She's Going BALD!

I would suggest you try everything you can to break the habit. Trichtillomania can become a permanent habit through adulthood and the baldness that can cause great anguish to people who have it.
In kids it can be just a soothing habit (I did it as a child, but not to the point of hairloss) or it can be a sign of compulsive behavior - it wold be goo to consult a pediatrician.
If nothing else helps I would even consider getting her a very short, cute pixie cut for a while and let it grow back in once she is over it...

Good lcuk!

At night, put socks on her hands......hopefully then she can't twist her hair with them on..........I would talk to a doctor.....it's compulsive, and although you have it running in the family, she obviously has different hair than the rest of you if she is pulling it out................try to ask a salon about a stronger hair shampoo that someone her age can use............

Keeping it out of her way (hands) is good, pull it in a pony tail if possible, or back with pretty barrettes........give her something else to do with her hands........a toy, a baton, something.......she can hold.....that should help.
If none of this helps, then again I would talk to a doctor.........she's young enough you should be able to break her of it............

Good Luck and hang in there!!!

It sounds like it is a nervous, subconscious habit she does without any recognition of doing it most of the time which can make it really hard to break.

Are you sure that it's the twirling and twisting of the hair that's causing the baldness? I have nervous fixations with my hair, too, but nothing that would cause bald patches.

I'd personally recommend talking to the pediatrician to verify that she doesn't have alopecia and to address how to stop the habit.
Having lost most of my hair during chemo, it's horrible to go through that and to see how people look at you. It took me almost 4 months to lose 90% of my hair. I was so afraid of even putting my head under the shower, but a few hairs hung on regardless. That's what makes me think it has more to do with a medical condition vs. just the habit.

Good luck!

I think the medical term for this and related tendencies is Trichotillomania. You can search the internet for more information and there is at least one yahoo group devoted to understanding and coping with it. Some people have luck with some vitamin supplements (don't remember which ones) and you could ask a Naturopath or doctor for more suggestions as well.

I put my daughter's hair in two little buns on her head. Minnie Mouse ears! It was adorable and she couldn't twist it!

I feel for you! My SON was twisting also. With him it's more of a compulsive/soothing thing - he also rocks (or rather bangs) so his head is slamming into the bar on his bed. He has done that since he was an infant - we had outdoor chair cushions tied all around his crib so he wouldn’t hurt himself. He's got sort of a bump on top of his head - he's going to be 6 this summer and we have noticed he isn’t doing it as often but we cut a noodle (water toy) down the middle and slide it over the bar then he has a huge scooby doo stuffed animal and a velour blanket that is folded all padding the bar. But I digress...last summer he started twisting his hair! I liked his hair a little longer but after we noticed he was twisting it to the point of pulling it out we took him to the barber and had it cut as short as we could. He stopped twisting because there was nothing to twist - and we have to keep it short otherwise he'll start again. I could very well be a little OCD myself and I think he may be too. I realize this may not be very helpful to you - but it felt good to commiserate! You know how they say it takes 30 days to break a habit? Is there a way you could keep her hair up or cut it short enough so she couldn’t do it for that length of time? Good luck!

I have the EXACT same issue with my 2 year old!!! It's so hard, and she was going "bald" for a spell too. My daughter doesn't have muhc hair to begin with so it was really noticeable. I have no real suggestions as we sort of do what you do (ask her to stop, etc.) but I will say that once we started using kid shampoo and conditioner I noticed a real difference. I'm sure you do this already...it took me forever to switch her mostly b/c I was lazy and had lots of baby soap leftover, but you could look into formulas that help strengthen hair (maybe even an adult conditioner?). It might help!

What about having her hypnotised. Sounds far out but I have a feeling it may do the trick. It you do it, find a reputable person, possibly white/yellow pages and ask for references (possibly)..