Like BTS’ Jungkook: Chinese trend sees some parents buying gear to mold their babies’ heads rounder

November 2, 2021

Parents in China are using helmet-like products on infants to make their heads take a rounder shape amid the rise of a new beauty craze in the country.

The cost of beauty: A popular belief that perfectly round heads look beautiful has led to the popularity of “head-correcting” helmets and other items that promise to help mold babies’ heads, reported Insider.

On local social media platform Weibo, many have been referencing BTS member Jeon Jungkook for his round head shape that many find to be ideal.
Intended for infants with heads that are flatter in the back, the corrective molds are strapped onto a child’s head for hours to get the intended rounded shape.
While a local site noted that the helmets cost around $4,300, cheaper versions that go for as low as $3 are also available on shopping portal Taobao.
Chinese parents have also been buying $20 shape-correcting pillows to get the same effect.
Sleeping mats priced around $15 are also sold to help prevent babies from sleeping in positions that can “cause a flat head.”

A mom’s testimonial: In a post on a local online forum, a Chinese mother swore by her use of “miracle” equipment that she claimed to have helped “correct a baby’s head shape,” according to the South China Morning Post.

In her now-deleted post titled “I took my baby to head-shape correction, despite my family’s protests,” the mother narrated how she got her 7-month-old daughter her own custom-made “head correction gear.”
“I think wearing a head helmet has the same function as wearing braces, which is to correct a body part and make it more beautiful,” she wrote.
She lamented that having a flat head herself, she understands the pain of similar women who have been chasing beauty.
“I don’t want my kid to grow up and regret this part of herself,” she added.
On Weibo, users are sharing how different head-shape-correcting products and methods are working well for their children.
Other users are sharing techniques and best practices in keeping their babies from having a flat head, including styling hair in a certain manner.

Featured Image via Taobao (left), Weibo (right)

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