Hair Twirling - Naperville,IL

My sister has twirled her hair since she was really little. She is now 55 and still does it. She is by no means balding! She doesnt pull it, just twirls it. I wouldnt worry,unless she is pulling it. No remedies, sorry!

Oh dear.

I am 33 and still do this (in the privacy of my own home only!)

I am sorry I can be of no help. The only thing that helps me is when my husband yells at me for it. It drives him nuts. But I am old enough to make the cognizant decision to stop doing it and understand it drives hubby nuts. I am not sure constantly telling a 2 year old to stop would help.

Is there a reason you want her to stop? I would rather my little ones do this than suck their thumb/pacifier! Those are tough to break!

I'm 37 and twirling my hair as I read this. I've got nothing for you :)

I am 50 and I still catch myself doing it. I have no bald spots and mom my never cut my hair because of it. I have a very healthy head of thick straight hair.

Is your daughter doing this abnormally too much?

It is a comforting thing... my daughter had a silk blanket and she would rub her face with it and she stopped soing that on her own (she's 18). I have a cousin who had a silk blanket and she is is her 40's with 5 children and STILL sleeps with a piece of her silk blanket.

I'd much rather deal with hair twirling or silke blanket vs sucking thumb and the damage that does.

Talk to the pedi if it concerns you that much.

Good luck

I was a hair twirler too!! I am 45 yrs old and I have a healthy head with thick hair (and NO gray!!!) I do still have some nervous habits that draw my hands up to my hair, but I usually notice and stop myself. No big deal, it's a lot healthier than a thumb or pacifier habit!

The only thing you can do is cut her hair short. She won't be able to do it and the habit will finally fade away. If you don't, she'll end up with bald spots on her head.

My SIL had to do this with her daughter. It worked.

Dawn

My youngest daughter does this and has done it since I can remember. She does it when she gets into bed to soothe herself to sleep. The thing about my daughter doing this is that she has extremely curly hair and in the morning she sometimes has one or two dreads that can be difficult to untangle. Her hair is short already so there is nothing I can do about it. She is doing it less and less frequently as she gets older. I just see it as her way of soothing herself so it doesn't really bother me. Her big sister is a thumb sucker. I prefer hair twirling any day. I hate it when my older daughter (6) sucks her thumb in the car when she is tired after school, an activity, etc. as I feel I can just see all of the germs entering her system - yuck!

Is that a bad thing? I still do it...

My daughter is almost 5. She has twirled her hair (or mine) since she was about 7 months. She also used to put it in her mouth, which we put a stop to.
Now she only does it when she is sleepy, sick or hurt. It is comforting to her. Some kids like to rock. Some like to suck (pacifiers and such). Some find other ways to sooth themselves. (Her twin sister is an ear puller)
As she has grown she does it less. I don't have a problem with it. It helps me know when she is upset or feels bad, even when she doesn't tell me. It's not hurting her or anyone else. I see it as a good thing, an unspoken message that she needs some TLC.

EDIT: When I was 11-12 I used to pull my hair out. Just one or two strands at a time. It was an way to try to control my world. (parents were divorcing). I think that is more like what Dawn is talking about. I did end up with bald spots. Someone mentioning it at church was enough to get me to quit. I had no idea I was making myself bald in spots!