How do you protect your hair from a baby??

[pogo0685]

I have not been on in a long, long time. Mostly due to the fact I have an 8 month old and he is pretty needy. Lately he has been driving me CRAZY though, he grabs my hair and pulls it out all the time. I wear it in a bun or braid 99.9% of the time. I wear it up so much that my husband told me the other day when I got out of the shower that he had not seen my hair down in at least 6 months. So its not like its down and he is grabbing it, its up as out of the way as I can get it and he still manages to find a way to pull it out and it hurts. Today I decided to start wearing a scarf thing on it but I am looking for more ideas. Thanks!!

[dulce]

A French twist-nothing for the lil one to grab.Use spin pins-no sticks etc.

[spidermom]

I cut mine short-short for babies.

[Steven's Bride]

When my son was small and nursing, he had one wild hand that tried to grab ANYTHING. I just would put my hair up in a bun to get it out of the way. As he grew older, he learned "No" and that helped. Then he'd just rub my hair :)
One idea is to give the baby something else to hold...like a small blanket or toy. I guess it would depend on the specific situation. Just know that this phase won't last too much longer, maybe wearing your hair up is the best for everyone right now.

((big non-hair yanking hugs))

:)

[leslissocool]

Teach him to pet it instead of grabbing. He's not too young, when he does it say with a very soft (not yelling, not loud, not drammatic think monotone) "no thank you" and do hang on hand (open handed) pet instead, and when he does that get all excited and say "Good job! Nice petting!". If he sees you react to the petting, he'll do it to see you react again (reinforcement) like a game (you can make it a game).

Giving him something to hold is a great idea too!

[gingerclip]

Mine just turned 1 year and he does the same thing. I've had to completely stop wearing necklaces, I swear he's going to yank an earring straight out of my earlobe, and he loves to pull my hair, especially if I get little wispies by my ears. I pretty much always wear mine up in a bun, or in a side braid that is on the opposite side of my body from where I carry him. I do think that distraction seems to work best, though.

[truepeacenik]

Pogo, is it during certain situations or areas of your hair?

My son had a thing for bangs and braid tassels.

Fully down only caught sticky hands incidentally.

I braided and then pinned it up.
And dealt with the bang pulls.

[Steven's Bride]

I saw this one idea that I never got around to using when my son was that age - it was a special chunky necklace made just to interest a baby. Like I said, I never got to this one, but it may be worth a shot if other things don't work.

Something like this: http://http://www.mommynecklaces.com/Nourish-Necklace_p_492.html (http://www.mommynecklaces.com/Nourish-Necklace_p_492.html)

Or this: http://http://www.etsy.com/shop/stonesofhealing2 (http://www.etsy.com/shop/stonesofhealing2)

I know that you could make one yourself too.

[alexis917]

I don't have any kids, but I do have a puppy who would just LOVE to eat my hair.
Buns have served me well! I have to be careful with dangling jewelry, too.

[pogo0685]

Great ideas everyone! I will work on teaching no. I usually yell and act like he hurt me, that is what I did with my older son and it worked for him but the new baby thinks its funny.

truepeacenik - its any hair that sticks out, so like if my hair is in a bun and the hair at the nape of my neck starts to stick out he grabs it, or if the sides get a little loose while the bun settles throughout the day he grabs whole handfuls and pulls it. He also goes for my ear plugs and even tried to eat one, and they smell HORRIBLE!! So yeah he just likes to grab and eat things around my hairline.

I will still look into a nursing necklace though, its worth a shot!

[TiaKitty]

I had two girls who didn't mess with my hair too much. They've both gone on to grow their hair long as they can, at ages 9 and 7! One was okay to play gently with a braid tassel, and when I didn't want her to play with it, I tucked my braids down into my shirt. The other wasn't interested in playing with my hair in the least!

[jacqueline101]

I'd wear it in a bun.

[Squiggy]

Great ideas everyone! I will work on teaching no. I usually yell and act like he hurt me, that is what I did with my older son

This worked with my daughter, too, but you might not want to yelp while nursing. If you startle or scare the baby too much you might be faced with a nursing strike. Which isn't fun at all. I yelped pretty loudly when my son bit, and we spent about a week trying to get him nursing regularly again.

Anyway, about the hair. I second teaching him to pet your hair. Show him what you mean each time he pulls - you pet it, then the his hand and make him pet it. And, as always, patience!

[truepeacenik]

Great ideas everyone! I will work on teaching no. I usually yell and act like he hurt me, that is what I did with my older son and it worked for him but the new baby thinks its funny.

truepeacenik - its any hair that sticks out, so like if my hair is in a bun and the hair at the nape of my neck starts to stick out he grabs it, or if the sides get a little loose while the bun settles throughout the day he grabs whole handfuls and pulls it. He also goes for my ear plugs and even tried to eat one, and they smell HORRIBLE!! So yeah he just likes to grab and eat things around my hairline.

