tips for getting rats nests out of a child's long hair and making the hair more smooth?

[disney world dreamer]

my niece is 7 and she has rather long hair and really like long hair (says she wants to be like rapunzel).

the problem is she does not want to maintain it and when it is brushed through very well it does not stay nice for long.

even fresh out of the shower her hair feels like straw like when you just get out of a chlorine pool.

my sister has tried a number of products (not entirely sure of which ones) in her hair and she has not been able to find even one that works well and makes her hair smoother and easier to brush.

she also has the wet brush detangling brush which is not making brushing much easier.

we've all told her that she is gonna have to get her hair cut to a more manageable length but she becomes very upset as she wants her hair to be long. (of course my sister knows that she can force her to do it because after all she is only 7 and she is not the one in control but we all think it would be counter productive and kinda cruel to force her to get it cut).

so please i am open to suggestions about what products you have found that have worked well.

 

[asta]

It's a Ten leave in spray. Expensive but that stuff works miracles on tangles.

 

[cjbcam]

Argon oil. Not only will it take the dry crusty hair and make it soft but also works wonders on tangles. I have 3 DD that all have completely different hair (one really tights curls, one curly but not super, and one poker straight) it works well on all three. I found it last year and have used it since.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

my daughter's hair is down to her waist (she's 9) For a brush I use the tangle teezer, I bought mine at Ulta.
https://www.tangleteezer.com/proddetail.php?prod=NO-BB-011012

For shampoo and conditioner we use products from Lush. The shampoo is Rehab and the conditioner is American Cream. The lush products are not cheap but you don't need a lot of the product, a little goes a long way. I also will treat her hair with coconut oil about once a month. I rub the coconut oil in about 20 minutes before she takes a shower.

Then lastly we braid it every night and she has satin pillowcases. Cotton pillowcases can cause more tangles. All of this combined keeps the tears to a minimum.

 

[TLSnell1981]

DGD has very long and curly hair. She heavily conditions and combs it out in the shower, before rinsing the excess.

A light gel product, such as Confixor, mixed with a leave-in conditioner, like Brilliant or Smooth Infusion. All are by Aveda, and smooth/tame unruly hair.

She wants to be Rapunzel? Braid the child's hair and get the full affect. This also can keep her hair from being unmanageable.

Good luck. I'd hate for them to forcibly cut her hair. It would be cruel and tramatic. IMO

 

[disney world dreamer]

great tips so far!
thanks!

i just had another thought....
do you think perhaps she has a build up of product in her hair making it so bad?
should my sister maybe try a clarifying shampoo?
or will that just make the tangles worse?

 

[firecracker725]

great tips so far!
thanks!

i just had another thought....
do you think perhaps she has a build up of product in her hair making it so bad?
should my sister maybe try a clarifying shampoo?
or will that just make the tangles worse?

Possibly, but more likely it's damaged hair that's making it so difficult to manage. If you want your hair to grow long, it has to be healthy. Sometimes that means cutting the damaged ends off. Layers also help because though they don't take any length, they can make hair more manageable to care for. I suggest taking her to a very nice salon with someone who knows what they're doing.

 

[Jennasis]

Moroccan oil (also known as Argan oil).

 

[Southernmiss]

We use Garnier Fructis products. Shampoo and conditioner. They have argon oil.

Dd is 13 with thick, curly waist length hair. She shampoos and conditions often. I've found with my own hair I need to condition at least every other day.

I remember the days of 'rats nests'. Once she learned to brush her hair and brush often, it made a big difference. She learned when she cried from brushing and I encouraged brushing more often.

She plays soccer (keeper) and volleyball. We braid her hair before she plays-that helps. She wears ponytails a lot. That helps.

And she was rapunzel for Halloween last year!

 

[3Gsandme]

My little dd has super fine hair that tangles really easily. We had good luck using Healthy Sexy Hair leave in conditioner as a detangler.

 

[luvsJack]

Dd has always had long hair to her waist.

When she was little it was so bad about being a tangled mess. So I decided we were makng it worse by all the stuff we were using. I got some clarifying shampoo. Washed it and used a hot oil treatment one weekend. Then from that point, we stopped using shampoo so much. We cnditined it every night and braided it before bed. Made a world of difference.

She still doesn't use shampoo but maybe once or twice a week but lots of conditioner.

 

[LovesTimone]

Argon oil based shampoo and conditioner, any leave in conditioner or detangler product.

Both my daughter and I have long hair. DD is to her waist she is a adult now but when she was a kid we had the same problem. Here the things that I did to help, but also they are things that we both use today with our hair.

