How do I get 3.2 DD to have her hairwashed?

[glassslipper]

Manage it about once a week at the moment and it's a pita. How can i make it fun?

I've washed my daughter's (2.6) hair every day from birth. It's very long now. I wash it while she's in the bath, using the shower attachment, and I put on lots of conditioner to stop tangles. Even though she hasn't always liked having her hair washed, she accepts it as a given ie she doesn't get out of the bath before having it washed.

My stepsons (12, 9) are a much bigger deal. I've lured them into better/more frequent hair washing by buying nicer shampoos and conditioners and taking them to a really good hairdresser where they get good haircuts.

We bought one of those visors for ds1 but he didnt like it, so now I just wet my hand and run my hand over his head while he is playing with one of his toys. I let him see that my hand is wet and then i put a tiny amount of shampoo on my hand and rub it over his hair. Then I keep dipping my cupped hand in the water and rinse it off that way. He literally was climbing out of the bath screaming when i tried to pour water over his head with a cup or anything else, but he seems a lot happier now.

Can you wash it in the shower after swimming? DD is also 3.2 and has pretty much come round to the whole hairwashing thing (for now) but if she hadn't I would definitely try the pool shower. Apparently having water streaming down your face and into your open eyes is fine in the pool itself, and in the shower, but the merest drop is cause for paddies in the bath.

Haven't read all of the replies, but another vote for a flannel over the eyes and a cup, fold it in half and then half again into a sausage shape, place on the forehead, tilt head back, and voila, no shampoo in the eyes! We call it 'the special way' in our house. Ds 3.11 has always wanted it done this way (very hard work with him), but dd is great at 18mo and doesn't need it!

can you take her to choose some special big girls shampoo?

some really good ideas here. I might take her to get some shampoo too as she likes to think she is very grown up.

the only thing that has ever worked is saying the fairies want to wash it and putting on a silly voice and making up a crappy story about rinsing the hair with bluebell dew in a dingly dell

the thought of it saps my will to live

just you wait till you get to the nit-combing stage

I have a real personal phobia of nits. I feel yukky thinking that she will get them soon now she is at pre-school. And yes, i know harmless etc. DH will have to deal with them I'm afraid.

could you get her to help wash her own hair? get her to put the shampoo on her head and rub it in herself and make funny shapes etc. then you just finish it off to make sure its done properly. same with rinsing. get her to rinse it herself first like a biiiiig girl and then you just do one last check to make sure no suds are left.

wow! the fairies and butterflies on the ceiling worked a treat tonight. We got the whole head shampooed and rubbed and half rinsed with not so much as a whimper. Just a tiny bit of soap left in at the end but I didnt want to ruin the moment, as it were.

Thanks guys. Any tips on rinsing other than visor/goggles? Or is that asking too much.

Glad it helped!
Rinsing always a problem
By that stage I'm so fed up with appleblossom and dewdrops that I think 'f*ck it' and just hose her down
lots of screaming

I HATED washing my hair when I was little (was petrified I would go down the drain...!)and my mom made up stories about my friends and I dying our hair all sorts of rainbow colours and things of the like to distract me. She spent the entire bathtime in a discourse about the different colours, textures, etc. Somehow it worked.

HI,
LET HER WASH YOUR HAIR - THEN NEXT TIME GET HER TO HOLD SHOWERHEAD WITH YOU, THEN NEXT TIME GET HERCOUNT TO TEN AND TELL HER ALL FINISHED ON TEN - THAT GIVES YOU TEN SECONDS TO RINSE - HOPE THIS HELPS - WORKED WITH MY DAUGHTER!

My dd is scared of the shower

I got one of those foam visor thinggies, and also a mirror so we could make a "crest" on his head and he could see how funny he looked (rock star, indian, crested lizzard...) Then we had a "hold a flannel over your eyes while i shower off the foam" stage and thankfully now he's almost 5 (!) we have now moved on to the point where he will lie back in the tub if water is shallow enough that only half his head is in the water, or will let me shower it off putting his head really far back.
Luckily DS2 likes pouring water over his head spontaneously with the toy teapot so it's not been an issue with him...!

We havent tried the shower. I might see if she'l' go for that this weekend.

i stick mine in a swim cossy andv tell her to pretend she is a mermaid

DD3 sits in bath, with her head back and I use fresh water from the taps in a toy bucket - she has to feel it, just to check it the right temperature! we also say 'I can't wait to smell your lovely hair'. She get to choose the 'special' shampoo and we buy conditioner too, then when she's been good she can help with the hairdryer - big responsibility! she has her own flannel too, just in case.

i have a bog plastic jug and every time I pur water over my son's head I say ''oooohhhh chocolate sauce, strawberry, sauce, butterscitch sauce, poo and wee wee sauce' etc etc his is a 5 year old boy so anything to do with poo and wee is JUST HILARIOUS!

Thanks everyone. She has seen her friends go under water at swimming and is now interested in practicing this so hopefully that will help with rinsing