If your child has longer hair and is between 2-4 years old

[carolinagirl831]

Dd always wears a barrette with a small bow on it. She has to because her hair is crazy curly and is all over the place without one. She never fights this probably because we've done it everyday.
Real hard headbands she will not wear.
She sometimes tolerates pony tails, but often not. I think it pulls
My 3 month old is in headband training she often wears a thin baby headband

[MadamePresident]

Nods won't wear anything in her hair.

Once in a blue moon, I can convince her to wear a bow or pony for like 2 minutes. But I quit pushing it.

[Deleted]

Well I wouldn't say she has "long" hair but long enough for stuffs.

She used to be awesome about ponytails and bows and always wore a headband before she had hair, lately she's been wanting to wear her hair "long" (she means down) so I let her when it doesn't matter but tell her she has to have it up for somethings.

I usually try to give some sort of reason (you'll be hot with it down, this bow matches your shirt!, or compare it to some princess) if she's fighting it.

Then other days she requests specific styles.

The only time I really care is pictures or if we are going somewhere nice. For just preschool or running errands I try not to make a big deal. (Then I tell her "I let you choose most days, today mommy gets to choose")

[redheadk]

I do DD's hair everyday and have been since she had enough hair to do. She has a cowlick that makes it grow in front of her face so it needs to be pulled back. She gets to choose one ponytail (half up and to the side, thanks to the cowlick) or two (pigtails). She also wears a bow 85% of the time.

I think it's a combination of starting early, not really giving her a choice, and mostly just her personality. She is really cooperative about clothes and shoes. She doesn't always love the actual act of having her hair done but she knows we aren't leaving the house until it's done. She loves to go places so she'll hold still. She doesn't pull it out. I use those little colored translucent rubber bands and they kind of hurt to just pull out, don't know if that makes a difference.

[ssmjlm]

I do some sort of ponytail daily for daycare. Weekends it's usually a clip or bow.

She tolerates both very well now thankfully. I think it's because she doesn't like her hair in her face either.

[bluelikejazz]

@starry, I hope you don't mind my jumping in, but what hairbrush does everyone use?

DD's hair is long enough for a whale spout/ponytail, but all we have is the comb from the hospital.

[ladygrey]

DD used to HATE having things in her hair, but is getting much better since hair hanging in her eyes/face seems to really bother her. Persistence is the key; now she is used to having her hair pulled back. I usually do pigtails or a barrette off to the side.

[robot]

The little rubbery bands are the only thing that stay in my girls' hair well. They were also the only thing they didn't pull right out when they were younger. I find that the head bands, barrettes, and bows are basically useless anyways, since they fall out and slip loose so quickly. I use them occasionally, but they are not really functional for long.

[ladygrey]

Aug 9, 2015 10:05:10 GMT -5 bluelikejazz said:

@starry, I hope you don't mind my jumping in, but what hairbrush does everyone use?

DD's hair is long enough for a whale spout/ponytail, but all we have is the comb from the hospital.

I use a wet brush (the smaller size) and a fine-tooth comb.

[water*drop]

DD wore pigtails daily until she turned two, and then she started refusing them. Now we usually give her the choice to leave it down or pull it half back. She constantly twirls her hair, so anything more than half back just means that she'll slowly pull pieces out to twirl throughout the day. Every once in a while she'll ask me to braid her hair, but that never makes it past nap/rest time. We do tell her that she has to wear a regular ponytail for gymnastics and a braid for swimming, and she doesn't fight that.

She does not do bows or headbands for more than a few minutes. She fidgets with them when she twirls her hair and ends up pulling them out.

[hilwithonelary]

Well, DD has short hair as of a week or so ago, but I can answer anyway. She did (and does) tolerate barrettes okay. Ponytails and pigtails were dependent on her mood. I could never get her to leave a headband alone, not for lack of trying.

[water*drop]

Aug 9, 2015 10:05:10 GMT -5 bluelikejazz said:

@starry, I hope you don't mind my jumping in, but what hairbrush does everyone use?

DD's hair is long enough for a whale spout/ponytail, but all we have is the comb from the hospital.

We use a wet brush and a regular adult comb with liberal use of detangling spray if needed. 

[hermione]

C hates headbands, likes clips in theory but pulls them out quickly, and will leave a top pony (think whale spout) in most of the day. Pigtails or full ponytails get pulled out immediately.

