I knew there would be some bad pun-age when talking about hair, but that was about the best I came up with. I’m just not on top of my game today, apparently.
Anyways. Rebecca and I have a hair situation going on. Specifically, hers. After a slow start, it’s really starting to grow in. She is mistaken for a boy much less often now, and it really makes her look older and different.
The problem with her unintentional quasi-mullet is that it’s constantly in her face and her eyes. Heck, we’re in the middle of cold season, so sometimes it ends up practically adhered to her nose and upper lip. I know, gross and annoying. She also just ends up looking like an unkempt little ragamuffin. An adorable one, to be sure, but still…
But God help me if I attempt to put in a barrette to keep it out of her eyes. Hot fricking pokers, people, that’s what I’m trying to stab into her head if you believe the screams of protest. Not an adorable, ribbon-lined little barrette. Attempts at a small pigtail went no better. She allows her hair to be brushed and combed, and that’s about it. Any attempt to further manipulate it, no matter how gentle, is met with screams of rage and feigned pain. I am determined, however, to get her to allow a barrette in her hair, especially the ones I want to win: super-adorable Little Miss Clips being given away at 5 Minutes for Mom!
I only wish I had started the barrettes earlier, in her marginally-less-opinionated days, even though she didn’t need them. I would have been mocked, but maybe she would have just gotten used to them and it wouldn’t be such a big deal!
Any suggestions? So far, I’m simply trying a sort of de-sensitization approach. I keep on trying the barrettes, and try to make her leave them in for longer stretches of time. I think we made it to a whopping two minutes yesterday, because I distracted her and she momentarily forgot about the hated thing on her head.
Honestly, I want to avoid getting her hair cut as long as possible. For one, having had them as a child, I have no interest in cutting her bangs if I can avoid it. They can be really cute, but I hate maintaining them. Plus, the hair that falls forward into her eyes is long hair from about the middle of her head, which seems to grow forward, so would make for very weird bangs. Also, if she freaks out when I attempt a barrette, I can only imagine the scene she would create if we took her for a trim.
What do you think, moms of girls? Any ideas, or do I just have to wait it out until it’s long enough for real pigtails?
I don’t have any suggestion since my girl is still bald as a cue ball, but I have to agree about being anti-bangs. Would she try maybe a bobby pin first since it is less heavy than a barrette? Maybe she will be more likely to forget its presence.
Carrie´s last blog post..New Skills
Bree’s hair grows forward and I am totally opposed to bangs due to my childhood experiences. So we faced the same problems. I started barrettes a little younger, but there are still some days where she is having nothing of it. Have you tried slipping them in while she is concentrating on something else? I usually do it in the morning during breakfast while she is chomping away. Or while she is wrapped up in a cartoon. I am also a fan of the half ponytail I guess you would call it (just the top section of hair). It is harder for them to get out. Hope that helps!
Erin´s last blog post..Moves you’ve never seen…
Have you tried the “pebbles” ponytail on the top of the head, as Erin just mentioned? I did that all the time for Alaina because I also wanted to avoid bangs. It’s sounds awful but it looked supercute. And she didn’t try to get that out of her hair like she did with barrettes.
Cynthia´s last blog post..Makes My Monday-Little Lady
My advice—I’d work on a part. Think about how our hair works, and then try to part hers every ngiht after bath, and every morning with a wet comb, so that it gets used to doing more of a part thing and less of the back hair comes forward thing. It has helped for Abigail. ALso, maybe a quick trim to even things out? Might help the ragamuffin look. Crap, screaming baby…
I second the ‘Pebbles’ idea. It’ll be a lot harder (probably impossible) to get it out of her hair, so she’ll probably just give up.
Of course I have two boys, so what do I know. Having said that, reading your post, made me for the first time (!) a little sad that I don’t have a daughter! (And no, no chance of one coming along, my husband is still traumatized from the day the doctor said the word ‘twins’.
This is going to sound dumb since I have boys but I’ve always had to do Alex’s hair since he was 10 months old bc it is so thick and unruly.
In the morning, I spray a little No More Tears in it, sweep it to the side, and then put in some gel. Keeps his hair in place until naptime.
Also you could try a pigtail on top or a headband.
LauraC´s last blog post..Hi Alex!
I cut Faith’s hair into a cute little bob, because she had the same ragamuffin mullet and I couldn’t take it any more. She too has bangs that start from her crown, but she didn’t inherit my cowlicks, (J did), so trimming her bangs isn’t too big of a deal.
