Tips for Your Child with Knotty Hair

"Ouch! Mommy, no!!! No! Stop!!!!"

Sounds fun. Right?

NOT.

There's nothing more frustrating and heart breaking than hearing these screams night after night while you're trying desperately to get a hairbrush through your darling little girl's (or boy's) knotty hair!

I've got quite a few kids with nice thick and some curly hair and it's a challenge.

Let me tell you!

But here are some tricks of the trade I've learned after 5 girls with extreme knotty hair, the youngest of whom is now graduating into brushing her own hair!

Keep it Trimmed

This may sound pretty simple, but it never ceases to amaze me how much of a difference it makes after just a small trimming. Try to get a trimming every 3 months so as to keep the ends of your child's hair fresh. Nothing creates knots more than dead ends.

Brush with Conditioner

Bring the brush into the bath and begin brushing her hair gently while the conditioner is still in her hair. That way most of the knots will be out by the time the hair brushing time comes around after the bath.When you do this consistently when she's little, she'll be in the habit of brushing her hair out with the conditioner in the shower as she gets older.

Find the Right Brush

You might need to try a few brushes until you get it right but I've seen how two sisters need totally different brushes into order to manage their hair properly.

The one brush that I've seen to be successful on just about all hair types is the Knot Genie.

Something about the way they've created the bristles to be uneven that just gets it through the hair and makes the knots disappear. Never seen anything like it!

So if you're up to trying something new (read if you're ready to do anything it takes to calm the tears after bath time!) then give the Knot Genie brush a try!

Use a Hair Detangler

I used to stock bottles of these. I mean bottles and bottles when my girls were all little. Three of them are teens already and brush their own hair by now :)

So in the evening you wash their hair and brush it while it has conditioner in the bath tub. Then you brush it again with your Knot Genie brush after they're in PJs.

Next morning hair is all dry and all knotty again!!! This is when you want to whip out your nifty bottle of hair detangler and spray away. Yes, it makes the hair a little wet (no need to drench it!) but that makes it easier to brush. Then you take your Knot Genie, brush and voila! Ready-for-school-knot-free-hair!

This is my favorite hair detangler since it's organic and chemical free. I figure my kids are breathing in this spray day after day, better be on the safe side, right?

At any rate, these detanglers are guaranteed to make some miracles in your littles hair. Cue the smiles! :)

Braid her Hair

Not sure how this works if you've got a little boy with long hair, but making braids for the little girls who've got super thick and knot prone hair is a life saver.

Finish the bath, brush with your Knot Genie and then braid away. Let her sleep in her beautiful braids and come morning that hair is not nearly as knotty as it would have been otherwise.

I find that often times (depending on how much this particular child tosses and turns in her sleep) she can often wear the braid to school.  Remember you braided her hair while it was still wet so it tends to keep well while she sleeps.

Best part is you can get creative and come up with new braid styles. I actually really got into some pretty fun braid styles with my youngest daughter.

Funny thing is, I find that when my daughter is excited about her cool new hair braid she's willing to sit there while I spray and brush out her hair and then braid it.

I guess it makes it all worth it when she arrives at school with her cool new braid!

What types of hair styles do your kids like?