How "primped" is your toddler? - Page 2

[Smokering]

Varies wildly. Some days she can be all scrubbed up with her hair in a ponytail and a clean handmade dress... other days she slobs around in PJ bottoms, a dirty hand-me-down tacky pink top, with chocolate on her face and mats of tangled hair at the back. Neither seems to bother her, although she'll pull her pigtails out eventually.

She usually gets smiles and comments, but definitely more when she's gussied up - particularly if she's in a dress. Heck, I prefer her when she's all clean and cutesome. But it's not enough of a priority that I can be bothered every day. Plus, sometimes she dresses herself - or DH dresses her - and she ends up just looking weird.

[St. Margaret]

DD has curly hair too. My mom has curly hair and tells me how to care for it-- use a pick while it's wet, never brush it, certainly not when dry. But reality means I do this mostly:

never wash it-- DD used a bubble bath that's also soap and will pat it on her head when she's in the tub... sometimes we also use some natural shampoo, like mayyybe once a month or two. Her hair does better just naturally.

Brush most mornings, using CA Baby spray detangler. If her hair seems dry/frizzy, I'll wet the brush and dampen her hair, pat with a cloth and it's curly as ever, good as new

she will go some days with no brushing, esp if DH gets her ready in the AM . Her curls can look better on days like that, but it can also get wild.

I tend to shy away from a little kid with real primping and product, but I figure a little care is nice... I want to balance out my mom not teaching me anything about personal care/beauty and not going overboard (because my mom did raise me to be really confident!). But DD will let me know if she feels like having her hair brushed and then getting quick clips to keep it out of her eyes, or a full on hair do (she likes pigtails, buns, ponytails, and then she'll get goofy and ask for three pigtails, four, etc for several days ). I only insist on brushing every 2-3 days so it doesn't get impossible/major pain to brush it eventually, when she's in a phase of not wanting her hair done.

With curls, I've found DD can't avoid compliments pretty much every day we go out, gussied up or not. She's a total ham with blonde curls and big blue eyes, though. I can't relate, having been the awkward child who grew into the ugly but talented teen . But I was still a total ham, so we have that

[GardenStream]

Originally Posted by allisonrose

Although recently I (silently) wished for a "Daddy dressed me" sticker when hubby put plaid shorts and a striped shirt on him.

I'll take a roll of those stickers when you get them. DH is clueless.

I wash my boys every few days and try to get them to wear clean clothes. Combing their hair is very hit and miss. I probably get around to it once a week or so. They both inherited my stick straight hair so it doesn't look much different if it's combed or not.

[limette]

Neither my 2 year old or my 4 year old get any primping.

They both dress themselves and sometimes they brush their hair. We went shopping the other day and I noticed that dd2's clothes were on backwards. Oh well!

[ellemenope]

DD pretty much only wears practical clothing from stores like hanna anderrson, tea collection, american apparel, and gap. I appreciate comfy long lasting cothes. At least 50% comes from the boys side. We like layers and solids, designer jeans and loud shoes. We have style, but it is not what is necessarily in style. Maybe it is the poorman's hip urban chic. But, it is pretty downplayed.

In our wardrobe anything goes. Wix mix and mis-match everything. (That is what is so practical.) We don't do outfits. I don't think I have ever bought a shirt that came with pants. The other day she insisted on wearing a dress over blue jeans with a aviator cap. It worked.

I don't like overly 'done' toddler hair. Those tight hair-sprayed pig tails. Not my taste.

DD has the softest golden blonde hair. It is like silk, with some baby curls at the bottom. It is so healthy, which is odd considering her diet. I can get a small hair colored clip in, and that is it. On bad hair days I put it up in a simple pony, bumps and all. It is never perfect. I usually just keep the part and throw it up.

If we get comments I know they are referring to her sweet button nose or blue eyes, or the way she puts both her hands in her pockets.

[butterfly_mommy]

DS gets bathed at least once a week or whenever he gets smelly/dirty and I comb his hair with a comb after his bath. The rest of the week I comb out his soft lose curly hair with my fingers when he lets me (he wants "crazy hair")and wipe his face after eating most meals and he washes his hands often. He is in mostly clean clothing but sometimes stained but fav shirts. He requests to wear a certain shirt about %25 of the time but that is recent. He mostly lets me dress him in what I want but I like to dress him in comfy clothes and cool t-shirts/long sleeve shirts.

I do try to buy his clothes and shoes with practicality in aiding him dress himself (if he ever decides he wants to) and comfort first and cuteness style second. I also don"t care what others think about my crazy haired messy toddler

[brennan]

I purposely bought dd's clothes so that they could all mix and match and still looked kinda put together. But they're the kind of clothes that I wear, like most days it's cord pants and a t shirt or long sleeved shirt so nothing crazy. In terms of hair I only brush it and do it in pigtails when she asks which can be everyday or every other day. For some reason she has always loved having her hair done but she also does not have a lot of hair.

I have curly hair and I try to brush it once a week. In between it can get tangled so I just try to separate the curls with my fingers. I found that brushing it only makes it tangle more.

[thehighernest]

I'm guessing this is prolly more of an issue with girls...having said that, we do bathe our 18 month old son every night and then brush his hair because he has inherited my very thick hair and tends to get this annoying whirlwind thing in the back that starts looking like a toupee and drives me CRAZY. However, I don't think he cares one bit about it.

I try to offer him choices as to what to wear - and again, no interest. Motorcycle t-shirt, monster t-shirt - whatever.

