What is wrong with my daughter's hair?

[devotedplanet]

My 5 year old has really thick, really wavy hair that she gets from me. Really, really thick. In the back, her hair is glossy and pretty thick - looks like normal 'adult' hair, but in the front, it looks really wispy and short and frizzy. I don't know if it's really damaged, or or if it's more like baby hair?

She is SUCH a tomboy, so I'm growing her hair out because the easiest way to keep it out of her face and tangle free is to braid or bun it. Right now, it's just past her shoulders after growing out from a cut she gave herself last year. The back looks great and really healthy, but the front is just a mess.

There is frizz EVERYWHERE, and lots of short pieces. Within an hour of having her hair done, there is a huge amount of short frizzy pieces that have slipped free. A couple of months ago, I gave in and gave her bangs to try and remove a lot of the short, frizzy hair because it just wouldn't stay in when I pulled her hair back.

I really think it looks damaged, but I cannot figure out how it could get so damaged. I try to keep her hair braided, her hair never gets oily, so we do WO with a shampoo and conditioner once every 10 days or so. The shampoo I use on her is from Lush, and works really well on my hair. I never see her doing anything to damage her hair, I've stopped pulling her hair into ponytails and just use rubber bands at the ends, to minimize breakage...

Could it be that her hair texture is changing unevenly? The hair in front is short and fluffy, so could it just be baby hair, if that makes sense? Has anyone noticed this with their children?

[SimplyViki]

I think some people just get fluffy, frizzy bits in the front of their hair. Especially when they're kids. My sister gets that too (she's 11). Her hair is straight and smooth, but she has some funny little curls along her hairline.

I doubt it's damage - just natural hair texture. Maybe you could try smoothing it with some aloe vera gel? Or if it really bothers you, I doubt it would hurt her hair to go ahead and use regular old gel on it.

[shadowclaw]

The very front of my hair tends to damage easily. Just the hair that goes around my face when it's down and not tucked behind my ears (I don't have bangs). My theory is that the hair isn't as protected as the hair on the sides of my head and in the back, because there aren't as many neighboring hairs to protect it from the wind, sun, etc. It's also the hair that ends up on top of my head when I pull my hair into a ponytail, so it's also exposed to the sun, wind, rain, and other damaging things.

Perhaps this is the case for your daughter?

[sweet*things]

My 9yo has long hair and lots of short hairs around her face as well. I know her damage is from clips and elastics that I've used to keep her hair off her face. She doesn't like to wear braids or buns very often, but she doesn't object to me pulling the hair around her face up into one or two little face-framing ponies or braids as long as most of it is down. I figure it's a trade-off. There's only so much you can reason with a kid, so I'm willing to put up with some breakage to keep her hair out of her face for school.

Could she be chewing or pulling her hair as a soothing habit?

[vampodrama]

I have the same thing going, and I'm nearly 29 ;)

I think though that it's just baby hair. She's only 5 - most kids her age I've seen have really soft, fluffy and wispy baby hair thing going on.

[demitasse]

My hair is fuzzy and frizzy in the front too and it definitely isn't damaged. It's been this way my whole life. I have pictures from when I was your daughter's age with a halo of hair around my face. No damage, no breakage, just the way it was. Now that I'm an adult, I try to keep the face-framing hair long to give it weight and reduce the frizziness.

Very few people have a uniform texture throughout unless they have pin straight hair. And people with thick, textured hair have to deal with all sorts of variance in their hair. From personal experience, I'd say just let the hair grow and as it grows, it will start to weigh itself down.

And to answer your original question, there's nothing "wrong" with your daughter's hair. We aren't all lucky enough to have naturally smooth, perfect hair. When she's an adult, she'll figure out how to deal with it on her own but for now, let the hair gain some natural weight and help her keep it out of her face while she's playing. :)

[EtherealOde]

My granddaughter would twirl her hair on her fingers, and it caused something similar. Once her mom started keeping it in braids she couldn't twist her hair all the time and a lot of the damage started to heal as it grew out.

