My son has a cowlick and its always standing up. How do I fix this?

A cowlick is a section of hair that grows out of the scalp in a different direction as the hair directly surrounding it. For those of you who never participated in 4H (much like myself) you may be interested to know that the term “cowlick” refers to when a mother cow licks her baby calf after birth, which causes a swirling pattern (much like that frustrating scrap of hair on the back of your son’s head) in the calf’s coat.

That said, there are surprisingly few solutions to cowlicks for boys. It’s not like you can throw a bow over the problem and call it a day. The general consensus is that you can choose one of two solutions: let it grow long or cut it short.

Cowlicks are the stubborn frustration of many parents and stylists, mainly because they defy gravity (or so it seems) and refuse alternate partings. Cutting the hair in a cowlick short is perhaps the go-to solution for many boys because short haircuts are low maintenance and never go out of style. The shorter the hair, the tidier and less noticeable the cowlick.

On the alternate route (for mothers who like a little length on their boys) is to let the problem area grow slightly longer than the rest of the hair. This allows the hair to gain some weight which will usually make the cowlick lay down and play nice(r). When you visit the hair salon for your monthly/bimonthly/seasonal/whatever haircuts be sure to let your stylist know that you want to leave the cowlick area long so that it will lay down and blend into the rest of your son’s hair better.

*Special Note*
Make sure to ask your stylist to not overdo it with the texturizing shears on this area. This is a common mistake many stylists make that will set your son’s hair progress back by at least a month. Then you will have a sparse, choppy cowlick in place of where your son’s normal cowlick would be.

Most importantly, throughout all of your frustrations with your son’s unruly mop, you need to be encouraging him to see the uniqueness of his hair in a positive light. In any situation involving your child’s self image positivity is always the key to a well-rounded child. Too often I have seen children who’s self esteem issues obviously stem from a parent whose is constantly frustrated or criticizing their hair. Teach your children to love themselves for who they are, no matter how tangled their hair may be, and you will be patting yourself on the back down the line when you have a confident, self-assured adult son or daughter.