Tangled Hair

Updated on March 14, 2011
S.W. asks from Minneapolis, MN
17 answers

My 9 year-old daughter has insisted on growing her hair long, but doesn't like to brush it :-) so it ends up tangled most days. We've tried "detangler" from Target (Suave I think) but don't like the smell and it doesn't seem to work that well. I heard that there is a type of oil that works well to rub in to make brushing easier. What do you use on tangled hair? Her hair is straight and fairly fine.

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So What Happened?

Thanks for all the great suggestions, Moms! I will be trying some of the products and using some of the tips you've given me.

Featured Answers

J.E.

answers from Los Angeles on

Both my older girls had long thick tangled hair & brushing it became some drama scene.. I kept it in french braids, usually 2, and just redid them if they got messy. I think having a "rule" that "you can have long hair, BUT you must agree to look after it". My oldest really resisted washing or anything, and eventually had me cut it pretty much off. Her choice.

2 moms found this helpful

B.K.

answers from San Francisco on

Hi S.
I have very long hair. What works for me is to always brush my hair before I wash it. Use conditioner and then it should be easier to brush. Hold the hair in the middle of the hair length and brush the ends first. Holding the hair lessons the pain.
All the best
B.

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M.C.

answers from Dallas on

I have had long, straight, fine hair all my life, so I understand her pain! I've always used a couple of tablespoons of cheap creme rinse/ conditioner (Suave works fine) in a spray bottle as a detangler, and it really helps. Keeping it braided also helps prevent tangles, especially if she's going to be very active or out in the wind.

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V.T.

answers from Dallas on

I use Johnson's and Johnson's kid detangler. I use it on my daughter and on my hair. I do also comb my hair before I wash it and a good conditioner. It's best to use a separate conditioner, not a 2 in 1.

1 mom found this helpful
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M.C.

answers from Detroit on

This is a phase that tween girls go through. Here's what worked for me, but my stubborn daughter wouldn't always let me do it: I would take her to the kitchen sink and use a salon brand hair conditioner, let it sit in for about 3 minutes, rinse, and comb it out with a large tooth comb. Your daughter sounds like my daughter when she was 9. It got so bad with my daughter and I got so fed up with her hair that I ended up taking her to a salon and two hairdressers had to comb out the birds nest. The salon had a very good hair conditioner/detangler that I bought and it worked wonders with my daughter's fine, long hair. It got better when she got older and was able to take better care of her hair:)

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M.D.

answers from Minneapolis on

I know it is a little bit spendy but my twins have really bad tangled hair and hate it when I brush it but they love it when I use the Paul Mitchell for kids detgangler, it doesn't stink. I also use the strengthener and it works wonders!! It is spendy but I tried everything that they make and sell at Target, Walmart and I went to Ulta and told the one girl what was going on and she said that it would help out and it was a day and night difference!!

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A.N.

answers from Madison on

I like the Suave Smoothers shampoos. If her hair is fine, those should work well.

Just my opinion, but at 9 years old, she's old enough to tell her if she wants long hair, she needs to take care of it or get it cut. Sorry!

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D.R.

answers from New York on

there is something called argon oil that i like, though if her hair is fine, it might make it greasy, use very little. its in a spray... i love the smell, but it is strong. rainbow makes a natural detangler/conditioner that is unscented. check the natural ones, there are a few unscented ones. start at the ends of her hair, comb a couple of inches at a time starting at the bottom. it also helps us to put my daughters hair in a ponytail when she eats. a satin pillowcase is helpful too.

Y.C.

answers from New York on

We have a comb in the shower and she brushes her hair there after the conditioner, I haven't find the perfect detangler but I really didn't like the Aveeno one, it leave her hair like if she didn't took a shower in 3 days.
Maybe the oil you are talking is the Moroccan oil?
I like it but you have to be careful to don't put much and put I use it more when my hair is still wet rather then use it as detangler.

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K.R.

answers from Minneapolis on

My son has longish, skateboarder-style hair, and I use Moroccan Oil on it sometimes. It's expensive, but I've had the same bottle since last July. It works wonders. We also use the John Frieda night time hair product (it comes in a little blue container), which works really well, also.

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A.V.

answers from Washington DC on

Wash her hair at night. Condition it really well. Comb through it with the conditioner in. Rinse. Braid it. Then she can either rebraid it in the AM, put it in a pony tail, etc. Consider Infusium leave-in conditioner.

This is what we did with my stepdaughter when she was younger and didn't like to brush her hair.

S.L.

answers from New York on

a spray bottle with water and a little conditioner

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S.T.

answers from Des Moines on

i use Pantene spray leave-in conditioner on my daughter's hair. It works pretty good.

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D.R.

answers from Sheboygan on

We use a detangler from Paul Mitchell. It works very nicley and the smell is nice. I get it from the hair place at our local Walmart.

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S.G.

answers from Rapid City on

Keep the hair trimmed up so there isn't any damaged ends, they are what tangles badly. We use either stay in conditioner or suave baby conditioner on my granddaughter and comb it out while it is still wet. We also braid it at night and that helps keep it from getting tangled in her sleep. If she does have it tangled we spray with with water to wet it down and work the tangels out from bottom of the hair to the top.

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L.V.

answers from Sioux Falls on

I used to use suave products on my kids hair since they have alot of kid friendly ones but my oldest daughters hair is really thick and long and would get so tangled. I asked a stylist at a salon and she said that the suave products were the problem. she suggested a better shampoo and conditioner that they sold in the salon and so i went ahead and spent the money because both my daughter and i were fed up with the daily struggle and it worked! Her hair was so much more manageable without using any detangler. I have since puchased shampoos and conditioners at the store instead of the salon and they work just as well. the key is getting seperate conditioner and shampoo not the combination type and buying adult products. We also put her hair in a pony tail using a cloth scrunchy at night and this helps alot as well. i also have heard that using a satin pillow case helps but we have not tried this.

good luck.

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D.N.

answers from Chicago on

My daughter's hair is a little on the thicker side and she would get this rats nest in the back. It was horrible! We went to cut it (first time cut at 10 yrs old) and the stylist put in some layers. It was still long but the layers helped. She takes better care now and the layers do help. It can be just very slight layers that are not that noticable but make a difference.

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