Before swimming, tell your sister to wet the her hair, wet not damp, spray with a leave in conditioner, braid, re-spray the braid with the leave in conditioner. Once out of the water straight to the shower to get out the chlorine or salt. I carry kids detangler to the beach or pool in my bag along.

A wide tooth comb in the shower to use when the conditioner is used so that you can make sure all the hair is getting the conditioner but at the same time help with the tangles.

I bought all kinds of stuff to use, and really the kids products worked best on kids hair, I don't think it is as harsh as adult products. I would start with a clarifying shampoo to have a jumping off point.

When DD was little, I always pulled her hair up for activities, braid, bun, ponytails, but with bands going all the down the ponytail to contain the hair.

I personally would not make her cut her hair, that would be traumatic for a little girl.

 

[aaarcher86]

I'd probably take her and have a few inches taken off to get rid of any dead ends, and show her that I'm serious about cutting if she doesn't take care of it.

Comb wet hair, don't brush. Brush it dry before she gets in the shower to avoid breaking hair getting through wet tangles.

 

[fly girl]

My Dd and I both have fine hair, but a lot of it and it tangles easily.

We both started using Carol's Daughter Monoi Oil shampoo, conditioner, and anti breakage spray. The spray also aids detangling on wet hair (I don't use it on dry as it made our thin hair look oily.)

I use Johnson & Johnson No More Tears detangling spray on dry hair for Dd.

I'm also with previous posters, a good haircut to promote healthy growth!

 

[lizabu]

Start with a trim to remove any split ends. Then I would use a spray in de-tangler.

 

[AnnaS]

I had the same problem with my dd many years ago. I used to use half a bottle of the detangled spray. I tried various conditioners too - expensive. In the end - we found Pantene conditioner to work the best. Of course, a trim will help and I am sure everyone knows - start brushing from the bottom up - a small section at a time. Good luck and let us know if you find a product that works for her.

 

[barkley]

does your sister have a regular hair stylist she goes to? if so I would suggest she contact that person and explain the situation then schedule an appointment for her daughter. the appointment can be presented to dn as a way for both mom and daughter to learn how to take care of daughter's hair 'the right way'. stylist can look at the hair and evaluate if a trim of ragged ends is needed ("to keep your hair healthy and help it grow better") and if there's specific products/practices that can used.

I found w/my dd that my telling her about how to care for her hair (or what I had to do to care for her hair when she was young and didn't want specific upkeeps) fell on deaf ears, but hearing the same advice from a 'professional' yielded a much more cooperative result.

 

[leebee]

I use about a nickel-sized spot of Fantasia Frizz Buster serum and work it through my damp hair (after shampooing/conditioning with Fructis Length & Strength hair products). If I don't use this, I can't get a brush OR a comb through my hair.

 

[Tiggeroo]

get a wide toothed detangling comb and comb the hair in the shower with conditioner still in it. Comb the conditioner through. Then after the shower a leave in conditioner combed through again. This helps a good deal. Also agree with braiding when playing or sleeping. Good quality conditioner like Organix. When she is home doing nothing comb coconut oil through her hair and leave it in for awhile and shampoo it out. I have thick, frizzy hair that at the moment is over processed. I have coconut oil in right now. I also take a spray bottle and put in some conditioner and mostly water. I spray this on my hair in the morning and run my fingers through.

 

[SEA333]

Possibly, but more likely it's damaged hair that's making it so difficult to manage. If you want your hair to grow long, it has to be healthy. Sometimes that means cutting the damaged ends off. Layers also help because though they don't take any length, they can make hair more manageable to care for. I suggest taking her to a very nice salon with someone who knows what they're doing.

Agreed. DS11 has very straight hair (the kind that always looks smooth and combed, but really isn't) and at one point, it had gotten very long. She hated combing it out ever day.

We took her to get a trim, and mentioned the horrible tangles DD gets. The hairstylist said that if DD cuts about 4 inches off (the length of what was clearly "damaged") she will have a lot less tangles to deal with.

It worked...DD's hair was still long enough to reach past her shoulderblades, but all of the yucky dead stuff was cut off. Her hair looked so much prettier and definitely did not tangle up as much. She really needs to do that again.....

I would NOT force a haircut on any girl if she doesn't want it - my mom used to force my sisters and I to sit while she chopped our hair up into short layers like a boy - and silly as it seems, it WAS very traumatic. I have 4 sisters and once we could say NO to her, not one of us have had hair shorter than shoulder-length again. We are all terrified of short hair LOL

But everyone needs a trim every so often. Long layers sound like a good idea.