[UrsaMama]

My 6yo daughter has some of the same thing going on. What I started realizing was that it was a fresh "crop" of new hairs growing in. It goes in phases. It will be all smooth and pull back fine and then the wispies start again and get longer and finally get long enough to tuck back in styles, just in time for the next round to start up.

I also have a bit of this. I seem to have same hairs on my forehead hairline just above each temple that never seem to get longer than about 2 inches. They usually smooth back fairly well, except when my hair is freshly washed and I'm used to them.

Also kids don't have the same type and amount of scalp oils adults do. So lots of adults probably have the same thing but it's not as noticable since the oils hold them in place better. And you mentioned she's a tomboy. There's nothing like running around to muss up a sleek coiffure. :p

[AmericanWoman]

She might be handling it a lot.running her fingers through it to get it off her face ect and pulling out the curl pattern.. Keep the side hair back or you can try refreshing the curl by wetting it. Oiling can help too.It'll get better as it gets longer.

[Tap Dancer]

The only "bad" thing I think you're doing is using rubber bands. Never use rubber bands; try some metal-free hair elastics. They're much more gentle.

[flapjack]

Very normal for little kids to have a lot of wispy baby hairs all over the place, especially near their face. The vast majority of kids I see, regardless of their hair type, if they're under about 10, they have baby hairs all over. It's a little kid thing, in my opinion. The hair grows in a bit tougher and darker as they get older. I wouldn't worry about it at all. It looks really cute, too, little kids can get away with it easily.

[Bunnyhare]

My granddaughter would twirl her hair on her fingers, and it caused something similar. Once her mom started keeping it in braids she couldn't twist her hair all the time and a lot of the damage started to heal as it grew out.
My friends daughter did it in her sleep! so bad it damaged her hair!

[SheaLynne]

Regarding changing hair texture/type...

My 4.5 yo dd has been having a *dramatic* change to her hair in the past 6 months. Her hair had some wave to it, but was not what I would call curly, but I started noticing that her bangs were making themselves into spirals! Now her bangs are fully spiraled, and the (long) hair just behind the bangs on top is definitely curly in the first 4 inches from the roots. I can't tell that the other parts of her head are making the change, so I hope she's not going to be curly only in the front!

She also has LOTS of wispies, and has since a baby. It seems that her hair is continually thickening up, so I assumed those were baby hairs. She didn't have much length for a long time and thin-ish hair, but now it is fairy-taled to tailbone length and much thicker! So lots of hair changes going on around this age!

If I can learn what to do with wispies, it will be a major accomplishment. I'm hoping coconut oil will help when I get that soon.

[demitasse]

Does it really matter if a kid has little wispies around their face or messy hair? I mean, I can understand if they're going somewhere special or having a picture taken but on a normal day, aren't kids allowed to just have messy pigtails or ponytails? Unless it was a special occasion, my hair was always a little messy until I was a teenager and started taking care of it myself. My mom put it in pigtails with little clips, barrettes, or a headband in front and that was that. I don't think I understand why a five year old would need to wear oil in her hair on a normal basis. :shrug:

[rhubarbarin]

I have the same thing and it was much more extreme when I was a kid. I have a bunch of hairs in my front hairline with a terminal length of 4-8". Especially in the summer, major frizz.

I say it's just her hair and not damaged (sounds like are really gentle with it). Try stretchy headbands, or small 'french' braids along the front hairline.

[rhondalicious]

My daughter is 3 and has the same hair - lots of fluffies along the front hairline and esp at the sideburns area. Aloe helps to contain it a little, but usually we just live with the fluffy bits.

[karli]

Dd, 8, has a lot of shorter strands around her face. Some of them are babyhairs and some of them I think is from damage. She is not as careful as me when she brushes it...

I love her wispies, I think they are qute. She hates them and has because of them used a hairband to keep them away from her face the last three years

When she wears her hair down, for special occacions, she tames the wispies with aloe.