Hair Braiding word of warning.

[CRB#33]

My DD had her hair braided in Nassau this summer and it looked adorable. She had the headband style with the back left undone. Unfortunately she's on a swim team, has to wear a cap and they didn't look nice for very long after we returned.

When I finally took the braids out, I started one at a time and carefully undid the braids and combed each one out after I unwound them.

The problem----huge hunks of hair just fell out with EACH braid. I had an unbelievable pile of hair when I was done. Now my DD has the thickest hair I've ever seen, so the only time you notice it is when she pulls her hair back into a pony tail and there are clumps of flyaways as opposed to whisps.

I spoke with my hairdresser and she said this is very common. She has no idea what it is or why it happens, but she has had people come in who have had the whole head done and lost entire braids---they just fell off the head!

I just wanted to pass this along, but I also want to say that I've been here for years (had a name change) and I have never heard of what happened to my daughter. So it probably isn't as common as my hairdresser says.

I thought long and hard about posting this, but then I would have felt bad if it happened to someone who was on the fence about getting thin hair braided.

 

[dis4me]

Thanks for the warning.My dds had their braids done last Aug.Although they did not loose noticable chucks they did loose more hair then usual when we brushed the hair after taking it out.
How long was it in for? MY dds hair started to look frayed after about 2 weeks.

 

[confal1]

I had my hair done in St. Lucia years ago and the same thing happened to me. I also had to cut the elastics off. I was so scared when washing my hair for the 1st time after the braids came out but my hair is fine.

Also remember to put SUNBLOCK on the scalp. I got a nasty sunburn.

 

[jel0511]

THis also happened to a friend of mine who had her hair braided during a trip to Nassau. She was told it was because the really pull the hair tight and you leave them in for a long time. Sometimes the stress on the hair from being pulled so tight causes the hair to "snap off" after the hair is braided. Think of an elaxtic band and pulling it tight, after a while, they do break.

 

[my3kids]

We had 1 put in my daughter's hair last year....just a single briad/hair wrap kind of thing. It eventually just fell off. The person who did it said that would happen. She had a small bald spot for a while and I worried the hair wouldn't grow back in that spot at all. This is a good deterent lesson for her when she sees the braids and wants a lot done this fall! She might want braids, but who wants a bunch of bald circles!

 

[taswira]

I've had several friends who have had their hair braided (here in the States, not on a cruise) and had the same problem. Every time I cruise and see people, especially little girls, get their hair braided it makes me cringe. I can see the bare places on their scalp (Yes, they need sunscreen on their head!), and many of them complain that the braids are so tight they hurt. Then I think about what will happen when the braids are taken out! Also, there have been many cases of unsanitary conditions with hair braiding on the islands - head lice, etc. I guess some people don't have a problem, but I can't believe this could be <I>good</I> for one's hair or head, and my hairdresser agrees. I have long, thick hair and as soon as I get off the ship I am bombarded with the hair braiding sales pitch! NEVER!

 

[natsmom125]

The same thing happened to my daughter after a girl at her summer camp braided everyone's hair in the headband fashion.

When I took her to get a haircut....like 3 weeks later...when the
girl took the braids out....she came running up to me with a whole handful of hair that had come out of dd's head!!!!!!!! I thought these women were going to call DSS on me!!!!!

They told me to NEVER leave braids done in that fashion in longer than a week.

We just had her hair braided in 4 long braids on Castaway Cay. She has had this many times and I've never noticed a problem with her hair coming out in hunks. Maybe its got to do with the
hair being so tight all over the front of the head.

So, I will pay particular attention this time when I take the braids out.

Phyllis

 

[my3kids]

The one my daughter had could never have been taken out. It would have had to be cut off if it didn't fall off. It only used a few of her hairs and then it was wrapped/crocheted/braided/twisted ??? with threads of various colors. We got so used to seeing it in that when it did fall off, she looked really different!

 

[Bob Noble]

Our girls get the wraps each time we go to WDW. Last December one had hers done at Typhoon Lagoon and the other at Animal Kingdom. Both thick long (as in expensive wraps) hair. They keep them in UNTIL they fall out. DS 1 lost hers in July and DS 2 in August. No big deal, it grows back.

 

[aprilgail2]

my 2 year old had hers done in Freeport and she loved it, but I would never ver leave them in for more than a week, it just seems gross to wash your hair with it in braids, doesn't seem clean to me!

 

[patches-4]

When DD had her hair braided at CC she left it in for about 2 weeks and when we went to take it out I cut the rubberbands off the ends and sprayed the braid really good with the detangler stuff you can get at Wal-mart. Then carefully undid the braid, some hair did come out but it wasn't very much. I didn't try to comb or brush it out but had DD shampoo it in the shower and put a really good conditioner on it I got from the hairdresser, and didn't have any problems after that.

 

[Bob Noble]

What is gross about washing a braid? washing is washing.

But to each his/her own that why we live in the USA

 

[dis4me]

I remember before I had kids I used to think it would be gross because I couldn't imagine how clean it actually got.However seeing how my girls hair became clean and smelled fresh just as it does without braids, I no longer agree.I do think the braids can damage the hair if left in too long though.

 

[TinkerBellPixie4GOAL]

I had my hair done last december and I kept it in for a week. i have thin hair. Some came out, but not lots. I had it done at Castaway Cay. When we went to St. Maarten you couldn't walk two steps with out someone asking if you wanted your hair braided. When we went to St. Thomas I twisted my hair up and hid it in a hat.

 

[JLSE50]

RORY: What a good idea!! I usually wear a visor on trips, maybe I will get a hat for the cruise.

Jan

 

[WorknFires]

I had short hair last year and had 6 short braids done rather loosely (sp?) in Nassau. I left them in maybe 2 weeks or a little less. Maybe because it wasn't tight but I didn't lose any strands more than I normally would (my DH says I shed worse than our cat ) My hairs a good bit longer this year and I plan on having at least 1 thin braid put into my hair but I'll have to remember to ask them to leave it loose again.

Thanks for the heads up!

 

[poopie]

150 hairs per day. If you had the braide in 10 days when you take them out that's 15000 hairs and it looks like a lot but is normal. Now the whole braids falling out and the bald spots are not normal. I had my 56 braide done in a headband style, it did look like alot of lost hair when I took them out 2 weeks later but that is normal.

 

[mcnuss]

DD8 had one of those long thin braids with the embroidery thread woven in done at the Vistana resort a few years ago. We were with friends who had it done, too. The girl doing the braiding said to leave it in no longer than 2 weeks, and then just to snip the threads with manicuring scissors to get it un-done. DD and her friends lost no more than a few hairs - the braid most certainly did not fall off! I don't think that is normal.