Hair brushing/Nail Clipping

hey beck,
seems as if it might be time for a nice, short, hair cut! If you want, Then when she is older and not so fussy, she can help out on styling issues. Two of mine prefer short hair (6 and 13 yr old) went through the same thing with all of mine and it's not fun, distractions are excellent! but at times I had to be really firm with them.( I have memories of doing the same thing to my mom too) None of my girls likes barrettes or any thing in their hair for more than a minute. Good idea with the clippers and flashlight! ;)

My daughter, who is 3 1/2, has long, curly hair, and it has a tendency to get pretty tangled. It was really hard for her to sit still for me while I brushed her hair, so when she was younger, I used to do her hair while she was watching a t.v. show in the morning. It was a distraction for her, and she would sit still for the 5 minutes I needed to get it untangled and possibly pulled back in a pony or pigtails. She'll sit still for me now, but I'll still turn the t.v. on for a few minutes if it's horribly tangled. I also comb her hair at bedtime when she's in the tub. I goop it up with conditioner, and let her play w/ her toys while I work on the tangles.

Good luck!

Hi B., I too have a daughter who absolutly hates both of those things and so what I do is use adult conditioner on her and brush it imediatly after the bath, that way it is a lot easier and she doesn't seem to feel it at all. She has been better about the nails but what I did to get her used to it was I started buying nail polish. There are a lot of good kinds that let your nails breath, like wet and wild etc. And so we cut her nails and then paint them and she loves it. Hope this helps.
-J.

My daughter has thick and very long hair (to her fanny). Brushing is generally a pleasant experience (now brushing her teeth makes me want to pull my hair out!!). I'll share a couple of tips with you.

HAIR:
Definitely use conditioner on her hair after shampooing. Apply in one direction only...from the crown to the ends of the hair. Don't rub it back and forth as it will make additional snarls.

I always make sure to brush from the bottom up, in small segments. You still brush in a downward motion, but you start at the bottom couple of inches...get all the snarls out there, then move up a few inches and repeat until you've reached the top of her head.

Make sure to hold the upper hair tightly in your fist. It minimizes the pulling and tugging that hurts her scalp.

Try a distraction, like using this time as allowable tv viewing. Use it as a reward (I will only leave the tv on IF you are behaving and sitting still enough for me to finish.)

Follow up with praise and sometimes a treat. (You know, you did a good job with hairbrushing all week! I think I'll give you a sticker! [or other reward]).

If she takes everything out of her hair, try braids. Put the elastics in really tight so it isn't easy for her to remove them. And it takes a lot of work to undo a braid, so maybe she'll just give up and get interested in something else. Besides, braids minimize the movement of the individual hair shafts so the result is less snarls. :-)

NAILS:
Wait until she's asleep (like in the car, just before you take her out...or taking a nap at home).

Have a "girl's salon day." So the Satin Hands (Mary Kay) or similar system. Talk about how great your skin feels afterward. Show her how to use the emery board. Buff your nails till they shine. Just have fun "doing" your hands/feet/nails. Make it look really fun or like a special mom-daughter time that she will look forward to (and you'll get fresh nails, too!).

Reward her cooperation by allowing her to get her finger or toenails painted if she behaves and allows you to finish the trimming.

Buy nail art appliques and use as a reward.

Get different colors of paint and create your own designs (flags are easy and fun, flowers, faces, etc). Her hands may be too small to do much detail, but you can always do two tones or paint fun stripes or polka dots.

I hope at least one of those helps.
D.

HI B.,

I've had this problem with BOTH of my kids! For nail clipping, I do it after they fall asleep at night and they are in bed. Hubby brings the flashlight and I bring the clippers :) The kids are never the wiser!! As for the hair brushing, my son doesn't mind getting his hair brushed, I just tell him he SO handsome :) As for my daughter who is 15 months, I put her in her high chair, give her something to eat with her fingers or a spoon to play with and I do her hair pretty fast, pig tails or a single pony tail on top of her head. You have to be really fast though. My daughter doesn't mess with those once they are in unless she gets a hold of a hair bruch, ugh! As for clips in the hair, they don't last that long on my daughter, I thing because she notices them more and wants to play with them....
Good Luck!
J. in Macomb :)

My mother-in-law got this for my stepdaughters:

http://www.amazon.com/Remmington-DT-800-Remington-Tangle-...

It actually works pretty well. I also encouraged the girls to get shorter hair styles.

As far as the nails, my 21-month-old hates when I trim them. I do it when he's asleep.