How do you tie up little girl's hair to look neat?

yudiyu

Thu, May 02 2024, 7:02 am

My 4 year old daughter has gorgeous wavy hair which ends a few inches below her shoulders. I'd like to put it up for nursery in case kids have lice but I find her hair gets so bumpy on the top and the hair tie slips down after like 5 minutes and all her baby hairs come out (she has a lot of baby hairs, basically a fringe of them). I'm not into her looking perfect and polished, just not like she's been dragged through a hedge backwards before she's even left the house!

Please can anyone advise how to make it look neat and stay put? Like do you need to brush the top part? Do you spray it or use special products? Do you put it up when it's wet? Do you use special hair ties?

I know this is quite basic stuff but I have very curly hair which has totally different issues so it's new to me!

amother

Saddlebrown

Thu, May 02 2024, 7:36 am

Spray the top of her hair with a bit of water before you brush it. Also use mousse or gel to keep it in place.

amother

Babypink

Thu, May 02 2024, 8:14 am

Yes, you need to brush the top part and slowly smooth and brush it into a neat pony. The "bumps" are twisted hairs that aren't letting the pony be tight enough to last. Keep brushing and working to gather the hair neatly, bump free, before you tie the pony.

amother

Pear

Thu, May 02 2024, 8:19 am

Definitely brush from the top. I use herbal essences liquid gel to keep all flyaways in place. Some days she still comes home looking like a train wreck unless I make 2 tight braids or some other tighter style

SuperWify

Thu, May 02 2024, 8:23 am

My daughter looks neatest in 2 bunchies. Less flyways that way. I spray Johnson’s no more tangles, then make an even part down the middle from forehead to nape. I use a brush to make the 2 buns so that it isn’t bumpy and the to the hair ties pretty tight. It stays neat for a good few hours so long as she doesn’t pull out.

amother

Burgundy

Thu, May 02 2024, 8:47 am

I don't. I keep it chin length or shorter until they're old enough to groom it on their own, around eight or ten. By eighth grade you'd never guess they ever had short hair, and they didn't spend their early years looking stringy, straggly and unkempt.

Dolly Welsh

Thu, May 02 2024, 8:59 am

That won't affect whether she gets the lice or not. If it's going around, she will get them.

I also wouldn't make too much of a huge deal about this because she might think there is something wrong or amiss with her, make an anxious association, and never want to deal with her hair at all.

If you use two or more barrettes, should be all right.

Hair is weaker when wet, so brushing wet hair may break bits of it off.

It may also be too long?

amother

Topaz

Thu, May 02 2024, 9:10 am

My pre-upsherin son has hair like this. I make 2 ponies. One at the front center of his head for all the fly away and then gather everything into a pony in the back.

amother

Thistle

Thu, May 02 2024, 9:12 am

I’m going to politely disagree. As the Mom of a long haired girl, I think you must tie her hair up to avoid lice. Thankfully, that and leave in conditioner worked for us to avoid lice issues. Braids are helpful. You could also do a bun with a scrunchie and bobby-pins, although it’s a bit of a potchke every morning. If you live in Israel, the lice protocol is a whole different thing with daily combing while smothering with Pantene as I’ve been told by friends living there.

mochamix18

Thu, May 02 2024, 9:42 am

A couple things that help me to get my 4 year old daughters hair neat are a tangle teazer brush to de tangle and a good rat tail comb (you can get a 3 pack on Amazon for $5.) The rat tail comb is for parting the hair, smoothing and can be good for lice checking. I either do two pigtails and I use good soft elastics or for one ponytail I prefer a scrunchy. A good detangler and lice repellent spray as well. I can post links later.

Oak

Thu, May 02 2024, 11:32 am

I find q French braid works the best, starting from the top to grab the fringe hairs, along with some gell.
I find that when I braid it the night before whilst the hair is wet, it tends to stay nicer the next day. (I re-braid it in the morning)

amother

Stoneblue

Thu, May 02 2024, 11:36 am

amother Burgundy wrote:

you sound like my sister in law... LOL

who likes to say this every time she sees my two year olds long (gorgeous) blonde hair.
its like, OK I get the point... thank you!
I know where to get a haircut but I obviously want to keep it long for now.

amother

Pink

Thu, May 02 2024, 11:39 am

I wish someone would come out with a tutorial on how to care for (typical Ashkenazi) thick hair that’s not straight yet not curly. Just thick and wavy. There are so so many curly hair toturials and of course straight hair care and style ideas. I find a lack in ideas on how to style my daughters hair as well as targeted products.

Eta- honestly her hair isn’t even wavy. It’s just plain NOT straight and NOT curly.