Toddler matted hair - help?

[ReginaPhalange89]

I have a 21 month old who has really thick hair . It's beautiful, at the front lovely and soft but at the back there are loads of sections of matted hair ! Like maybe 8 or 9 different little 'clumps'. I'm not really sure how to treat it. She has a bath most nights and her hair is washed. Ive tried using conditioner, I've also got a tangle teaser brush but it doesn't seem to do anything.

I'm worried if I leave it any longer I'm going to end up having to chop bits of her hair ! 🙈

Brush/comb it 2-3 times per day. My DD had very dry hair, we spray it daily with conditioner and water. It has helped and her hair is now beautifully curly with no dryness or matted bits.
Hope this helps.
I think to start with though, you need to sit DC on your lap, give her something to occupy her and literally strand at a time separate the hair.

Thank you, I've been trying to do bits this morning but she won't sit still long and she's crying, it must be sore , bless her.

Detangle spray. I found it really helps.

You need to keep on top of tangles - if you wash hair but don't get the tangles out you're basically making dreadlocks! (I have had to cut some tangles out of DD's hair before )

I use a tangle-teaser in the bath, on hair absolutely coated with conditioner - working from the ends of the hair then gradually getting closer to the scalp.

I also plait DDs hair, especially at night (not if it's wet) which makes a big difference.

I’d go get it cut, that looks painful. Get a decent shampoo and conditioner. Comb the hair when wet. Brush it throughout the day. Get a detangle or conditioner spray.

A Wet Brush would be better than the tangle teaser for her kind of hair.

I would sit her on your lap big bag of buttons and a shit load of conditioner on wet hair and comb it through.

Hair oil is good for detangling

Hair oil/conditioner and chocolate as pp said.

How does it get matted? it needs sorted fast and tied back in between if getting tangled easily

My 2yo DD has Afro texture to her hair, the only way to stop it matting is to gently brush daily, and silk pillowcases. We all have curly hair and avoid having to spend hours and hours combing by using the silk pillowcases. We use a tangle teaser in the bath with lots of conditioner, you have to brush in every conceivable direction to get proper clumps out.

Dd's hair is fine but has lots of it. I find sending her to bed with a couple of loose plaits helps with the bed head tangles.

My dd’s hair is like that.

I use proper grown up conditioner on her because I found the stuff marketed for kids was worse than useless. I also work some styling oil that I bought for myself through her hair while it’s still wet.

She still looks utterly feral but at least there are no actual matts anymore.

When DS got tangles, sometimes I combed them out one by one while he was asleep, by using lots of leave in conditioner and combing very very gradually from the bottom, keeping the top bit of his hair wound round my finger to avoid any sudden tugs from the combing.

Would suggest that you do a halfway house - make a couple of little snips in the tangles, or comb out but snip out any tiny remaining tangles, so that you can do it a bit more quickly but w/o losing all the hair.

TBH, I find that the worst tangled bits are usually so rough and scrunched up & split that they tangle up again pretty quickly, so sometimes better to just lose a few small bits before the tangles eat the rest of her hair! At this age her hair is so soft and fluffy it will break quite easily in a tangle and the broken ends snarl up again.

My dd has very long, fine hair. When she was younger I always used to put it in plaits or at least a ponytail. When she went to her dad's for the weekend he did zero to her hair. Didn't brush it, let alone style it (he couldn't do plaits or a ponytail). One time she came back and it was so matted, I was heartbroken thinking it would have to be cut. I just stuck her in the bath and probably used about half a bottle of cheap 'family' conditioner and just combed it through. She did lose quite a bit of hair, I may have broken or snipped the odd stubborn bit. But it was fine in the end. I always used to use conditioner and comb through every time she was in the bath. Then plait it. Thankfully she is old enough to manage her own hair a bit better now so we don't have these issues after she comes back from her dad's 😠.

We have problems with this every time DD is ill & can't have her hair washed or brushed properly. (Or when she goes to PILs, who often don't bother.) It's very long & thick. However she is good at sitting still - this is the deal we made if she wants long hair! I sit her in front of me, DVD on, & tease them out individually with a pin. Then gently brush through to make sure they're all gone. Then wash with lots of conditioner, & use a detangling treatment after as it dries.

Best prevention against tangles is to learn french plaits or put it up in a bun. And use detangling treatment - I use a few drops of argan oil which I smooth over my hands before running it through her wet hair & a wide tooth comb it to distribute.

Brush it wet and full of conditioner. Start at the ends. As a PP said, this is one of those occasions when they can eat a full bag of chocolate buttons, or raisins, or whatever their favourite is.

With that kind of (lovely) hair, use conditioner rather than shampoo. Lots of conditioner and ideally comb the hair through while the conditioner is in. Shampoo very occasionally if it starts to look greasy but conditioner most of the time. Shampoo will be drying it out.

Detangler spray before brushing in the morning - I use Aussie on my dds.

Hair turban towel after bath so the hair is mostly dry before sleeping.

we have same issue - I ended up trying every detangling shampoo etc etc. But found Toni & Guy leave in conditioner works best and doesn't make hair greasy. That and keeping it in plaits at night.

and use the plastic anti-snap hairbands, the ones that look like corkscrews. Normal bands just get a tangly mess.

Thanks all for the advice.
Unfortunately her hair at the back where it is matted isnt long enough to plait so that isn't an option 🙈 it's lovely and soft and long at the front but the back seems a bit shorter, the bits that are matted are really quite short so it's so difficult to get at 🙈
it's just long enough to put in bunches but not quite to get it all up in one pony tail. I'm wondering if I would be better to snip a few bits that are matted !
But I'll bath her tonight and use as much conditioner as I can and comb as well as I can, hopefully shell be quite happy playing with her bath crayons to notice !

Update : I think I've gotten all the knots out ! Thank goodness. I put some baby oil on the matted sections earlier, rubbed them between my fingers. Not sure if that helped to soften it or not . Had a bath and lathered her in conditioner, combed it all with the conditioner in and she screamed , poor wee thing. Then once she'd had it rinsed and come out I combed it a bit more and got the final bits out.
Need to keep on top of it now, think I'll buy a spray bottle and wet and comb it in the mornings with leave in conditioner . Do not want to have to put her through that again !

Her hair's drying now and she's finally getting her lovely curls back !

Looks so pretty now!

My DD has similar hair, and we wash every few days, put on conditioner spray, and comb through while she is occupied on the tablet.

We went through phases of complaints, and I used to say comb or scissors. She has always wanted it long so she has learnt to put up with it.

If it is particularly bad, or it's been left a bit too long, or if she has been swimming lots, I give it a good wash and condition with the Extraordinary Oil range.

DD is 8 now and has beautiful hair

DD1 has hair like that, we found that a tangle tamer brush was better than a tangle teezer. It has a handle and soft bristles so looks more like a traditional brush. Now you're on top of it, you could use that and some decent spray in conditioner to keep it reasonably knot free.

Hope you use a decent quality low sulphate or sulphate free shampoo? Definitely don't use Johnson's baby shampoo as it's dreadful stuff, full of crap and very drying. It's ph level is similar to perm lotion.