Detangling a 1 Year Old -- Need Help!

shayneaja

Hi!

I love my one-year-old little boy's curly hair and really want to grow it out, but we have terrible issues when it comes time to detangle. I usually do it about twice a week in the bath after washing when his hair is full of conditioner. I use a combination of a very wide tooth comb and my fingers. He absolutely hates this process and screams and screams until I'm done.

We do this at night as he gets a bath as a part of our bedtime routine. He has a lot of hair -- stretched out the longest part near his crown is about four inches, and though it's still pretty fine, he is about 3B/C.

Any suggestions? It kills me to see him get so upset.

Blueblood

What do you use to distract him while you are doing his hair?

Do you play music he likes when you are doing it?

Do you act like you are playing?

Do you start from the ends and work back to the roots while de-tangling? (If you do it this way it won't hurt at all.)

Has he ever had his hair cut by someone i.e. barber and they were able to keep him happy?

How did they do it?

If you can work out the answer to these then I'm sure you aren't going to have a problem

kejourner

I always did my little girls hair while she watched cartoons on Saturday. I kept her hair in braids so I didn't have to worry about tangles.

shayneaja

I wash and detangle his hair twice a week at bathtime which is at night, which pretty much eliminates electronic distractions. Occasionally, I will detangle with a leave-in conditioner and comb during the day, but that only happens if he is particularly tangly before wash day. Whenever I do that I let him watch Sesame Street. Otherwise, I've answered below.

Blueblood wrote: »

What do you use to distract him while you are doing his hair? He has his favorite bath toys and bubbles.

Do you play music he likes when you are doing it? I sing to him and encourage him to sing along, but I prefer to keep electronics out of the bathroom.

Do you act like you are playing? Not really, I encourage him to help though.

Do you start from the ends and work back to the roots while de-tangling? (If you do it this way it won't hurt at all.) Yes, and it still hurts a bit. I do this when I detangle my own hair, and it still hurts me a bit too.

Has he ever had his hair cut by someone i.e. barber and they were able to keep him happy? Yes, and he doesn't mind it all, no real distraction necessary. He just doesn't like detangling.

How did they do it? Just sat on my lap and ate snacks.

If you can work out the answer to these then I'm sure you aren't going to have a problem

Thanks for your suggestions. We had a bit of an easier time last night. He was fine during the washing and conditioning just still screamed in protest a few times once I started detangling. I tried to talk him through it and he seemed to understand.

Does anyone have detangling products with lots of slip that they could recommend? Right now, I just detangle with Suave Naturals Coconut Conditioner.

Firefox7275

Prevention is often better than cure, you might consider satin pillowcase/ sheets if naps are tangle time. Tresemme Naturals and some of the Yes To ... conditioners are rated for slip.

shayneaja

Thanks for the product recs! I tried detangling his hair last night with my homemade spray while he watched a show on my lap and there was minimal complaining, and only a bit of fuzz this morning. I'm going to try to do that once or twice a week between washes from now on.