How To Care For Toddler Hair

   There was no blogging yesterday due to the fact that it was November 8; My daughter's birthday.  She turned four this year. Everywhere we go, people compliment her on her cute hair.  Here is a picture of her with my husband.  She has a sassy little angled bob with some bangs. 

  It got me thinking about how many little girls come sit in my chair with tangled, ratty hair.  As a parent, haircuts, washing, and brushing is sometimes a difficult task since most little girls do not like to sit still.  Finally, at four years old, my daughter loves haircuts and loves to have her hair brushed.  It was not always this easy.  I always try to educate parents on how to care for their kidlet's hair.  It is very important to follow through and do it every day, because someday they will be caring for it themselves.

Here are some tips:


1) Always USE A BRUSH on DRY hair.  ABSOLUTELY NEVER USE A COMB.  How often you brush will depend on their hair texture.  Straight haired girls tend to tangle more, so you are going to need to carry a brush in your diaper bag or purse.  I keep one in the car.  Little girls with curly hair can usually get away with curly hair are probably going to only need to be brushed once or twice a day, since brushing will frizz their curls.  I recommend brushing their hair out completely, then spraying some water on their hair and re-scrunching their ringlets.

2) Always BRUSH hair BEFORE a bath.   That's right.  BEFORE.  Parents usually rush to get their kids in the tub, they forget this most important step in hair care.  Once the hair is wet, those tangles are set in. And washing the hair only makes more tangles. Wet hair stretches up to FIFTY percent of it's length, so brushing wet, tangled hair is only going to stretch those knots and tighten them and pull hair from the root.  And make it more painful for your precious princess.  Brushing hair BEFORE it's wet is much more comfortable for them.

3)  You DON'T need to wash/condition their hair every day.  If your little one hates washing it, this may come as a relief.  Unless they get some food, paint, or play-do in there, you can do every other day or even every two days.  You definitely still want to bathe them and wet their hair every day, you just don't need to wash it.  Curly haired girls may need conditioner every day depending on how dry their hair is.

4) Once they are out of the tub with their wet hair USE A COMB to detangle.  A COMB, not a brush on wet hair.  For girls that get very tangled from washing, you may need to spritz some detangler on there before combing.  The proper technique for combing is you start one inch from the bottom and comb down, next you comb down from a few inches up, and so on until the entire length of hair is detangled.  Don't try to tackle the knots from the top to bottom on the first stroke.

5)  If you bathe at night, you'll need to neaten up their hair in the morning.  For straight haired girls this means brushing their hair, then spritzing with water and parting in with a comb to set.  For curly girls, brush, spritz, then add a little mousse or spray gel to shape the curl.  Scrunch and go! 

6)  If your little angel has some crazy, thick hair like my little one does, have her stylist thin it out with thinning shears.  It will save you time, and will save them from all the more tangling.  My little one has at least three times the hair you see in that picture above!  Thinning her hair has made our lives so much easier.