I may have to cave and get bangs soon - I'm so sick of the top ponytail.

[bugandbibs]

DD2 has very strong opinions about her hair. I give her 2 options and let her pick.

[jsillyfun]

I force a ponytail for ballet, gymnastics, and special occasions. I use those clear plastic bands and she can't pull it out. I have to cut it to get it off without ripping out hair. She refuses all other hair things. She is 3.5.

[nannersp]

Aug 9, 2015 10:30:35 GMT -5 jsillyfun said:

I force a ponytail for ballet, gymnastics, and special occasions. I use those clear plastic bands and she can't pull it out. I have to cut it to get it off without ripping out hair. She refuses all other hair things. She is 3.5.

That's what we use, too. My gal is 2.5.

She's usually fine with whatever hairstyle I give her -- typically pigtails of some sort. I rarely just leave it down because her hair gets in whatever she's eating. She won't leave headbands or single barrettes. 

I let her watch something on my phone/computer when I style her hair. She's come home from daycare with really elaborate braids/pigtails, and I assume they do that while she's distracted eating during snack/lunch. I cut out the rubber bands while she's in her high chair eating dinner. 

[turtletop90]

Dd hated anything in her hair until she was like 3. Now she loves braids thanks to Frozen.

[ilikedonuts]

DD1 is almost 4 and has had daily ponytails since 20 months. Her hair is curly but when it's wet its past her shoulders. DD2 is 21 months and has had daily ponytails since like 8 months old. Her hair almost touches her shoulders.

[ilikedonuts]

We've never done clips or barrettes. We rarely do headbands now but used to daily for a long time.

[whitemerlot]

My dd is 3 and keeps a pony in her hair every day. She leaves it in because she doesn't like hair in her face. I use the tiny clear bands most of the time. Barrettes seem to slip out and headbands aren't comfortable for her.

I use the Wet brush and water and detangler spray in her hair everyday. She has a lot of curl and it gets frizzy if brushed dry.

[Marmee]

My girls would wear rubber bands (pig tails, pony tails, etc) but forget about headbands or even barrettes.

[smm5623]

Ponytails by request only. Everything else is a hell no.

[rxbeth]

She won't let me put anything in her hair any more and sucks because it's so unruly. Sometimes she'll come home from daycare with things in her hair that she has let them do. I just want it out of her face. The crazy hair situation is one of the pluses to having a boy this time around.

[huskymom]

I do half ponies on top of their heads so the hair isn't in their eyes (I refuse to cut bangs)

Sports days I'll do it all up in one or two ponies, or Elsa (one) or Anna (two) braids.

[rex]

L is extremely tolerant. her hair is kind of wild and a mess so maybe she just knows she can see better? she will even let me sit and french braid it. i usually just do a bow clip or a ponytail and headband though.

[drloretta]

DD is 5 and just started letting me do her hair. Like a week ago

[curbsideprophet]

It depends on the day

[frlcb]

Aug 9, 2015 10:08:36 GMT -5 ladygrey said:

Aug 9, 2015 10:05:10 GMT -5 bluelikejazz said:

@starry, I hope you don't mind my jumping in, but what hairbrush does everyone use?

DD's hair is long enough for a whale spout/ponytail, but all we have is the comb from the hospital.

I use a wet brush (the smaller size) and a fine-tooth comb.

We have tried every single brush around and the wet brush is hands down the best one, no question.

My 4 year old daughter has really long hair (to her waist) and has had a lot of hair since she was born, so we have always used barrettes. Those she keeps in. Headbands she hates. We braid it almost every day for school but she isn't crazy about ponytails.

[brady2012]

DD hair is always at least 1/2 up in a pony tail. She wont tolerate it down completely and hates headbands, bows and barrettes.

I just let her pick the hairstyle each morning. Anna braids (2 braids), Elsa braid (1 braid), ponytail or bun.

I have found if I let her pick her socks and her hairstyle the morning routine is much easier.

[jr009j]

Depends on the day. We rotate between Elsa braid (one french braid), Anna braids (2 braids), Doc hair (pigtails plus a headband), Cinderella ponytail (just a ponytail), Cinderella bun (a regular high bun) and flowing like Sofia's (all down). I think you can tell her interests based on the style names. She tends to fixate one one hair style for a long time and then rotate to something different. Right now she only wants flowing.