him. My son is a great kid and the mohawk did not take away from that!
If you are going for an "easy" hairstyle, this is not it. You need to "do it" every day or else it looks pretty scruffy, you need to be getting it cut/shaved a lot, and you need to buy product.
Good luck!
L.

I think the shorter the hair, the easier it is to maintain in Mohawk style. It really depends on the texture of their hair. If it is really fine, it is going to take a lot of gel to hold it in place (I have a personal aversion to hair products :) but I occaisionally give my son a fake mohawk by using gel to make pointy hair in the middle. We call it his dino doo). If the hair is thicker or has a wave to it, it might be easier to do. I guess it ultimately depends on weather or not you want to spend time gelling it every day. If not, but you still what the stile, get it done short. Talk to the barber/hair stylist. They should be able to tell you how each child's hair is likely to behave.

Boy cut girl cut thing...there is something to remember. Haircuts do not have a gender. Neither do colours. If the person feels good with the style and is happy, then let them be happy.

With that said, my son wanted a mohawk. I suggested he get a really short transition cut first (shorter on the sides, longer on top)...and then I gelled his hair a few times to give him the 'dino doo'. He decided he didn't like the fuss and we were not left with a cut that was inconvienient to maintain or that meant a second trip to the salon.

Remember...It is just hair.

You can get a a short easy maintenance pixie cut. It is very girly and I think cute on little girls. It is also maintenance free, even easier then long hair.This kind of cut can easily be manipulated into any shape, if and when you want it, for a little fauxhawk you just take some gel or styling cream to shape it.
It is much easier and versatile than getting a true mohawk that includes shaving the sides and leaving the top long.
It grows out just fine - as hair does...I cut mine short about once a year and let it grow out again.

What I would do is show her a few picture of that cut that aren't style like a mohawk and show her how short it is... that can be a bit scary if she has really long hair right now and she may change her mind mid cut if she sees all that hair coming off...
Good luck and congrats for raising a girl that doesn't stick herself into the "long haired princess" category!

my son had an awesome mohawk...i loved it ....but for a girl..you are brave....but some kids are daring and know how to bring their personality out .....so i would love to see a pic of finished results.... : o)
my son used a product by garnier fructis called surf head....small jar...it is awesome because it doesnt flake and keeps the hair standing up like a mohawk.....very easy and fast to style.....find it a t target or any drugstore...and as far as the cut...for her i would ask them to fade it up....so that it isnt shaved to the skin...it would look better that way for a girl...thats how we did my sons ...i can send you pics if youd like
hope all goes well

I think this is definitely the time for her to be able to be expressive with her hair. You may want to explain to her that for this year, she can have this special hair cut, but when she goes to Kindergarten next year, it may need to grown out. Most schools (even public) have dress codes and usually, at least in CA, it includes no mohawks.

Can't imagine that this style would be difficult to maintain, there is a lot less hair. There is probably the need to have some product in the hair but there are a lot of brands that are child friendly right now. When she grows it back, you may need to have a much shorter hair style so that the hair 'grows together'.

Depending on the length and condition of your daughter's hair, you may be able to donate it to Locks for Love or some other place that makes wigs for kids that have lost their hair.

We tried it with our almost two year old. He hated having it styled and would often smash it down, which just made it look like he was WAY overdue for a haircut. Plus anything you can use that has real "hold" (like Elmer's glue) needs to be washed out at the end of the day and that's a pain in the neck. So we gave up. Maybe we'll revisit the idea when he's older and wants to be more involved (if he ever does).

Totally agree with Janey J