Help my baby's curls

Tamemybaby'scurls

Pleased help me tames my two year old's hair. It's naturally curly and very cute. But it's a mess. PLEASE HELP ME

Aya9877

Mom,

Please don't cut your babies curls yet. There is a wealth of information on this board, that will more than likely help you. I see you are a new poster here. Give it some time. There are soooo many options and things to consider before chopping your baby's hair. Can you post some pictures of him/her? How long is their hair? What kind of curls? How are you caring for them now? Are you shampooing regularly? You might be over shampooing or over conditioning it. Don't brush the curls, only comb them when wet. Don't use a regular towel to dry the hurt, try a t-shirt or an aquis towels. So many tips are on this board. Have you been reading threads here for long? Give us some details and lets see if we can't help you.

Good luck,
aya

Michelle

Welcome:
We have many moms and dads on this site who come here to learn what to do with their curly babies/toddlers/children's hair. From experience, I can say that I wish my mother had let my hair grow when I was young rather than cutting it into a short pixie for the first 11 years of my life. I know it can be frustrating. I have a 3 year old with very curly hair and some days I just want to shave it all off. But with a little help from a good leave-in conditioner and fun clips, it looks adorable. And she gets so many positive comments on it.

You should get a lot of good advice here. Hang in there. I know it's challenging.

Michelle
naturallycurly.com

curlyarca

please don't cut your kids curls. just want to reiterate what michelle and aya have said. there are lots of things you can do with curly hair, and lots of us here are willing to give suggestions!

TESTIMONIAL: my mom never cut or altered my curly hair in anyway, (besides trims :P) and i'm happy she didnt't!

Rain

Depending on the kind of curls, it can actually be easier to deal with long than short. My youngest daughter has very, very, very thick and heavy hair and we've found it 's easier to manage if it's at least long enough to pull back into braids or ponytails. It's very difficult to try to clip back short amounts of her hair because little child-size clips don't even begin to cut it and gigantic adult-size ones...sometimes don't either, and they look too big. Also, with her, good conditioner is *key. If she skips conditioner or uses a watery cheap one, I can't even get a comb through it.

melloweer

I have a 3 year old with a head FULL OF MILLIONS of curls, I totally feel your pain. I wash her hair with regular shampoo and I try to condition it, except she hates baths so sometimes we don't make it that far........if I don't get the conditioner in I use leave in conditioner. I know people say not to brush curls but with her I have to brush her hair every day (if we aren't going out I dont bother brushing) when I do brush her hair I spray in the leave in or that Johnson & Johnson's no tangles (which I freaking love to use on her) and I brush her hair from the bottom up. If I don't brush her hair its horrible.....from taking naps and such her hair turns into an instant fuzzball. She hates her hair with ponytails or clips or anything whatsoever in it so I don't get the luxury of using those to try to calm it down. I'm just praying when she's older its not this hard......My mom brushed my hair out straight and fixed it like princess leia from star wars all the time (yes...she really did) so I have nothing to fall back on for advice from her hahaha

Aya9877

melloweer,

Have you tried using a wide toothed comb while there is conditioner in her hair as opposed to brushing it? The brushing will only serve to separate and frizz out her curls more. If you can't make it to the conditioning part when shes in the bath, maybe skip the shampooing all together every once in a while. Is her hair dry or oily? If it's dry then i'd skip the shampoo, if it's only maybe skip the condish. Either way, a lot of curlies find that they need one or the other, but often times not both. Or they need a light of one and a heavy of the other. I rarely shampoo, and when I do it has to be super gentle. But with conditioners, the heavier the better. I have super dry, thick 3B curls.

rubyloxx

I love children with curls... way too cute! Don't cut it!

legallycurly

don't cut it! when i was from ages 1-3, i had curls maybe about 4 inches long sprouting out of my head. there was some definate "east-west" effect. it was cute. people would always tell my mom how cute my hair was. my mom said she used reg. baby shampoo, random conditioner, and combed through with j&j no more tangles, and just let my hair do its thing. little clips always look cute too!

jmir

I just want to throw in 2 cents... don't brush!

I think that's probably a common mistake because when you pull the hair, it frizzes and tangles more. Instead, comb while the conditioner is in.

cyndi

Please disregard the one vote for cutting them off -- I clicked the wrong button!

melloweer

I only wash her hair every 3 days because well she has my hair and I know if I wash either of ours more then 3 its really dry....every 3 days keeps it soft. I went out and got a wide tooth combed and she's much happier (not as much pulling on her head) I have to use shampoo thou every time, be the end of 3 days shes got somethign in her hair (yesterday she got strawberry milk mix in her hair), lol she is a very very active independent, thinks she can do it all herself, girl plus older brother. I'll start using the wide tooth when her hair is soaking wet so that will help. I won't be able to get a cap on her or anything while she takes her nap but maybe it won't be as fuzzy when she wakes up.

curlyjo310

DON'T CUT IT OFF
Anyway- My neice has curly hair like me!!! It drives her mom crazy. There is way to deal with it. When not washing her hair- use a wide comb and a leave in condish to help ease getting the knots out. Also- if her hair is long enough- but it in a lose ponytail at night- it might not get a tangled in the morning
Good luck

Rain

jmir wrote:

She even scolded me for knots insisting that if I was brushing properly each morning, it would not be hard to brush in the evening. My straight haired sister was allowed to grow long hair but I was not because it was untidy.

This is me, too, exactly! I had a short bob most of my life because even though my mom's a curly, she has always had very short hair and has no idea how to take care of it. My sister with thin, straight hair had hair as long as she wanted it while my thick, curly sister and I were shuffled into salons every 4 weeks to keep our hair short.

Even as a teenager, when I was responsible for my own hair, my mom would always talk me out of growing it out because it would be "too much work." If only I knew then what I know now! And what I know now is never, ever, ever try to get a brush through it. My girls each have a hanging shower comb (less than $2 at Sally's) and they comb conditioner through their hair in the shower. It was hard talking my rough-and-tumble 8-year-old into doing it but when she found out it meant no tangles or pain later on, she was a convert.

Aya9877

cyndi wrote:

Please disregard the one vote for cutting them off -- I clicked the wrong button!

[email protected] I was wondering who voted to cut it and why.

My question is where is the original poster? Does she think we are all nuts and was hoping we'd say cut it? LOL

Poodlehead

You can cut it, but it will just come back. Sigh.

Spray with water/conditioner mix and comb gently. Easier said than done, however, because my daughter (3-1/2) still hollers every morning when her hair gets combed.

macluan

My daughter(who 3 1/2) also has extremely curly hair that she inherited from me. I didn't cut it until about a month ago when she got a tiny trim. The trim has made all the difference in the world. I wished I wouldn't have waited so long. So my advice would be to get regular trims. My daughter is also on the curly girl routine and has been since she was about six months old. Good Luck.

SmithsGirl

Don't cut the curls! My mom had all my ringlets cut off just before I started Kindergarten, and for the next 8 or 9 years, I had only limp, messy-looking waves.

We know so much more about curly hair care now. I hope you can learn to work with it.

Be sure to tell your daughter that if someone asks her where those curls came from, she should say, "My mommy made them for me!"