Detangling long hair (six year old)

[Poteryamesta2015]

Hello,

My daughter's hair has become increasingly tangly and knotty after washing (since her sixth birthday). Her hair is mid way own her back, so longish. She eats well is active etc so I'm just looking for a product at this stage to spray on the ends of her hair after washing to untangle the knots.

Can anyonre recommend a product for children that is effective and that does not contain Bisphenol A and phtalates (and other nasty chemicals)?

Be grateful for any ideas.

Regards.

Sam

[dementedpixie]

Do you use conditioner? Try a leave in one or a detangling spray. I can't recommend one without the stuff you said as I never tried to avoid them

[Trumpette]

Coconut oil, leave to soak in over night & comb through.

Also get it trimmed regularly. My daughter has waist length hair and it gets knotty at the ends when it needs a cut! X

[Frogqueen13]

Boots do a coconut oil leave in spray it's fab

[moptopp]

We use an Aussie leave-in conditioner spray, diluted a bit, and definitely recommend a tangle tamer.

[loveisagirlnameddaisy]

My DD is 6 and has long curly hair which tangles very easily. I was using baby products on her hair and was advised to switch to adult shampoo and conditioner. I also use leave in conditioner. I'm sure coconut oil would work well.

The detangling sprays are pretty useless, might as well just put water in a plant spray bottle and use that

[Poteryamesta2015]

Well thanks for that. In desperation I'm actually using the Schwarzkopf vanilla detangler (for adults), trying to spray just on hair ends and not through her hair on her skin.

[dementedpixie]

I'm sure it's not going to do her harm if it gets on her skin.

[Poteryamesta2015]

Thanks demented pixie, I'm going to continue to search for chemical free products .. there are endocrinian perturbers (sorry that's prob a bad translation from French) in many products that we use. the REACH legislation should see a lot of these things being banned but not in time necessarily for our children.

[Watto1]

No idea about the 'nasty chemicals' aspect but Avon do a very good detangling spray for kids.

[Girlfriend36]

I would brush through when you put the conditioner in before rinsing iyswim and then plat when its still wet. Keeping hair tied back and in plats is the best way to avoid tangling ime.

[Poteryamesta2015]

I will try the coconut oil. Have to do without Boots though, last time I ordered online and paid they just upped and cancelled my order, no explanation, invited me to place the order again and warned me that I might be subject to a repeat cancellation :-( needless to say I no longer use Boots Intl. Will try to find this cocnut oil elsewhere. best idea yet. Any brand recommendation?

[0hCrepe]

A mason Pearson hairbrush works well on my dd's hair which is fine and tangles easily. Also keeping it plaited helps.

[SouthernComforts]

My 6 year old has long hair and I use a tangle teaser on it before I rinse off the conditioner, takes 2 minutes instead of 20 when dry.

[CrabbitArse]

I use the Child's Farm detangler spray on DD, works well & sold as having no nasties (although I haven't checked)

[Poteryamesta2015]

Yep, that's good advice, I do often plait her hair once it's dry before putting her to bed. The tricky time is right after the bath when her hair is wet. That's when it gets knotty two thirds of the way down. I haven't put in conditioner as I prefer to avoid if possible. At the mo it takes ages to brush her hair out with two different brushes and a spray of the Schwarzkopf to avoid pulling her hair.

[Poteryamesta2015]

Trumpette, we had her hair trimmed quite a lot even less than a week ago, it has improved things but not eradicated the problem.

[originalmavis]

Boors have stopped doing their coconut leave in conditioner. I am bereft!

Tangle tamer hairbrushes are good. They are the only thing that can get through ds's matt.

[mudandmayhem01]

Mix your favourite conditioner with water in a spray bottle and spray in, job done.

[DPotter]

Another vote for a tangle teaser. DD and I both have long thick hair and they work a treat. Try brushing from the bottom up, rather than top down as well

[Poteryamesta2015]

Just to say for anyone like me trying to avoid chemicals in their children's hair products, I just came across this very concise info on stuff to be careful of when buying hair prods

www.healthychild.org/chemicals-to-avoid-in-your-personal-care-products/

[Girlfriend36]

You need to use conditioner, I wouldn't be able to get a brush through my hair without it. I tend to use conditioner for just the long bit of the hair iyswim.

Your dd sounds very patient my dd hates having her hair brushed and at that age we had it cut to a bob as it just wasn't worth the daily battles and tears!!

[dementedpixie]

All sounds a bit like scaremongering from reading that link.

[fourbumsonarugbypost]

We use a tangle teaser and water spray, if the hair is wet then it's much easier to get the knots out, no need for anything other than combing.

I find that gathering the hair into a pony and holding it tight while brushing the ends helps, but I bet you are already trying that so I'm probably not much help, sorry

[expatinscotland]

Tangle Teaser! Spray bottle of conditioner mixed with water. Let that sit a couple of minutes then go for it with the Tangle Teaser. Works a treat on both my DDs.