Help with 4yo's hair!!!

[HennaFaerie]

My 4 year old daughter has fine tailbone hair. It is soo beautiful - I'm jealous :p
Anyway, she's been getting visits from the tangle faeries at night and I'm looking for advice as to how to avoid this. She HATES when I use the comb to get the snarls out. I have to hide it when I'm comming at her with it.
I have tried a single braid, two braids, several braids before bed, nothing helps. Her hair is so fine it slips right out of them and makes a worse mess than if we just let her sleep with it down. Unforturnatly, not fine enough to slip out of knots. Even de-tangler doesn't get them out. Last night, I tried leaving a teeny tiny little bit of V05 in her damp hair, and that didn't help either.

[danacc]

Hmmm--you've already tried most of what I'd suggest. How about a "caterpillar", also known as a banded ponytail? If you started it high on her head so that it could hang over the top of her pillow, and put scrunchies at set intervals all the way down the length, would that mostly stay put?

[piratejenny23]

hi, i have 2 suggestions:

this sounds really silly...:blushing: but i have started sleeping with my ponytail in a length of pantyhose with the toe cut out (so it's a tube open at both ends). i got the idea from "tail bags" for horses. you could get a really cute pair of tights--stripy or some pattern that she would enjoy--and cut off one of the legs. i make a ponytail, roll up the hose, put it at the top of the ponytail, attach it with another scrunchie or elastic, then unroll it down the length. if this slips off, try the previous poster's idea of securing elastics every few inches, but on the outside of the wrapped ponytail.

when i wake up, my hair is perfectly tangle-free, less frizzy, and feels less dry than when it rubs against bedclothes all night!

suggestion #2 is a "tangle teezer". i have not used one myself, but i read a bunch of reviews and while not all adults liked it for themselves, most--not all, but most--of the parents who reviewed it RAVED. unfortunately it seems to be a UK product but maybe you can find one on ebay or find a similar product.

this review made me laugh out loud:
"My girl wakes up looking like Russell Brand and I've been a hairdresser for 25 years. Nothing out there works like the Tangle Teezer. The secret is in the teeth.They collapse when they hit a knot, therefore gliding through without any pain."
http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/1012/447388 (p. 2)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tangle-Teezer-Professional-Detangling-Hairbrush/dp/B001DU5K1U/ref=pd_bxgy_kh_text_b

http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B00264NW7G/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

[lucys]

Hi,

I have a nearly 4 year old whose hair I have struggled with. Hers was baby fine and had beautiful ringlety curls at the ends. Not so much tangles as instant dreadlocks. I'm afraid I dealt with it by cutting off the baby ends (it broke my heart, but daily brushing was so upsetting for her, I figured I was actually doing her a favour).


I tried the tangle teaser but it didn't work out very well for us. The only brush that does seem OK is a mason pearson, or the cheaper alternative Denmans. We use a mix of boar bristle and plastic spikes.

The sock pony tail sounds like a great idea, though...

Lucy

[Heavenly Locks]

Maybe a little tiny satin sleeping bonnet?

[Anje]

I'll add a vote for a sleeping bonnet, or the pantyhose (which sounds like a great idea!). Heck, if you leave both legs of the hose, you could call it a "bunny hat" or something goofy like that.

Doing a multi-banded ponytail, or even putting a few scrunchies along the length of a braid to contain the fly-aways might be worth-while. A satin pillow might also work, but if she's like me a lot of her hair won't be on it.

Finally, have you tried other detanglers? One that I tried (Loreal kids or something like that) made my hair feel sticky and tangle worse. So try a few different ones, because they may not all be created equal.

Lucys, I assume you tried wider-tooth combs, rather that brushes, right?

[Tovah]

The ideas above seem great. My daughter (who is now 29!) had very curly long hair. The tangle gremlins would visit every night. Luckily a sleeping braid worked for her. What I would do about de-tangling though-was to make it our 'special' time. I would make sure that there were no distractions or things waiting for me to do and would very gently comb the knots out with a wide toothed comb sitting on the floor with her in front of me. I guess I'm lucky because she never complained. I think that if you consider it a fun experience instead of a chore, your daughter may react differently. Just my 2 cents.....

Since your daughter is already conditioned to 'fear the comb', maybe purchasing a new one of a different color or decorate the old one with buttons or anything else...it could be a project for the both of you would make her fear it less and give her ownership of the process.

[HennaFaerie]

Hmm, I really like the pantyhose idea. Now I just have to get her to let me do it. For a 4 year old, she's pretty picky about fashion - lol! Maybe she won't mind if I explain it to her.

I'm afraid the caterpillar method most likely won't work on her hair. The bands would slip right off during the night.

A bonnet would definatly never happen - LOL!

Yeh, the detangler I have for her is that crappy L'Oreal Kids one. And it smells like vomit to me, so I try not to bother with it.

Thanks for all the great suggestions ladies! :flower:
I'll keep trying different things and see what works best.

[jasper]

What about a bun for sleeping? If you put it on the top of your head it doesn't interfere with your head on the pillow, and (in my experience, anyway) doesn't get as much friction as a braid you may be lying on. You know that "bread head" sock bun? Is that the one in your signature? Well, if not, this one: link (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=29777&highlight=bread+head) That makes a good sleep bun for me because it needs no pins.

[Heavenly Locks]

I was browsing the web and look what I found!

Pictures of a 9 month old baby girl wearing an itty bitty satin sleep cap. CUTE!! :D

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GzpgC30_4B0/SK82uHuu1UI/AAAAAAAAAiI/T6ebXPbK0dU/s400/clara+sleep+cap+stand+in+crib+011.JPG

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GzpgC30_4B0/SK82tpNWeuI/AAAAAAAAAiA/9ljxA-okjco/s400/clara+sleep+cap+stand+in+crib+006.JPG

Website they were posted on - http://funder5.blogspot.com/2008/08/9-months-old.html

Juuuust in case you are thinking of trying to get your girl to wear one, maybe this site could help?