Hair styling can be a pleasant experience for even the youngest heads if approached the right way. Anyone who has ever had to deal with a child who'd rather do anything than get their hair styled can understand the frustration involved in chasing down a kid with a comb and brush. Here are five ways parents and caregivers can make daily hair care a good experience for children of all ages.
1. Take Your Time
Whenever possible, don't save hair combing for the last minute, especially if you're dealing with a child who doesn't like to get her hair styled. Try to estimate how much time a style will take and then make sure you have time to do it so that you don't have to hurriedly (and painfully) work through tangles. Some parents find it more efficient to style a daughter's hair at night and cover with a satin cap for sleeping. In the morning, a quick touch-up with a brush may be all that's needed.
A patient hand when styling goes a long way toward keeping a grooming session pain-free.
2. Keep Them Entertained
Children have short attention spans, so hairstyles that take more than 30 minutes can seem like an incredibly long time. If you need to create a hairstyle that's going to take a significant amount of time to complete (such as braids or cornrows, which can then be left in for one to two weeks), make it easy on the child by providing them with some entertainment. Either pop in their favorite movie, give them an assortment of books to read and look at, or keep a supply of snacks on hand.
This is also a wonderful time to talk and bond with your child. Many people have fond childhood memories of sitting between a mother's, grandmother's or aunt's knees and having their hair styled while enjoying a conversation at the same time.
If you're using the wrong comb or a hard, nylon-bristle brush, even the gentlest combing and brushing may be painful. Choose wide-tooth, plastic or wood combs and natural boar bristle brushes. When using these tools on young heads, take care not to pull on tangles or brush too vigorously. Instead, begin combing at the bottom of the hair and work your way up toward the scalp. Use gentle strokes when brushing the hair. Even the softest bristles will make their way through natural hair to distribute oils.
4. Create Kid-Friendly Styles
For special occasions or styles that you want to last more than a few days, styling time may take longer than usual. For daily grooming, however, try to create styles that don't require long sitting times or elaborate designs. Easy styles that will let a child get up and go in a reasonable amount of time include two to four ponytails, several plaits or ponytail puffs. If you have more than one head of hair to do, especially time-crunched parents who need to deal with school-age children first thing in the morning, it's worth finding go-to hairstyles that are easy and quick to create.
5. Use Positive Reinforcement
Children internalize much of what they hear. If they only hear that their hair is "bad" and unmanageable, that's what they'll believe. They may come to view hair grooming as a very negative process. No matter what texture you're dealing with, use positive words when describing a child's hair.
Try not to compare one child's hair to another, especially if their textures are different and one seems "easier" to manage. Instead, find something positive to say about any type of hair, such as "it's soft like cotton" or simply "it's pretty." When children learn to feel good about their hair, they may actually begin to look forward to getting it combed and brushed in a loving, gentle manner.
No comments:
Post a Comment