Easily tangled hair

[outnumbered77]

My DDs hair is very thick and tangles so easily. It's a complete nightmare. On top of that she squeals with every stroke of the brush. We have to plait it every night or else she ends up with a birds nest and unless it's tied up during the day we have an awful time getting the tangles out at the end of the day. Is there anything I can treat it with to attempt to prevent the tangles?

It sounds as though it's fine hair and she has a lot of it. Try products for this hair type, it helped me a lot.

Use a tangle teaser brush if you’re not already. Plenty of conditioner at every wash and then look for a leave in conditioner as well (Aussie magic do one). Might sound a bit precious for a child, but a silk pillowcase also works

I do all of that already 😫. It's just awful. And its quite coarse really. I just dread her hair on a daily basis. We only wash it about once a week though, maybe I need to up that.

Another thought is a detangling spray but definitely a tangle teaser

If she is squaling when you use the brush, you are being too rough. Be more gentle. Use a moisturising sulfate-free shampoo

We use the vosene detangling spray and it works wonders. Also the citronella in it is meant to deter nits, I don't know how reliable that is but we've never had nits.

She seems to have an incredibly sensitive scalp. I'm being as gentle as I can be!!

How long is it? Sometimes going a bit (nothing too drastic unless she wants to!) can help enormously!

Brush through in the shower with loads of conditioner and get out all the tangles. Then dry with a microfiber towel (no rubbing!) Brush again and plait.

More conditioner. Like insanely more. Think about using a leave in as well. Plus a satin pillowcase.

Look at products for curly hair even if it isn't curly. It needs moisture.

It is past her shoulders but she's adamant she won't have it shorter. Oh the joys.

Have you had it thinned out? I have hair like your daughter and get it thinned every second or third cut - it takes so much of the weight out and makes it much less prone to tangles.

I have this problem. The only thing that works for me is palmers leave in conditioner and a tangle teaser. One of those things alone won't work, has to be both!

My hair is like this and has been since I was a child including being incredibly head sore I would echo what PP have said about insane amounts of conditioner. I wash my hair every other day and use plenty of Aussie 3 minute miracle every time which is actually a hair mask. I then put a very small amount of oil through it both before and after drying and I braid it overnight. I sleep on a silk pillowcase sometimes but honestly it doesn’t make that much difference for my hair, feels nice though.

I did ask the hair dresser to thin it out last cut but I don't think it really made much difference.

Does she have curly hair? If so it might be worth looking at curly girl method and stopping using shampoo and not brushing hair when dry at all?

It is wavy and was much curlier when younger but I cannot imagine not brushing it and it looking anyway decent. I'll look into it though, thanks.

Sounds like my dd. What really helped with her was properly blowdrying and styling it (with Babybliss hot air styler) after washing. It's a PITA but it seems to tangle less if we do that.

So it basically is curly. You need to have soooo much conditioner in it that you can go through it with fingers.

Also the brushing is making it worse. Get a Afro comb.

Curly hair needs a totally different hair care regime than straight hair. I have only just realised this and I am in my 40s! Mine likes a bit of shampoo but only twice a week, plenty of conditioner and combed through with conditioner whilst wet and then towel dry and put curl product in and leave to dry naturally. I never comb or brush it, just run my fingers through it occasionally and I get lovely ringlety curls and no knots.

I have tried the curly girl method on my own hair but without success. It never looks tidy. I can't imagine her not looking a mess if I stop brushing it. I get that it's the curl causing the tangling issues though. Must try harder!

Not a tangle teaser, this brush www.childsfarm.com/products/childs-farm-tangle-tamer-hairbrush-featuring-buster-the-horse

My daughter's curly hair laughs in the face of a tangle teaser. How old is she? My daughter used to squeal if I went near her hair but as she's got older she's got better, and understands a bit more I'm trying my best and she lets me know when it actually hurts and we take a little break. I'm not a big fan of curly girl, she's 5, she can't sit in the shower for that long and it's more important that it's clean as she has to tie it back for school anyway.

A couple of questions for you:

When you say it doesn't look tidy are you applying the standards of straight hair to curly hair? They are never going to look the same. Part of having curly hair is loving what you have.

By curly girl method what did you do? Personally I looked at the Facebook groups and found them a bit insane and complicated. However just using products actually designed for curly hair (often made by black women because they are the experts) was transformative.

Like a PP I wish I hadn't spent 40 years hating my hair to learn this.

This sounds like me as a child, although my hair wasn't thick. It was fine, curly and tangled incredibly easily (still does - whenever I go to the hairdressers - rarely - they are always seemingly amazed by how it goes from tangle free to tangled so quickly in the cutting and drying process!). I used to have very long hair too as a child to the age of 12 or so - past my waist - and had to have it in plaits all the time, even for bed, and only washed once a week. Even then I'd cry every day having it brushed. My poor mother really suffered having to deal with it.

Eventually when I was 12 I had it cut to a long bob, that I could manage myself which probably saved my mother having a breakdown. I stopped brushing it years ago as it just makes it frizzy, and just comb it wet which is a lot less painful.

My scalp is also really sensitive, I hate having my hair brushed, combed or even touched other than by me because everyone pulls and hurts it. Having a sensitive scalp and easily tangled hair is not much fun! Sorry I can't give more advice OP, but I do know how your daughter feels.

She's 9. She gets really tight knots in it all the time, I can't let her out of the house like that. Can you recommend any products @AnnaMagnani?

I've found a silk pillowcases really helps both me and my daughter, her hair is less tangled since using it.
On a bad day when she wiggled under the duvet i use childs farm detangling spray with the tangle teaser starting at the bottom and holding the hair so there is less pull on the scalp.