Hair twirler help

My 20 month old daughter twirls her hair especially during the night. She is twirling it so much that it is putting huge knots in her hair that are impossible to get out. Sometimes she gets her finger stuck in her hair and then comes running to me(or starts crying when she's in her crib) because as she is trying to get her finger out the hair gets tighter and is cutting off her circulation. Does anyone have any advice on how to get these knots out or how to get her to stop twirling? She does not have very much hair to begin with and every time we have to get a knot out she loses at least a little bit of hair.

[PrincessFiona]

Re: Hair twirler help

Poor thing.

Does she actually pull out any hair when she does this? Have you noticed any other behaviors that are concerning to you ?

Maybe you could try putting her hair up in a pony tail so that she can't twirl it and then giving her a soft lovey blanky to play with....or...silky ribbons? You might want to check it out with her pediatrician (though it probably falls well within the boundaries of normal soothing behavior...gone awry!).

Zoe (2) has very fine, curly hair and she gets knots in it all on her own...then she freaks out that she has "spiders in her hair". To get the knots out, I pretty much soak her hair in the detangling spray and sit with her for a loooong time to slowly get the tangles out.

Ugh. Tangles.

Kris

[MrsK]

Re: Hair twirler help

Have you tried distracting her? Keep her hands busy. Maybe you can give her something to substitute that feels like hair such as pipe cleaners or satin ribbons or a doll with long hair?

Re: Hair twirler help

Thanks for your advice. I have been trying to distract her which works during the day but at night that's not possible. I haven't tried giving her a doll with long hair though. I just noticed that all of our dolls are bald! Maybe whoever gave them to us was trying to make them look like my children! I've tried pony pails. They usually last at the most an hour. I guess if I keep forcing them maybe she'll get more used to them?

She is not pulling out her hair while doing this or exhibiting any other behaviors that I've noticed. I talked to her pediatrician and she said that she normally would suggest trimming her hair. Then she looked at DD2 and basically said in this case that's really not an option because she already doesn't have much hair. She was more concerned about her cutting off her circulation over night when the hair gets tangled around her finger.

She's up and moving around now so I'm off to try soaking her head in detangler spray!

[PrincessFiona]

Re: Hair twirler help

The detangling spray works wonders around here. I hope it works for you too! It takes ages though when the hair is uber-tangled...so I usually plop us in front of the TV to do it....

Happy de-tangling!

Kris

[MDPhDWife]

Re: Hair twirler help

Just this summer Gracie (4) got a huge comb knotted very badly in her hair and I was convinced that we'd have to cut it out. I came here and I think it was Luanne who suggested putting a massive amount of conditioner in her hair and it worked like a charm.