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Original poster

Help for DD's thin and slow growing hair!

17 replies

chipandbiff · 28/09/2011 21:34

Does anyone have any advice / suggestions to offer me about my DD (5) whose hair is so thin, and hardly grows.....I was slow to grow my hair, so she probably has my genetics, but I had a thick bob by her age...
She's desperate to have long hair, and her sister has gorgeous thick wavy hair...it seems so unfair! :(

I have used Noxema (?) in the past, but despite emailing the company to ask whether it would be safe to use on children, I haven't heard back from them......

Has anyone used Lee Stafford Hair growth treatment????

Any suggestions gratefully received!

OP posts:

aftereight · 28/09/2011 21:42

My DD's hair is very fine and was slow to grow. All I can suggest from experience is to keep I cut in a short bob, and to use l'oreal kids pear detangling spray and gently blowdrying.
Won't make it grow any faster but made my DD's hair look much better. It has finally (at 6) grown longer but has a tendency to looking scruffy as it is so fine. The detangling spray or moroccan oil help with that.

Original poster

chipandbiff · 28/09/2011 21:43

Nioxin.....not noxema!

OP posts:

ThePetiteMummy · 28/09/2011 21:43

Hi Chipandbiff, I'm a trichologist (hair & scalp specialist). I honestly don't think you need to worry. Your daughter is still very young, I think her hair will grow in time. We're born with the number of follicles we're going to have, and some children's hair just takes longer to grow in fully than others. The best thing you can do is make sure she has a good, balanced diet. Protein is the most important food group for hair, as hair is made of a type of protein called keratin. Iron is also important in maximising the duration for which individual strands of hair grow, so make sure she has some red meat regularly, or alternative sources of iron if veggie.

Try not to let her worry about her hair, she's very young to be worrying about her appearance.

Hope that helps!

aftereight · 28/09/2011 21:43

to keep it*, darn iPad predictive text

ThePetiteMummy · 28/09/2011 21:44

You can't alter rate of hair growth by the way, in children or adults!

Original poster

chipandbiff · 28/09/2011 21:47

Fab, thankyou aftereight, I will try the L'oreal pear spray and moroccan oil too. Do you keep the oil in her hair for long? (overnight?) - not sure how to use that, but my DDs hair also looks scruffy....all the time.... so anything that would help there would be great.

OP posts:

Original poster

chipandbiff · 28/09/2011 21:59

Wow, thankyou both for your speedy responses! Hugely appreciated!!

Thankyou Thepetitemummy, I have been wondering whether to get an apointment with a trichologist, so thankyou for your help. Interestingly we rarely eat red meat in our house, and although I like to think we all eat a healthy balanced diet, it doesn't hurt to have reminder. I will look at alternative sources of iron too.

In terms of her feelings about her hair, it's nothing too worrying for us, she's only little, as you say, and wants to be like rapunzel (as do most of her friends, so that's not a problem) but she has said on a number of occasions that she would love to have hair like her sister - and looks on longingly when her sister is having her hair done in the mornings....

Thanks again for your help aftereight and the petitemummy.

OP posts:

ThePetiteMummy · 28/09/2011 22:17

No problem, happy to help! Bless your dd, I'm sure her hair will get there in the end.

yummybunny · 30/09/2011 07:54

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

heather1980 · 30/09/2011 08:07

i could have written this post op, my 5 yr old has awful hair. really thin and weak, it never grows properly and she looks like a bag lady.
she longs for thick hair, so i'm looking for tips too

ThePetiteMummy · 30/09/2011 08:48

I'm sorry, but please DO NOT listen to what yummybunny has written! Brushing hair 100 times a day is an old wives tale, and will just cause hair breakage! The thing about blood flow is nonsense, hair loss has nothing to do with lack of blood! I'm afraid shaving it won't make it grow either, so please don't be tempted to do this! The oils might make the hair feel nice, but again, they can have no bearing in hair growth.

Sorry, but the rubbish spouted about hair really gets my goat, can you tell?!

yummybunny · 30/09/2011 10:31

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ThePetiteMummy · 30/09/2011 11:46

Yummybunny I wasn't disputing that oils may be good for the hair, or that women in south east Asia have lovely hair, but the role oils play will be to keep the hair in good condition, so it is less likely to break, and therefore can be grown to a longer length. Oils categorically do not promote hair growth. Other factors will also play a role in how long hair will grow, such as diet, hair processing, use of heated appliances, type of styling aids used.

The believed association with blood flow and hair growth was disproved many years ago I'm afraid, if there was a lack of blood flow to the head, we'd have bigger problems than ones with our hair! 100 strokes a day will only serve to damage the cuticle (outer protective layer) of each hair strand, which will leave it more vulnerable to damage and dehydration. The thickening of women's hair during pregnancy is due to increased levels of oestrogen. This increases the duration for which each hair grows (the anagen phase), meaning that we do not shed many hairs during this time. After delivery, or when stopping breastfeeding, the increased hair fall many women experience is due to losing the hairs that were not shed during the pregnancy.

In case you didn't read my earlier posts, I am a hair & scalp specialist, what I say is scientific fact.

sweetheart · 30/09/2011 15:07

TPM, sorry for hijack but I am 30 and have very very fine hair! It's got a lot worse since having my 2 children. Is there anything I could do to thicken it up?

ThePetiteMummy · 30/09/2011 19:56

Have pm-ed you.

glub · 30/09/2011 22:36

sorry just read this. where does that leave indian had massage then? surely increased blood flow to the scalp is a good thing for all scalp related things including hair?

ThePetiteMummy · 30/09/2011 23:04

I'm afraid it doesn't grow hair Glub. If you enjoy it, great, and if it helps to reduce stress levels, that could help in a roundabout way, as stress can contribute to hair loss. Massage can help in the penetration of scalp treatments into the scalp tissue, but should only be done by someone correctly trained, as I've seen cases where massage has been used with the best of intentions, but hair has actually been broken off as a result. Hair follicles can be permanently destroyed if massage is done incorrectly over a prolonged period.

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