I need little girl hair help

[Elsa]

This is becoming an every day battle and I'm so tired of it.

She wants to wear her hair down- because otherwise she "won't be a princess". I don't know where she gets this shit.
I've shown her pictures of Disney princesses with their hair pulled back. Ponytails, braids, etc.
I've insisted, I've fought her, etc. But she wants to wear her hair down every day.

If she does wear it down it hangs in her face- she doesn't have bangs, mostly because I'm afraid they would look terrible because of her cowlicks and the fact that I only wash her hair 2-3x a week. Oh and I'd have to take her to get them cut like every 2 weeks. I'm lazy.
If she wears it down, it also ends up in a tangled mess at the end of the day.

I've told her I want to cut it....right now its to the end of her waist. But then she "won't be a princess like Rapunzel"

Kill me. Where did I go wrong? How can I rectify this? Do I just let her wear her hair down and to hell with it?

[pantsparty]

Tell her Rapunzel is old news, Elsa is the new cool kid in town.

[speckledfrog]

Bribe her with lots of whatever will work and get it cut

[lizard1131]

What about a braid crown? This seems to satisfy my girls. I just braid two sides by the face and clip them together in the back. I wouldn't want to do bangs either, just delaying the inevitable growing out phase.

[Elsa]

Aug 31, 2015 12:26:59 GMT -5 lizard1131 said:

What about a braid crown? This seems to satisfy my girls. I just braid two sides by the face and clip them together in the back. I wouldn't want to do bangs either, just delaying the inevitable growing out phase.

Hmm I wonder if that will work for her. I'll try it, thanks!

pantsparty, that is what I usually tell her and she wears it in a braid most days....but her hair is SO fine that it falls out almost before we get to school. Its so frustrating.

speckledfrog, yeah I might have to. Its really healthy, so its not time sensitive other than the fact that she is testing my sanity.

[gretchenindisguise]

Rapunzel cuts her hair at the end....

[revolution]

I'd do a few things - let her pick out a pretty headband or barettes or pony tail holders and use whichever one she wants in the morning.

Or, most likely, if we had no where to go that she had to have perfect hair for, I'd let her wear it down. I don't really fight this battle unless I have to.

[themysteriouswife]

I feel your pain. I bought lots of hair bands. I spray the shit out of her hair with hairspray to make it stay too. I also use Paul Mitchell hair products. Her hair tends to not tangle as much. We made a deal. If she loses a hair band or comes home with a messed up hair, I get to style it for the rest of the month. So far it's worked.

[WOT?*]

I was also thinking of an up-down hairstyle. Braid her bangs in various different ways - French, rope twists, alternate the part, etc.
Or, since she's wanting to be Rapunzel, she wears her hair in braids and pulled back, too:
 

[Deleted]

Spray bottle with water is your braiding BFF.

[Alyssa]

My daughter is like this, she hates when you put her hair back and she will not tuck it behind her ears.



Sometimes I have to be a mean mommy and just lay down the law that she's having her hair put into a clip whether she likes it or not.  I'm not a fan of the Cousin It look so I tell her that her hair is going to be pulled back and when we get home, she can take the clip out.  Other times I just don't feel like battling it out with her and I let her keep her hair in her face.

[my3boyz]

I was going to say sparkly headbands and barrettes (sp?). I would go to the store and let her pick stuff out with you. This is one where you guys should compromise, it will make your life easier. I used to do the half pulled back with a clip and the rest hung down. It keeps it out of the eyes and its still long "like a princess".

Please, please, please don't force cut it out of frustration. From experience I can tell you it's very traumatic. And can cause her to never want to cut it again. Can you tell I'm projecting?

[papie]

My girls like their hair down too. I'd just cut it to a manageable length (like just past the shoulders), like just below shoulders, and explain that it must be brushed/detangled twice a day.

[sallywalker]

We would do a little side braid and call it an Elsa braid.

[panbitch]

Aug 31, 2015 12:31:43 GMT -5 gretchenindisguise said:

Rapunzel cuts her hair at the end....

I was going to mention this.  I cut off my long hair at 7 when Princess Diana got married. Point out that princesses have short hair too.

[sallywalker]

Like this. Best pic I can find right now lol

[ames]

Hey hon

Just wanted to jump in and ask - is it long enough to donate?