I will still look into a nursing necklace though, its worth a shot!

Wow, he goes after ear cheese? :-)

Are you in the Denver metro?

I bet some of the Tibetan shops have the lightweight felted wool ball necklaces.
Out here, they cost about $12.

[rosey4exclaim]

Yeah, the only thing I could recommend is a scarf or bandana, but then if that has loose ends, he could pull that too. You could wrap the scarf around your bun like some tichel styles, and that would keep the loose ends in (see this video for a couple tutorials (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-Cun1aJg-Y)). Other than that, I have no idea. My niece really only pulled on my hair when it was down, and thankfully she's grown out of it now!

[BlazingHeart]

With my nephew, we would gently grab his hand, give it a little shake, and say 'no' in a quiet but firm voice. We mostly got him to stop latching on to hair eventually. Pulling down our tops was another matter - he just had to grow out of that one, but there was a lot of awkwardness in public in the meantime!

[Bagginslover]

If he finds your yelling funny, hes going to keep doing it to make you yell, so you need to stop yelling. Instead, say a firm 'no' and take his hands away, and maybe give him something else to hold instead. If he really does like you yelling, yell when you give him something else, if its the reaction he likes, he'll soon latch onto the replacement instead, just remeber to yell each time he grabs it, or he'll lose interest and look for the reaction from something else again ;)

[Natalia]

When my nephews were at that stage I found a braided cinnabun great. Its flat and difficult to pull out, also easy to get little finger out of id they do grab hold. I agree with teaching them a different but connected behavior that's less bothersome like "petting" hair or smoothing your frizzies behind your ears.

[Nae]

How bout a bun and something like this? That would keep the wispies contained. Plus they are kind of cute.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/157617547/ocean-blues-tie-dyed-headwrap-headband?ref=listing-shop-header-3

[jrmviola]

The kids i babysit would always grab and steal my glasses while i fed them a bottle. I would say "No, I Need Those" in a firm solid voice, maybe grab their fingers while i said it. Repition, Repition, Repition, and Patience.

[stinkyfeet]

I saw this one idea that I never got around to using when my son was that age - it was a special chunky necklace made just to interest a baby. Like I said, I never got to this one, but it may be worth a shot if other things don't work.

Something like this: http://http://www.mommynecklaces.com/Nourish-Necklace_p_492.html (http://www.mommynecklaces.com/Nourish-Necklace_p_492.html)

Or this: http://http://www.etsy.com/shop/stonesofhealing2 (http://www.etsy.com/shop/stonesofhealing2)

I know that you could make one yourself too.

The nursing necklaces sound pretty neat. I am not a jewelry person, but it sounds like a fun toy for baby since we spend so much time nursing!

[pogo0685]

Wow, he goes after ear cheese? :-)

Are you in the Denver metro?

I bet some of the Tibetan shops have the lightweight felted wool ball necklaces.
Out here, they cost about $12.

Nope - I stay as far away from Denver as I can! I am not a crowd person lol. When I go up there I will see if I can find one of these shops though, thanks!

[pogo0685]

How bout a bun and something like this? That would keep the wispies contained. Plus they are kind of cute.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/157617547/ocean-blues-tie-dyed-headwrap-headband?ref=listing-shop-header-3

These are cute! This is pretty much what I do with a bandana but these are much much cooler! Thanks!


Yeah, the only thing I could recommend is a scarf or bandana, but then if that has loose ends, he could pull that too. You could wrap the scarf around your bun like some tichel styles, and that would keep the loose ends in (see this video for a couple tutorials (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-Cun1aJg-Y)). Other than that, I have no idea. My niece really only pulled on my hair when it was down, and thankfully she's grown out of it now!


These videos are awesome! Thanks! I have tried to do this before with no luck so this well help a lot!

[Applegirl84]

I have 19 month old twins (and a 3 year old) and I wear it up most days. I like to wear it in a bun and then take it down in the evenings with my husband or if I go out with girl friends. I also often wear it down on the weekends and throw it up quickly if we end up going to a playground or something.

I'm SO thankful I didn't cut it short like many suggested when I was pregnant with the twins. Despite the postpartum fall-out, my hair looks great now :)

[deja]

I don't have children every day but when I do, I like to make a bun and wrap a scarf around, then tuck shorter side pieces inside the scarf!

[Panth]

If none of the other great suggestions work, how about a buff (http://www.buyabuff.com/)? No loose ends/tails for him to grab and it's super-hair friendly.