Mums of girls: Tips for hair pls

I always sit Ashleigh in front of the telly when I'm doing her hair. Although I am very lucky in that she doesn't actually mind having her hair done and the telly only aids in keeping her head straight and not trying to look everywhere. I even managed to do 2 french plaits in her hair the other day!

Hmmm has she got a doll with kinda real hair that she could do while you are doing hers?

TV and bribery is what we used when Michaela was younger (we buy those 90% fruit juice snacks and tell M that they're lollies which they basically are IMO). 

Now that she's older I stroke her ego by telling her that her hair is just like sleeping beauty's and on the odd occasion that she's a real rat bag I threaten to cut all her hair off if she doesn't sit still.

I use a lot of conditioner when I wash it so it's easier to comb and I also bought a johnson & johnson detangling spray which I told her was magic spray to stop it from hurting (now the bottle is just filled with water and it's mind over matter).  The thing is that the hair is easier to comb if you keep it tied back as often as possible because they don't get as much food, paint, mud etc through it.

The other thing that works for me is doing a really good plait (or plaits) once or twice a week and leaving her hair like that as many days as it will last.

Thanks for all the replies :) glad to see there's others out there and its not just Caty!

Love the idea about a doll with hair (although all hers dont have any ) as she loves her baby dolls at the moment - copying me with our newborn.

I'll try the TV and snack thing too - if i get her distracted with the Wot Wots or Night Garden - she may sit still long enough for me to attempt something! :)

We started early with Paris because she had such a lot of it from early on.

As she got bigger etc we let her brush her hair too, ie she had a brush and then we did it - (same as we did with brushing teeth). I have always brushed to get rid of knots, then wet down with a spray bottle, and used a comb to quickly comb into the piggy tails etc.

Start with something like half-up half-down piggy tails - they are pretty quick and don't take too much to do - ie they don't have to sit long.

Ayja was harder but again got hairy pretty quickly lol, we used to stealthily do hers in the mornings while she had her morning bottle, and for a while it did turn into a bit of a task once she cottoned on to what was going on but perservereance is the key.   

I think making it a part of the daily routine is important, Ie she probably sees that you get up dressed, hair done etc, so follow the same thing with her, get her up, dressed, brekkie then sit to watch tv and get her hair done something like that.

The girls now know that if it is daycare or school day the MUST have their hair tied up, no arguement, but at home they can have it down as long as it has a headband or clips to keep it tidy.

Tv as has been said, we used that, they'd get their hair done while watching Hi-5 in the morning. I'd make sure we were facing the TV.

Try playing hairdressers, get some dolls, and some hair ties, let her do yours (oh always fun) then do the dols hair together, then sit in a line and have her do her dolls hair and you do hers. do the whole hairdresser talking thing, talking about "oooh i'm going to do this, and this".. lol make it fun. make a point of taking turns to go look in the mirror.

take her and let her pick out special hairties that she gets to have in her hair. $2 shop is good, you can get lots of them for fairly cheap. let her do her dolls hair while you do hers. distraction, repetition and perserverance is the key.

I did the same thing with my nanny charges, for a the first little while i got really good at doing piggy tails while walking around, they'd toddle from place to place and I'd snap up the chance to put the hairtie in while i could. Then they just got used to sitting down and getting hair done after getting dressed.

The other most important thing, Which i have found having girls with curls too, is making sure you have a really good conditioner that detangles - we used to use the strawberry detangler spray put out by palmolive (i don't like the johnsons one)    makes curls soooo much easier to brush - cos if there's knots and it hurts, they are less likely to sit still.

hehehe and one last thing - if you get the "snag-free" hairties.. the little black and clear plasticy elastic things.... little people give up on trying to pull the hairties out because they are quite hard to get out, and if you aren't careful they do hurt a bit... so they dont' try it much after the first few times (sounds terrible but keeps their hair in very well!)

hope some of that helps, good luck.

Edited by mum2paris

I always use conditioner and/or a leave in conditioner. If she complains when I pull her hair, i say well if you'd let me tie it up....one day she'll learn lol

we used to use the palmolive kids apple shampoo (also available in honey as well, smells divine)   have now graduated for our "fashion conscious" girls to the "fashion girl" shampoo and con 2in1, by palmolive - smells like roses, and we get the extra conditioner that i put thru their hair at least once a week in addition to this.

lol Kellz, i use the snaggies then cover them up with the cute pretty hairties.

We use the J&J's 2in1 for kids, but Hannah gets to use our conditioner as well. (Her hair is really thick!) I figure a 5yo is old enough to learn to do hair stuff without the suds going in their eyes - no probs with it here, her biggest issue is hating it being rubbed in lol.

As far as tying up goes, Hannah has almost always had a fringe because she hates her hair being tied up (always has, and as a little baby she hated hats too). I have never made a big issue out of it, just try broaching the issue again from time to time. The younger girls love their hair being tied up though, must just be a personal preference thing.

I still use th J and J 2 in one, (cos I use it for J as well) but I do condtion C's hair seperately as well as she is a curly top and a knotty one at that. I find keeping her hair in high piggys or pony tail or plats when she goes to bed makes it less knotty, and I don;t use detanglig spray so much anymore, but use a soft soft boar bristle brush (best for detangling) and run my fingers thru following the brush stroke, dosen't hurt her at all, as long as I tell her about her beautiful princess hair, lol. I have gotten it down to a fast half up/down or piggys/pony tail thing straight after getting dressed, she knows it has to be done or we can't go anywhere. She is fairly compliant, so long as she has her own comb to play with and is able to hand me the hair ties. I do plaits when she is sitting nice and quietly and if we have a bit more time. It used to be a nightmnare but we have gotten into a routine now.
I think key is keeping it up all day (and night) but changing it from piggies to ponytails etc daily to stop sore spots.

yay good to hear - small steps...