When we got to the point with E's hair where I absolutely couldn't deal with the length and the tangles and the tears anymore, I sat her down and explained to her that she could do a really good thing if she cut her hair and gave it to another little girl who didn't have any hair. I didn't go into details about little girls being sick or anything like that, just kept it really simple and told her she could make another little girl very happy by letting her have some of her hair.

Giving her a reason and a purpose to cut her hair other than "mommy wants you to" really helped and got her jazzed about a new look.

Just a thought. Good luck!

[cabbagecabbage]

I pick my battles but make my daughter will get the grossest stuff in her hair and chew it in her face. So I insist she pull it out of her face most days. It can be half back and I'm happy to braid it however she wants. When she whines, I tell her she gets three seconds to pick either pigtails or a ponytail (or two random options) or I will pick for her.

[jinkies]

I would cut bangs for her. My daughter has bangs for this reason, and we definitely don't cut them every 2 weeks. Maybe she has super slow growing hair? I think we last cut them in June, though they did start out a bit short. We also only wash hair 2-3x a week, and it's fine.

She still usually looks crazy, because she doesn't like me to brush it. But at least it's not in her face.

[8675309]

I'm having the opposite problem right now. My DD wants to chop her hair off. I am dying a little inside about it. I know it's just hair and she keeps reminding me it will grow back but I CANT DO IT!! Damn 5yr olds and their perfect logic.

[cville]

I just let my kid look like a wildebeest and wear her hair down. Ponytail mandatory for sports only. Walla.

[cuddlyevil]

I started taking her to my salon, my stylist can talk her into (or out of) anything. She's successfully talked her out of bangs three times now.

[litebright]

My DD2 can get like this to a lesser extent. These things have worked with her:

- Telling her that I'm "just going to pull the front back so it's out of her face, and leave the rest down". Then I use a small hairband or clip and do what I think is called a half-ponytail. It still feels like the rest is down, and she's okay with that.

- Coming up with other acceptable "princess" styles, then letting her see pictures and choose. There are a number of styles that you can do with those tiny, plastic hairbands (found them at the dollar store) that are basically just small ponytails flipped inside out -- they look complicated and Rapunzel-braid-esque, but many of them are not hard to do. I'd suggest going on pinterest and making a board of the ones you think you can do, then letting her choose. Practice runs on the weekend help to make the weekday mornings go smoother.

However, I also did an Elsa braid daily for months and months when she was younger and insisted on it. Sometimes it's not worth your sanity, and they do grow out of whatever the phase is.

[adhdfashion]

Headbands

[Elsa]

Aug 31, 2015 12:44:15 GMT -5 ames said:

Hey hon

Just wanted to jump in and ask - is it long enough to donate?

When we got to the point with E's hair where I absolutely couldn't deal with the length and the tangles and the tears anymore, I sat her down and explained to her that she could do a really good thing if she cut her hair and gave it to another little girl who didn't have any hair. I didn't go into details about little girls being sick or anything like that, just kept it really simple and told her she could make another little girl very happy by letting her have some of her hair.

Giving her a reason and a purpose to cut her hair other than "mommy wants you to" really helped and got her jazzed about a new look.

Just a thought. Good luck!

HI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And this is a really really good idea. I'll talk to her about it.

We've tried the headband/barrette thing and they don't stay in. Headbands hurt (because she wears them wrong- in front of her ears, despite me showing her how to wear them), and barrettes slip right out.

Maybe I'll try sitting down with her tonight and instead of just showing her princesses with their hair pulled back, I'll show her pictures of hairstyles that I could do. Maybe I can convince her to pick out her hairstyle the night before like she picks out her clothes. lol

[1confused1]

Honestly, it's a phase and I just let my daughter do whatever she wanted. It wasn't worth the battle every day.

She wears it in a ponytail every once in a while now.

[nachos]

Been a battle with my DD since she had an opinion - so, forever. lol And she refused headbands and clips. It became such a power struggle that I only really pushed the issue when it got too far gone.

Our deal was that if it was out of control it had to either go up or get cut off. And it had to be up for dance and swimming - that was non-negotiable.

Once she realized that long, out of control hair might make it easier to get "bugs in her hair" (lice), she was a little more agreeable.

However, now she's 12 and wants to do a pixie with long bangs before heading back to school. Her choice. Since puberty has hit, our new deal is that it must look clean and tidy (she has a lot of issues with greasiness that we are working through, thanks to her newfound hormones).