RUGRAT wash day - school me pls.

[Tracy]

The kidlet is 2 and a half. I have to wash her hair....

Should I lay her on the counter with her head over the sink? Or wash it in the tub while she's taking a bath?

She's a little wriggly - but she's pretty good about staying still. And she has a RACK of hair. (roughly to her shoulder blades when stretched

)

And

How do you dry muchkin hair? Does it need to be deep conditioned? I was thinking about airdrying in chinee bumps, but I don't know if that's ok....

I wanted some other ideas too...

 

[Tai]

I would just wash it when you're giving her a bath. That's what I do when I was kiddie hair. Unless her hair is dry, she shouldn't need a deep conditioner. I just put on reg conditioner and let them play in the water and rinse it out before they get out of the bath.
I don't blow dry kiddie hair. They air dry in ponytails or braids, depending on their hair. The bantu knots could be a good idea but I don't know how comfortable they would be for her to sleep in.

 

[Tracy]

You think it'll take that long to dry Tai? I'm going to do it this afternoon.

 

[Tracy]

And how do I rinse in the bathtub? I don't think she'll be able to lean back long enough with her head in the stream of water from the faucet without me alamost drowing her.

 

[Kha]

A large pitcher should help with rinsing, that's what I used to use

.

 

[Tracy]

ahhhhhhh...makes sense.

 

[Huggette]

[ QUOTE ]
KhaLesSta said:
A large pitcher should help with rinsing, that's what I used to use

.

[/ QUOTE ]

yep that'll do it. don't know since she's wiggly if she'll stay still long enough for china bumps? my experience is-- in and out!! lol!! but every kid is different. i know one that'll sit all day to get intricate cornrows but won't sit still for ponys!! go figure!?

how does she usually wear her hair?

 

[Tai]

I use a pitcher or a large cup to rinse. My friend just turns on her shower (she has a hand held shower head) and rinses her daughter off that way.

 

[auntybe]

I use a pitcher of water on my(godson he's 4). After that I also turn the shower on for a minute in case I missed a spot.

 

[Tracy]

[ QUOTE ]
Huggette said:
[ QUOTE ]
KhaLesSta said:
A large pitcher should help with rinsing, that's what I used to use

.

[/ QUOTE ]

yep that'll do it. don't know since she's wiggly if she'll stay still long enough for china bumps? my experience is-- in and out!! lol!! but every kid is different. i know one that'll sit all day to get intricate cornrows but won't sit still for ponys!! go figure!?

how does she usually wear her hair?

[/ QUOTE ]

Cornrows. Which I can't do.

I just took OUT a headful of cornrows, so I'm not sure if she'll sit for much more. We'll see.

 

[Huggette]

well GOOD LUCK!!!

i take it you are sitting!!

having been there and done that...that's my best advice as far as hairstyles!! lol!! whatever she "allows" you to do!!

 

[Tracy]

Yeah - I'm a stand in Mom for a month.

I'm having LOADS of fun.

 

[Dolce_Dawn]

Tracy, this post is sooo cute! "Munchkin hair"? "Kidlet"? LOL

 

[GodMadeMePretty]

I have a showerhead sprayer that I attached for my daughter's hair. Sometimes, I wash her hair in the shower. Of course, that gets me wet even though I'm on the outside of the tub, so I don't recommend that. I've also used a pitcher although not as effective as the sprayer.

Air-drying only. I'm not too great at styles so typically my daughter just wears an afro puff. My daughter LOVED the chiney bumps. She wore those to church. They were tooooooo cute. After church, I took them down and styled them in a crown ponytail and back down for her recital that afternoon. It was just the right curls.

After being in cornrows for a bit, I do suggest a deep conditioner. I deep condition my daughter's hair and she loves it. Of course, I let her run around as long as she wants to prior to rinsing it out.

 

[Tracy]

OMG THAT WAS A NIGHTMARE!!!

I didn't have the sprayer on hand, so I used the pitcher idea. Water all in the eyes. Weeping and knashing of teeth. Poor kid.

I'm such a novice. I ended up just having her lay back while I held her back with one hand and swirled her hair around in the water with the other. And the shampoo did NOT want to come out of her curls! I took a lot of rinsing.

After getting water in her eyes, it was all I could do to get the shampoo out - so I didn't condition her. I just put a light conditioner on when I was done rinsing the shampoo out, and rubbed it in.

The chinee bumps wouildn't stay (and can I say: this girl has TONS of hair!!!!??????

GOO GOBS! LORD!) so I sectioned it into 8 sections (a middle part and then four sections on each side of the middle part - hairline to nape) and braided each. As I braided I connected one braid into the next. On the second to last one, I used a bolita to bind the first three braids to the last one. Once i did that, I unraveled all of the hair at the ends, twisted it, and put a clip on the end.

It looks alrright but the parts are not hardly straight

and I was winging it, so I didn't use a brush on her edges so they look a little raggedy. She just wouldn't be still! And I had to detangle in sections. It took almost an hour, and she whimpered every minute of it.

It reminded me of when my Mom used to do my hair. TORTURE. I used to cry and fuss just like she did, and I had TONS of hair like her. Even more of it when I was older. It used to be Battle Royale in my house with my Mom until got used to the routine.

I could NEVER go natural right now. NEVAH!

KUDOS to you natural ladies. I know your hair isn't a torturous experience for you, but after today I know mine would SURELY be. I'm WAY out of practice and that is a LOT of hair....

Geesh!

 

[NGC]

Glad you made it through. My niece is 2.5 and when I'm "acting momma" I lay her on the kitchen counter, use Nexxus Assure (less than a dime size) wet her hair up, a quick scrub u dub dub ("NOoooooo Aunty, noooo Aunt LiLi!"). Rinse. Put in a little Humectress. Rinse quick and fast ("Nooooo MOMMY!!!!!" - she thins this will win me over). Dry with a papertowel. Sit down in front of Elmo or Jay Jay the Jet plane. Grease her scalp with Hairobics or African Pride. Part with two lines - one down the center front ti crown and then from ear to ear. Comb and use the bolitas and twist her ends. Ta Dah! Done for a week

 

[ThursdayGirl]

Sorry to hear about how that worked out Tracy. My used to lay us out on the counter... head over the sink and wash it... a pseudosalon experience. We would sing... or have a toy to keep us busy while we were up there...

After it was done... there was a video or something on t.v. we might color... then she would part our hair into about 8 sections... use a detangler...and comb each section out... then put each detangled section in a bantu knot secured with a bobby pin/hairpin.

Then (I know this is bad... but it worked) she blow dried each section and braided it. It would stay that way for the week. Unless she decided to press it... then it lasted a couple of days.

Both my sister and I had a gang of hair and it worked for us.

Good luck!