How do you take care of your little ones long hair?

[MermaidOH]

Hello All,
Yesterday hubby and I took our 4 little ones to the pool (2 girls, 2 boys) our 2 girls both have long hair. My oldest(6) has super-fine hair with ringlets at bottom about mid back length, and my younger daughter (5) has tons of thick wavy/ringlet hair just shy of her waist. My question is i can't tell them "don't get your hair wet" to avoid the chlorine they're 5 & 6 no way they will listen to that. But how do I take care of their hair after a day spent in the pool. Also can I CO wash with them? And my boys hair too (3 & 1)? Also will CO wash get foodstuffs out of hair? This is especially an issue with the baby he likes to style his hair with peanut butter, oatmeal, butter and last week vaseline, or anything that strikes his fancy. In general how do others out there take care of little ones and really little ones' hair? Thank you!

[longcurlygirl<3]

I don't know but what I did as a kid, first soak your kids hair in cold water so it is absrbed, not the chlorine water. Try an organic baby shampoo, like california baby? I heard it is good. And you can CO wash, but a day after chlorine I would use a shampoo to remove gunk, and leave-in for moisture.

[swetiepeti]

Like LongCurlyGirl I always soaked my hair in water prior to getting into a chlorinated pool. I also put a dab of olive oil on my hands and lightly oiled the bottom then worked my way up. Figure it can't be any worse for the pool than sun tan oils. I also rinsed it with fresh water if they had a shower available after each dip or at least every couple hours. Sally's Beauty Supply sells a shampoo for chlorine and iron that I got if my hair started turning green anyway.
Cone conditioners also help if you use them prior to the pool. That silicone build up is protective at times.

[HairStickler]

My daughter's hair always has a layer of Nightblooming Panacea (summer) on it to keep it detangled. After the pool, I rinse her hair with tap water in the kitchen sink (because it has a handheld sprayer), put it in a turbie twist for a little bit, then put some more Panacea on it. So far, so good.

[patienceneeded]

I CO wash DD4's hair. Her hair gets super tangly otherwise, plus she hates shampoo. I do wash her hair with a diluted SLS-free shampoo once every week or so, but mostly we just use conditioner (cone-free, so no build-up). I use Burts Bees Raspberry Moisture Shampoo when we do the diluted shampoo. For conditioner, it varies. I have 5 or 6 conditioners in the bath (all cone-free) and I just let her pick whatever strikes her fancy that day. I CO-wash too.

[cowgirllong]

My girls 5 and 8 have hip+ length hair. I treat theirs pretty much the same way I treat mine. I use shampoos that do not contain nasty hair hating ingredients and good conditioner. We only use shampoo once a week, but need to condition every time their hair gets wet.

[Lostsoule77]

Whenever I go into water I always braid my hair. This keeps the tangles to a minimum. Perhaps you could do this with them as well and then just make sure you wash well afterwards to get the chlorine out. Growing up we were in the pool everyday all summer long. My mom just made sure we cleaned our hair properly and we never had any issues. :)

[Maelyssa]

I suggest that before taking your gang swimming have everyone wet their hair & apply a nice layer of conditioner to the hair. Helps keep it moisturized & protected a bit during the swim.

My kiddos have long, thick curls & frankly I've always just let them do whatever while in the pool so long as we put the conditioner in before we go & the follow the swim with a rinse & more conditioner. In the past I've used Suave Naturals now we're using Tresemme Naturals.

[CaliDreamin']

My DD who is 4.5 has tailbone length hair and we go swimming 2-3 x week. Typically, the night before we go to the water park, I heavily oil her hair with coconut oil and braid it up. Then, right before we go to the water park I unbraid it, cover it with jojoba oil, and french braid it securely. I agree with the saturating the hair with fresh water also (at this water park, there isn't a convenient place to do that) and rinsing it out afterwards. Since there isn't a really good place to do that at the water park, when I get her home, I just rinse her hair well in the tub and then CO wash as usual. I typically will lightly oil after that on damp hair or put in a leave-in condish. If she is going swimming at the YMCA where she does swim lessons, I either just cover her dry hair with a swim cap or I put on a deep conditioner and cover with the cap. As far as washing regimens, we follow Cinnamon Hair's CO regimen almost exactly on www.beyondclassiclength.com (http://www.beyondclassiclength.com). We keep DD's hair bunned or braided when in public, but occasionally it will get "stuff" in it. CO gets this out just fine. I also have CO washed my 2.5 yr old DS hair and it works just as well. CO washing has the added benefit of making her hair nearly always tangle free, alleviating any whining or crying about painful hair care.

[MermaidOH]

Oh My Gosh thank you all for all the great advice! Looks like we will be investing in the giant tub of coconut oil and the "family size" suave naturals conditioner;). Thank you all!

[Spacescape]

I don't swim very much any more, but when I was younger I used Suave Daily Clairifying shampoo on my hair at night whenever I had swam at some point that day. My hair at that time was not in great shape anyway, but the shampoo made a huge difference--like the difference between hair and knotted-up straw.

[Rosetta]

Also will CO wash get foodstuffs out of hair? This is especially an issue with the baby he likes to style his hair with peanut butter, oatmeal, butter and last week vaseline, or anything that strikes his fancy.
This just made me smile, as I also have a 1 year old I sure know what you're talking about :D

(I don't have any actual advice to give though, but I see you already got such good advice from others.)