I really wanted to avoid the bang thing too, but every barette, headband or ponytail I would put in her hair, Jonathan would rip out. It got to be so frustrating (and painful!) that I caved and cut her hair while she was taking a bath one night.
At 20 months old, J mainly leave her hair alone. I often put a pretty barette in to sweep her bangs to the side. Today it fell out and Jonathan had her pinned down, trying to shove it back into her hair. Ahh, gotta love the twin torture tactics.
And I think Rebecca is on to something…maybe you could pull her bangs back with a band after her bath and she would have it in all night which would a. help train her hair and b. desensitize her to the odd feeling.
I have the same problem with Saylor and the theory about putting in barrettes earlier on doesn’t help. I did and she always left them in when she was younger but now not so much now.
My solution has been using those tiny “ouchless” bands. She can’t take them out. I put it in while she’s reading on the floor or in her booster chair. You have to share pics once you figure something out!
Emilia’s hair has been totally unruly since the day she was born. Having only had long hair two years of my entire life, I (as well as my husband) am clueless in this area. And she doesn’t want to wear anything in her hair. Plus, it’s curly, so I’ve been warned bangs aren’t even an option. However, we do have friends who have cut their girls’ hair into a cute bob with bangs, which might not be as bad as you think. At 2+ now, Emilia has had two trims. Both times we took her to a kids salon where they give her a sucker, put her in a cool chair, and let her watch cartoons on her own TV. She loves it and talks about it for weeks; it helps that we refer to it as a hair-cutting party, I think. The last time, the stylist showed me how to do one of those little ponytails on the top of the head and then to divide it in two (loosen it up and stick a finger through the middle just under the binder) and flip the pony back through the hole (from front to back), then pull the soft binder-thing down again. It keeps the ponytail from sticking straight up and makes it much harder to pull out. Having this done to her at the “hair-cutting party” made Emilia actually ask for it a couple times since then! It usually doesn’t stay in for more than an hour or two, but that’s progress!
Tara´s last blog post..Spain, Part II
Maybe have her put clips in your hair or a doll’s hair? Make them less “scary” and more of a toy?
I don’t have kids, so please feel free to roll your eyes at me if that’s silly advice.
Becky aka StinkyLemsky
Poor little Eva had a Bow headband on her head when she was a day old….
Those headbands work pretty well…Good luck!
American in Norway´s last blog post..You, searching for me by name….
oh ya, the half ponytail all the way. (Or pebbles … whatever you want to call it). And headbands – but those may not stick until later on.
Maggie always hated barrettes too. Mostly, she just had hair in her face until one day it clicked that that sucks
Nancy´s last blog post..Logan Update
I have mentioned before that Rebecca and Kate have the exact same hair. I have used barrets, bows, and bands in Katie’s hair for months, and she is just now beginning to leave them alone. One thing that has helped recently is doing it with her in front of a mirror and going on and on about how pretty she looks. After being so covert about it before, a mom gave me this tip and it has helped. We also put bows on lots of her animals, dolls, and even one of my sweet dogs and she loves that. Just last week, I trimmed her bangs myself, which turned out to be surprisingly easy. I had her on my lap, and she was engrossed with something on TV, so I asked my husband for the scissors, and I carefully pulled up her bangs and cut away. She never noticed…and that’s not her personality. She is fiesty and independent, like Rebecca, so I was expecting the worst. She might need to see more bows/barrets on other things just to get used to the idea. Maybe M could wear one for a bit?
My daughter has had CRAZY hair since she was born, so we’ve tried everything in the book. Plus, my son is a hairpuller (and bow stealer) so that added to the challenge. I totally agree with the “Pebbles do”. The tiny rubber bands are awesome and I usually put it in while she was in her highchair. It got to the point that I was afraid it was going to screw up her vision if I didn’t find something that worked. She was always tilting her head back so she could see.
Now her hair is long enough to stick behind her ear, so that has been nice!
Shelley´s last blog post..We’ve Moved!!
I had resisted the haircut as well, and my Natalie looked just like Rebecca — the long wisps in the eyes. I kinda brush to the side but it didn’t help. When i finally caved in (at 19 mos!) and had Zach’s hair cut (boy, is Natalie going to be jealous of his hair if things keep apace!) we took her too and just had those little wisps trimmed. unbelievable the difference. the rest almost doesn’t look so fine any more, and given that she has her father’s hairline, that is not a bad thing. Just a (belated) idea…