I try to keep him clean, but he likes to jump in puddles, pick up sticks, etc. so there's only so much I can do or even care to do. He's a kid. He's going to get dirty. That's how I see it.

BUT, to the point I think you were trying to make. Yes, I definitely think that the way kids look garners them attention from people like daycare providers and class teachers, etc. I have seen that for myself already in day care. Someone is always making a big fuss about the sparkly shoes one of the girls wears or how another's hair is done, etc. I'm not sure what a boy would have to do to get that same feedback. But I have a suspicion that it carries over beyond just the comment and onto how much they interact with them, hug them, make a fuss over them, etc.

[redvlagrl]

DD is mildly primped. She has long wavy hair so this requires pigtails or a ponytail. I do her hair while she eats breakfast. Sometimes it's very neat, but often it's a bit messy. Also it doesn't like going in the direction of a ponytail (i.e. all up, pigtails are fine) so it's always kinda messy if it's just in one bunch on top of her head.

I buy her nice clothes but apart fromone outfit per size it's all fair game to be played in. She is showing a lot of preference now so sometimes she ends up with hideous looks. Like the other day she had on multi coloured stiped leggings with a pink/black striped shirt. Niiiice. I also bought her a hideous furry purple fleece to wear to daycare (think muppet furry) which she loves. I wanted to get her something she could get dirty without caring. She has some nicer jackets though as well.

i don't allow anythign into her wardrobe that i wouldn't allow her to wear (licensed stuff or overly sexualized clothing).

Lately she has been wearing skinny jeans with LS t shirts a lot.

I get all her clothes second hand or on super sale at Gap (or similar). But I am really picky so no one knows that most of her stuff is second hand. I think they think I spend a lot on her clothes which just isn't the case.

[mommy_to_2angels]

I empathize completely! My dd(5) has had Blonde curly curly hair that if not brushed or combed daily looks like a rats nest. We use Johnson's Tear Free Detangler. Just a little spritz and comb, and she looks cute as anything. She never leaves it in a ponytail when I put it up, so by the end of the schoolday it's frizz central. But she's about due for a trim.

She's been dressing herself since, oh, 16 months or so. I just offered her 2 or 3 options. Everything else was put out of her reach. Now she dresses herself and most of the time matches. Socks....oh socks. Enough said there. But big hazel eyes and her gorgeous smile, and she's adored by all, messy hair and mismatched clothes or not.

As for my ds(16 mon), he doesn't want to dress himself. He does brush his own curly blonde hair or tries to anyway. Lmao. He was trying to walk in my high heeled sandals the other day. It was cute. But yea, he just lets me do whatever for now. Soon enough, I expect battles as he gets more independent. Lol

[limabean]

DD has manageable hair, so getting her hair to look neat is easy, thank goodness. I do clip her growing-out bangs to the side, but I end up having to redo that about 50 times a day. I try pony tails every once in a while, but they look so messy so quickly that it's usually not worth it.

For clothes, my DD often likes to pick out what she wears too, so I started buying separates instead of those matchy-matchy outfits they sell for little girls. Instead, I bought several pairs of solid shorts and several pairs of solid leggings, then a bunch of short- and long-sleeved printed tops that match all the bottoms. So now I just need to make sure she chooses something weather-appropriate, and at least anything she chooses will look decent together.

It's terrible if your DD's teachers are giving another child special treatment based on the way she looks.

[April Dawn]

Wow, this thread is making me feel so lucky to have a 16 month old who is still completely bald. No primping required!

As far as outfit, I'm happy if he just doesn't have any visible dirt clinging to his legs when we're out in public!

[mom2lucy]

Thanks for all the replies! i especially appreciate the feedback on caring for curly hair. The funny thing is that I have curly hair myself and would never ever brush it, but for some reason it hasn't occurred to me to not brush DD's hair

[colsxjack]

Our 15 month old DD is not primped.
She has no hair, so that isn't an issue.
Her clothes are mostly second hand. A lot of her clothes are from the "boys section" or from a friends 2yr old son.

I do like to have her in clean clothes. I don't worry at all if she gets dirty at the park. But after we get home, if we are going out again I change her.
My wife doesn't care at all. She puts her in an outfit in the morning and keeps her in it no matter how dirty she gets...as long as she doesn't get wet.
I can't deal with that though. I grew up poor, and so I don't want my DD to wear ill fitting or dirty clothes. I am more conscious of how others see my DD. I do not want them to judge her or us based on perceived income status.
But dirty clothes do not drive me as crazy as clothes that have gotten too small. I don't want my kid to ever be wearing clothing that are too short and outgrown. That drives me crazy.

And most people treat people they feel are esthetically pleasing better. Even babies will be more prone to be comfortable and friendly with someone who they feel are good looking. We do it subconsciously mostly. It sucks for kids and people who are not considered to be good looking, or who have dirty or ill fitting clothes on. But it is something that you will see more and more as your children grow up. Teachers, coaches, neighbours, etc will treat children who are more put together better than kids who are disheveled.

[shnitzel]

How do people get away with bathing their toddlers less than everyday?
DD always has food or glue or dirt in her hair. I never understood bathing a baby daily but DD gets smelly very quickly.

I do think it is important for her to look pretty and cute (I don't care about put together) my mum never stressed it when I was a kid although she does now and I definitely was not well dressed and remember being a little kid and knowing I wasn't cute b/c no one e ver made a big deal out of me at school