Kids shampoo and tatty hair

[flummingbird]

I have a 5yo with incredibly tatty hair, it seems to have got a lot worse in the last 6 months. She's going to get a few inches cut off (it's not particularly long to start with, maybe collar bone now, going to shoulders) in the hope that helps, but was wondering if anyone had any recommendations of decent shampoo/conditioners for kids, or am I better using adult conditioner now? I don't know what the difference is...

I use the L’Oréal kids strawberry one on my children. When I used an all in one shampoo and conditioner their hair was getting all knotted at the back but since using a separate shampoo and conditioner it is soft and unknotted. I also use childs farm detangling spray and brush it through the hair if there are any tangles.

What do you mean by tatty?

I think if it’s visibly dull/dry/tangled you’re not getting the right shampoo for her hair type. What kind of hair does she have? Curly/wavy/straight etc?

@nocturnalcatfreetogoodhome

What do you mean by tatty?

I think if it’s visibly dull/dry/tangled you’re not getting the right shampoo for her hair type. What kind of hair does she have? Curly/wavy/straight etc?

Tatty is another word for tangled. I say luggy!

My dd insists on having long hair and I slather loads of conditioner on when it gets washed which seems to help. And we use a detangle spray in sections while brushing.

We use Childs Farm too, but it suits their hair type so you might or might not have success with it. I wonder if adult hair products will be too heavy?

Is the problem at hair bobble height? We tend to get split ends with certain hair ties, which then frizz up and tangle. We switched to Tangle Teezer brushes which seem to help detangle knots without ripping the hair too much.

My dds hair gets really tangled and what helps her is to apply some oil (we use coconut or almond) to her hair, brush it through to detangle, before washing. Then she just uses kids vosene twice so her hair isn’t left oily but it keeps it easy to brush til the next wash.

Adult shampoo seems to work better than kids shampoo. I let my girls use my expensive shampoo now. When they were little, I insisted they had bobbed hair. It was cute and it saved a lot of hair-related drama.

Oh sorry didn’t realise tatty meant tangled! Never heard that before!

I would say you need a really good adult conditioner on it! Sometimes the kids stuff just aren’t very strong. Aldi do a brilliant shampoo/conditioner set for dry/damaged hair and I’ve always found my hair (notoriously knotty and curly!) is so much more manageable.

I would also give it a fantastic head to toe brush out in the shower. Do you have a tangle teaser? They’re brilliant for knots without hurting.

Also how does she have her hair to sleep? Can you plait it or put it in a protective style at night? It will make it much more manageable in the morning!

Also for detangler spray - mix conditioner and water in a bottle in about a 1-3 ratio and spray that in her hair.

The best thing to do is keep it cut and washed, but I wouldn’t constantly brush it because sometimes that can make it more dry/tangled depending on curls etc.

Also could try different bobbles? Scrunchies/ those plastic bobbles are far easier on hair!

My daughter has super coarse, curly hair and last time she had a trim the hairdresser recommended putting a bit of conditioner in the ends once she’s got out of the bath and you’ve brushed it out. I was skeptical, thought it would make her hair greasy, but it’s improved the look of it a lot.

We use aldi kids 2 in1 shampoo and conditioner followed by childs farm detangling spray, that stuff is great! Also always use a tangle teaser
She has a trim every 4-6 months depending how it looks

Thanks all. I didn't realise tatty was a local thing!

She's got really quite straight hair which is why this has come as a surprise to me, even the morning after it's been washed (kids shampoo and that L'Oréal strawberry kids conditioner) it's just all knotted from the nape of her next to the ends. She's had it cut today, about 2 inches off so will hopefully help. I think I'm going to try her with a good adult conditioner, I use tangle teasers but even they take a good few minutes to get through the knots currently and she's starting to hate having her hair brushed...

She does get really hot and sweaty in bed so I guess it's likely from that, it's just odd that it's come on like a switch being flicked.

I don't use shampoo on my kids' hair, just conditioner. I also never brush it dry, only in the shower with conditioner, same as mine.

We use adult shampoo and conditioner on DDs hair, hers is really thick and wavy so gets very knotty.

I tend to give it a really good brush and do it in plaits before bed otherwise it's like a birds nest when she wakes up.

I switched to normal shampoo. Suddenly their hair just looks and feels so much better. The kids shampoo wasn't doing the job.