[cuttiebearmom]

So, I'm wondering if anyone can give me some tips that they use for getting a 2 year old to let them wash their hair easier.

My dd1 is a very mild mannered happy little girl who LOVES taking a bath, except when it's time to wash her hair. We do very well NOT getting soap in her eyes, letting her help, etc; however, it almost always results in a very upset little girl, who decides she wants out of the bath immediatley even though she was happily playing before. I normally would say that she'll just get over it but... right now it is the only time of day she gets really upset and I usually am putting dd2 to sleep when she does it with her dada...she can get LOUD

We've tried a zillion different things but I'm always looking for any good suggestions

 

[KateMary]

I have the same problem and I just do it at quick as possible and only when really needed, which is not more than twice a week usually. If she has just gotten food in her hair, I rinse only. Shampoo is saved for puke or pee in the hair, or once a week if neither of those gross scenarios have occurred.

I wait till she is almost done with her bath, then wash quickly. Then get her out and comfort her best I can. I don't think the shampoo stings her eyes, she gets upset even with just getting her hair wet. I tried the little visor that keeps the water off her face but I can't get it on her now, she knows it means shampoo time.

DD will at least let me soap her up with just a little wimpering. But when its time to rince, she likes to do the back arching, throwing herself backward thing and I support her back and head and let her dunk her head in the water, that takes care of most of the rincing. I totally dread it though.

 

[cuttiebearmom]

Well, at least we're not alone on this one..probably one of those things we'll laugh about when they are 12 and wouln't get OUT of the shower in the morning

 

[Alkenny]

There was just a huge thread filled with different ideas on accomplishing this, including buying one of those visors, letting babe use a detachable hose to rinse themselves, and using a wet washcloth (which takes awhile longer, but will work). Good luck!

 

[Evan&Anna's_Mom]

I don't know if this will translate to others at all, but my daughter (2 1/2) loved back floating during swimming lessons (well, mommy and toddler splash lessons) this summer. So now I can have her "do a back float" in the bathtub to get her hair wet, then she sits for shampoo and does another back float so I can rinse. I think this works so well for us because she never gets water on her face, which she definitely doesn't like. Of course there isn't enough water in the tub to actually float, but there is enough that the water comes about 1/2 way up her scalp and I can scoop water over the rest without an issue. She seems to find it very relaxing to lay back in the tub and does it a lot during non-shampoo baths as well.

Maybe starting by having a child lie down in a little bit of warm water? Moving up to a normal tubs worth, then adding the hair component? Assuming, of course, that you don't want to do swim lessons.

 

[MotherWhimsey]

I posted about this maybe a month ago. There were a lot of different responses... we tried all of them, and nothing worked. So I just wash her hair once a week and try to do it without getting anything on her face. She still cries and tries to jump out of the bath the second I say "wash your hair." She is getting a little less upset, but not much. Hugs and sorry I don't have any advice for you, but we're with you.

 

[kidbound]

My 2 year old dd is the SAME way. Very calm little happy girl. UNTIL:::: washing the hair. We have tried everything too, and well, we just try to do it as quickly and safely as poss. now!

 

[rainbowmoon]

no advice except do it as fast as possible! my DS HATES getting his hair washed, well not the washing part but the rinsing part, and screams/cries and tried to crawl out of the tub. I do it as quick as possible (uner a min for the rinsing part

) he is fine once it's done, but man I feel soooo badly as it's like torture to him. but he needs his hair washed at least once every week!

 

[jentilla]

Well we have success with this method, but it may be too specific to my dd, but maybe you can alter to match your dd's obsessions. My dd also HATES getting her hair washed and as you know much of what we do is "in the moment" and so I started telling dd to look up at the stars and moons and the night sky, all things she LOVES to look at IRL, books. computer, you name the kid might end up being an astromomer! Even though there isn't anything up there, we laugh and get really excited and pretend, thus she has her head leaning back long enough for me to do the washing part. I think she just knows now that we when look at the bathroom "night sky' I will berinsing hair and to go along with it and there will be no water issues. We also have lots of towels around to make her feel better about each little drip that may come her way!HTH's!

 

[sapphire_chan]

Somewhat offtopic as it isn't advice, but I've wondered why we in the U.S. don't have the little round the head plastic ledge thingies I see in anime and manga. It's like a hat brim so you can wash and rinse the top of your head without getting soap in your eyes.

Edited to add: oh, I've just been looking in the wrong places.

 

[ShelleyMom2in2]

have you tried a foaming shampoo? its already lathered and its fun to play with. My son (2) LOVES to wash his own hair with it. I squirt it on his hand and he smacks it on his head. He also loves when I give him the mirror and he watches me make a huge pile of foam on his head

 

[ang20]

Hi I was just reading your thread tonight and thought I would add a little something. You could try to give your toddler a mirror so he or she can look at them selves while there washing there hair. You can see how funny your toddler can make her hair look. The mirror works well for rinsing too. Because the hair floates in the water. This trick works for my 4 year old daughter.

Good Luck

 

[lisac77]

I shower with my son, and he hates having his hair washed, too. I save it for last and do a quickie rinse under the shower as the last part of our bath/shower routine. He also refuses the visor, which I simply don't understand... his hair get washed either way.

He's currently taking an interest in washing his own hair and standing under the shower spray himself. I'm hoping we're about to turn and independence corner where he can wash himself under the shower. Maybe when he has a little more control over the situation he'll accept it more readily.

 

[Treasuremapper]

We have major hair washing issues here, too. One thing that works for 2 y.o. Rosie is to use our faucet minishower with warm water. I get in the bathtub with her and dh and older dd 4 y.o. Gracie help by keeping the minishower from coming off the faucet and handing us dry washcloths. When the time comes for rinsing, I nurse Rosie in a position so that water squirted on her forehead will go back into the tub instead of into her eyes. Gracie hands us dry washcloths for her eyes.

I will look back and laugh some day I know but right now it is pretty darned tough to wash hair around here, which is why I only do it twice a week per child.

 

[lazra]

We avoid the main part of the problem by *not* washing dd's hair in the bathtub. Instead, whenever her hair needs to be washed, we lay her down on the bathroom counter (ours is fairly long - narrow bathroom) with her head hanging into the sink. We use one hand to support her head, and the other hand pours water over just her hair. This way, she completely avoids even the possibility of getting water in her eyes, which is her main worry.

 

[starbarrett]

same problem here. While dd hates to have her hair washed in the tub, she doesn't seem to mind it in the shower where her face is getting wet constanly.

As a result, I try to take her into the shower with me when it's convenient and only wash her hair in the tub when it's been awhile.

 

[cuttiebearmom]

Thanks for some new ideas, I'll have to try getting her to look in a hand mirror while we're doing it....she loves mirrors and we haven't tried that one yet. She also loves swiming, we'll see if the floating on the back works too. If not, it's just nice to know that I'm not alone !!!!!!