DD3’s curly hair becoming matted, dry, rough

[IAmJustSoTired]

AIBU to think something is going seriously wrong with my daughter’s hair and that it shouldn’t be THIS bad?!

She has curly/wavy hair. It starts off straight but falls into curls and waves. It used to be beautiful, shiny and soft but for the past few months is turning into a mess.

The picture attached shows her hair when I opened her (loose) bun after she woke up in the morning. It is completely matted, dry and tangled.

When she bathed, I shampoo and condition it. It looks great for one day, then reverts back to being a mess.

If it helps, she also suffers from nits - they come and go but we treat them every time she gets them (from family members who refuse to treat their kids heads properly!!!) but still, I feel like the constant medication might have taken a toll on her hair.

Should I chop off her hair?
Is there a product that could help?
Any tips for girls with curly-ish hair?
What can I do to help my daughter because it’s horrible seeing her upset when we end up inevitably spraying detangling spray all over and trying to run a brush through the matted mess her hair used to be so lovely and now it’s just a mess! I feel like cutting it and starting over.

Awh her hair is beautiful.
Are you rinsing the conditioner out really well.
I'd give it a few Olive oil treatments, get some tea tree shampoo although it goes dry hair more, I'd buy the tea tree conditioner and oil mix the oil in a spray bottle, with some leave in conditioner for daily sprays.
I wash the DCs hair twice a week with tea tree shampoo, they've never had head lice.

I wash DDs hair once every 10 days, and in between, wash with conditioner only. Use some argon oil in wet hair. Brush when wet and braid.

I tend to leave her hair in braids overnight and redo them the next day.

I found having hair braided stopped the knots, but also stopped the nits.

Its also cooler this time of year.

Also find a good curly haired hairdresser who knows how to cut curls properly

There a great method to help hair curl

My DD is like this. Another person recommending a spray bottle with conditioner/water mix and tangle teaser brush. Recommend by the hairdresser.

No shampoo
Conditioner only
Curly girl method
Plait don't bun / pony
Plait overnight
Plait when hot to avoid frizz
Leave in conditioner
Wash only when needed

I have ringlets naturally and all these things have helped me lots - attached is how it is (ish) now

From the picture it looks like your daughter have fine curly hair strands, not thick. If that is the case do not use oil products as they will weigh it down and make it greasy and lank.

This stuff is also amazing . As you only use the tiniest bit, a pot lasts a very long time.

www.boots.com/boots-essentials-curl-creme-250ml-10088417?cm_mmc=bmm-buk-google-ppc--PLAs--(GB:Whoop!)+Boots-_-(GB:Whoop!)+Boots+Shopping+-+Category+-+Beauty+-+Desktop&gclid=Cj0KCQjwsvrpBRCsARIsAKBR_0KIGNnHsz81aTh3xaVuilkSSXoWVyg6g44C23C45OwqqWtvmubGirkaAvOuEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

As a kid, my mum would leave conditioner through the end of my hair and spray it with water before brushing it in the morning. Our hair just used to go straight into curls. A detangling brush is good for curly hair, only costs 89p in Home Bargains. Brush from bottom up and try not to rip the hair if you reach a knot, just stop and go back through until the knot is gone.

As an adult if I leave my hair curly I don’t brush it until I wash it again. Just water and conditioner if it is bushy. However, this does make it a tangled mess and can be difficult/painful to brush out so wouldn’t advise this.

Maui moisture do fab shampoo that revives curly hair that could be an option after the nit problem is squashed. Like pp have said, conditioner and ton of combing. My dd came home from nursery with nits every week, it's a long and horrible process getting rid

@AnnonniMoose sshhhhh! Or it'll randomly go out of stock again!

My dd has very curly hair - spray with leave in conditioner and comb with a wide toothed comb every day.

I'd suggest a detangling spray. I still use one occasionally, but less often since I bought a tangle teezer, mine was under a fiver in TKMaxx, but it takes ages to brush my hair.

@TheHandsOfNeilBuchanan

😅😅😅😅

I take it you're a fan then?

Huh? Wrong emoji lol - I meant 😂 😂 😂 😂

Can't echo @Sorrywhat enough on this:

As an adult if I leave my hair curly I don’t brush it until I wash it again.

I wish my mum had known this. I sported a fetching Hagrid hairdo between washes as a child. Bastard brushes.

I joke that dd has more hair products than me. We do wash but no more than once or twice a week and condition heavily. I use a hair treatment for dry hair on her at least once every week or two as well. Brush with tangle teaser before rinsing.

After rinsing apply a little conditioner or a leave in conditioner.

To brush, wet hair a bit and add a leave in conditioner then brush in batches. I start with the bottom at the back then middle then front/top.

Never sleep with lose hair. Loose plait or high pony tail.

Don’t want to overload you with info! I wash my daughters hair about once a week and just condition in between. We quite often put an intensive conditioning mask on at night and wash it out in the morning. She likes the brush I’ve attached (didn’t really get on with tangle teezers). Lots of conditioning spray and brush wet and from the bottom. Plait at night and as often as poss really with nits around! Trimming it frequently keeps it on good condition. Good luck, I know the pain of hair brushing when it gets matted 😫

My hair is a bit like this. I have started using the shampoos and conditioners without sls & parabens etc. (I use dr organics from Holland and Barrett) and found they are making my hair so much softer. I do blow dry and straighten mine after every wash though as can't get mine to be a nice curl.. it's just zigzag frizz! Good luck.

I know nothing about curly hair but iv used coconut oil left on overnight then nit combed the next morning.

This is my hair before I started CG and about a year in
I never ever brush it, or shampoo it, or use silicones! I do use a v wide tooth comb (eBay) to detangle when my hair is full of conditioner
Bizarrely TK Maxx often has CG friendly products in as well but you have to be confident with ingredients

@AnnonniMoose I love it, but every year just before festival season there is a shortage (straight haired people thinking that's how you get curly hair 🙄). Boots told me about 5 years ago the manufacturers were stopping production, I panicked, drove to every boots in a 25 mile radius and bought 23 pots , I was just clearing shelves, it was still £1.39 then. Then it came back into stock everywhere! Took me years to get through it, then lulled into a false sense of security it happened again! It was selling on eBay for £10 a pot. I now never let my supplies get under two pots and I think a tub lasts me more than a month or so and that's using it daily with very long hair. It's great.

That's a lot of product! I use handfuls of cantu custard at a time but might be bald before getting through 29 pots.

Protective hairstyles will help. Can you plait it? A plait would be better at bedtime too than a loose bun.

@YesQueen your curls are to die for!!! How long did it take for you to get that amazing condition after starting CG? I tried it but I couldn’t seem to keep going. My curl pattern is ruined

@Thequaffle about a year i think.
My curl pattern is still... well, it does it's own thing