SoCal dads turn to braids and beer for solidarity and support - BERITAJA

GOLETA — For a fewer minutes, the ambiance wrong Captain Fatty’s Brewery successful Santa Barbara County was quiet, different from the accustomed Friday nighttime clamor.

On this precocious May evening, the 15 men gathered location were contemplating tackling thing fewer had antecedently had the courageousness aliases accomplishment to return on. Austin Nieves, a caller transplant to the area and the man who had brought this brave group together, collapsed the strained soundlessness by handing retired beers.

Within minutes, the men, who ranged successful property from 30 to 60, began chatting among themselves.

Then they started braiding hair.

The May 22 arena — Goleta’s type of the viral U.K.-inspired “Pints and Ponytails” nighttime — was sold out. The thought is to person expert hairstylists train uninitiated aliases intimidated fathers connected really to comb and braid their kids’ hair, utilizing salon-type caput mannequins but successful a mounting for bros.

“When the first guys sewage there, they were stiff,” said Nieves, a Pasadena autochthonal who moved to Santa Barbara successful April 2025. “Then aft that first beer, they went from sitting about the separator of the barroom to jumping correct into learning and giving it a shot.”

Dads group members Dan Ucko, left, and Eric Schalla participate successful the hairstyling arena astatine Captain Fatty’s Brewery successful Goleta.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

The gathering was 1 of respective begetter functions by the Santa Barbara Dads group, which Nieves founded past spring.

May’s father statement offered, on pinch the suds, a learning acquisition and camaraderie among fathers, which Nieves believes is overmuch needed.

“When my woman had our son, she instantly became portion of astatine slightest 5 mom groups and classes that offered her help, advice, relationship and training,” Nieves said. “As a first-time father, I really only had my brothers, who had children themselves, to move to.”

Scientific studies person shown that arsenic fathers person taken a much progressive domiciled successful kid rearing, they’ve faced loneliness, uncertainty and confusion.

Researchers Chris Knoester and David J. Eggebeen wrote successful 2006 successful the “Journal of Family Issues” that fatherhood leads “to declines successful feelings of well-being and information successful societal activities” arsenic fathers walk little clip pinch friends.

Clinical psychologists Hillary Halpern and Maureen Perry-Jenkins documented that the modulation from azygous life to fatherhood is often accompanied by a roller coaster of emotions. And researchers from Stockholm’s Karolinska Institute determined successful a 2021 study that fathers mightiness require thief “during their modulation to fatherhood.”

After a friends competition, Chi Jou “Belle” Lin selects the winning mannequin during the May 22 meetup.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

One specified measurement to assistance men is specifically a fathers group, according to the 2021 study.

Most men “were mostly satisfied pinch participating successful begetter groups and described that they positively impacted their narration pinch their partner and child.”

The accrued interaction besides helped amended “their self-confidence and family equality and decreased their loneliness.”

Nieves agreed that his leisure clip and attraction changed sharply aft the commencement of his child, Hudson, now 3 years old, arsenic did his friend group updates.

“They were talking about each this crazy nosy aliases TV shows and I was talking about my boy being capable to assistance his head,” Nieves said. “That’s erstwhile I knew I had to branch out.”

Nieves, past surviving successful Costa Mesa pinch his wife, Katie, created the Orange County Dads nine in October 2023.

His group of merry men held meetups at java shops, beer halls and the zoo, hosted vacation hootenannies and moreover offered CPR classes.

Its occurrence helped spawn a section successful the Whittier area.

Though strictly a fathers club, the group, Nieves said, has grown acknowledgment to wives and partners sharing his societal media posts pinch their husbands.

Mikhail Alfon, laminitis of Blue Light Media, a societal media strategy agency, took his son, Santos, to aggregate Orange County meetups.

“This is our first kid and evidently life changes a lot,” said Alfon successful a societal media post. “Finding peers and friends that are successful the aforesaid shape of life is great.”

That consciousness of community, however, faced a situation arsenic Nieves and his family purchased a location successful Santa Barbara and moved successful April 2025.

Peter Aguilar, left, and Fredy Medel activity connected their technique. Medel’s partner, Daniela Fajardo, holding their 1-year-old daughter, Faylani, records the event.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

Within a month, however, he had established a Santa Barbara-based dads group. Their first meetup was successful May 2025, and they’ve made a constituent to stitchery erstwhile a month.

Austin Jones, a Santa Barbara-based existent property supplier and investor, recovered Nieves done Instagram.

“I’m a husband, a dada and businessman, and it ends up being a batch of hats but very small support, astatine times,” Jones said. “It’s bully to find group successful the trenches pinch you.”

Jones was intrigued by Pints and Ponytails arsenic he’s battled the hair-care needs of his 2 ½-year-old daughter, Noa, and her textured, curly locks.

In a short while, Jones had gained capable assurance successful whipping his mannequin’s hairsbreadth into a ponytail that he vowed to effort pinch his girl soon.

“I was only beautiful bully astatine putting connected a headband earlier this,” he quipped.

The six mannequin heads and the hr of instruction came courtesy of Santa Barbara cosmetologist Chi Jou “Belle” Lin, who offers area mobile services.

“I saw the societal media station and a batch of group reached retired to maine to thatch the class,” Lin said. “I had to help.”

Lin said the mannequins she brought varied successful hairsbreadth magnitude and type, from consecutive to coily, but besides good successful texture, arsenic she tried to replicate young children’s hair.

She besides taught the fathers basal hair-care techniques, including shampooing, detangling, checking for lice and really to necktie ponytails and braids.

Even if they started retired reticent, the fathers became progressive participants, asking questions about creating a neat French braid, what to do about tangled ponytails and really to woody pinch frightened children, Lin said.

“I was really impressed pinch the dads and their skills and the real-life questions,” said the stylist, who has individual acquisition astatine location successful her 2 ½-year-old daughter, Lotus. “Not each men person the courageousness to inquire questions.”

For Nieves, the concealed successful gaining caller dads and retaining others is simplicity.

“If you unfastened the door, the fathers will travel because everyone could usage immoderate help,” Nieves said. “But they conscionable request to cognize it exists and they’re not alone.”

Days aft the Goleta get-together, Santa Barbara dada Eric Drachman became a personage astatine the preschool of his daughter, Noa, who is soon to beryllium 3.

“When the videos of the arena were posted, the teachers astatine the schoolhouse recognized me,” Drachman said. “They would inquire my daughter, ‘Who did your hair?’”

The query that intends most, however, is erstwhile Noa asks her begetter to hole her hair.

“She asks occasionally,” he said. “It‘s specified a nosy move we have.”