I'm looking to talk about this issue is general, especially to hear from you who how found out-of-the-box solutions for your particular situation.
Here is mine:
My younger daughter, 6.5yo, has a thick mane of hair that likes to tangle (even braided! Even after just a day!) Hair bands, even scrunchies kept in for half a day get caught up in tangles so badly, we cut them out. Her hair is quite long now, and I can cut it back about 4 inches, but more is out of my league.
The last time I cut her hair to her shoulder area, the bottom puffed out about 2 inches wide and took 2 weeks to even up enough with follow-up clipping sessions. I swear, it was so bad it looked like she chopped it off herself. Even keeping her bangs trimmed gives me the jitters because they are thick, too and her hair looks pretty goofy for a couple of weeks after I cut it.
We've been brushing everyday, not so much to detangle it completely, but to cut down on the tangles and make her scalp less sensitive by a bit so combing and brushing is not such a trauma. Her weekly "conditioner combing" in the bath was easy today, but can often result in tears.
I've offered to stop by the salon to get her a "cute, short" hair cut, but she likes her long hair, despite all the trouble with all the tangles.
I'm not a real stickler about hair, I just want to get her hair combed thoroughly once a week and not have it be such an ordeal for either of us. I don't have any higher expectations than this. Unfortunately with her hair the way it is, meeting those expectations have meant really pushing to have her hair brushed twice a day. Her sister gets by on her own-- her hair is thinner, finer, shorter.
We've talked about dreadlocks--their gym teacher has dreads she swoops up on top of her head. I don't think dd2 would like the way they feel-- she would even like not wearing her hairband in her hair at night, so I don't think dreads would be comfortable.
But what about you? Have you met with a simialr situation and found an out-of-the-box solution? Did dreadlocks work for your children, if it came to that? (If you dare, I would love to see some pictures!)
We are working this out fairly well, but I'm at the point that I wonder, who else out there has dealt with this? What am I missing? What can I do better?
Here is mine:
My younger daughter, 6.5yo, has a thick mane of hair that likes to tangle (even braided! Even after just a day!) Hair bands, even scrunchies kept in for half a day get caught up in tangles so badly, we cut them out. Her hair is quite long now, and I can cut it back about 4 inches, but more is out of my league.
The last time I cut her hair to her shoulder area, the bottom puffed out about 2 inches wide and took 2 weeks to even up enough with follow-up clipping sessions. I swear, it was so bad it looked like she chopped it off herself. Even keeping her bangs trimmed gives me the jitters because they are thick, too and her hair looks pretty goofy for a couple of weeks after I cut it.
We've been brushing everyday, not so much to detangle it completely, but to cut down on the tangles and make her scalp less sensitive by a bit so combing and brushing is not such a trauma. Her weekly "conditioner combing" in the bath was easy today, but can often result in tears.
I've offered to stop by the salon to get her a "cute, short" hair cut, but she likes her long hair, despite all the trouble with all the tangles.
I'm not a real stickler about hair, I just want to get her hair combed thoroughly once a week and not have it be such an ordeal for either of us. I don't have any higher expectations than this. Unfortunately with her hair the way it is, meeting those expectations have meant really pushing to have her hair brushed twice a day. Her sister gets by on her own-- her hair is thinner, finer, shorter.
We've talked about dreadlocks--their gym teacher has dreads she swoops up on top of her head. I don't think dd2 would like the way they feel-- she would even like not wearing her hairband in her hair at night, so I don't think dreads would be comfortable.
But what about you? Have you met with a simialr situation and found an out-of-the-box solution? Did dreadlocks work for your children, if it came to that? (If you dare, I would love to see some pictures!)
We are working this out fairly well, but I'm at the point that I wonder, who else out there has dealt with this? What am I missing? What can I do better?