Hair Combing and Teeth Brushing

As for the hair--I have a boy with a maintenance-free buzz but that's probably not an option for you! LOL
As for the teeth--try telling her that you think you saw a giraffe in there--"lemmee see--open---yep! There it is! Gotta brush it out." Then you might keep "spotting" various animals in other places, behind other teeth, etc. This O. always worked for me! Good luck!

Can't help with the hair...sorry. But both of my kids fought teeth brushing...it was a pain! I found firefly toothbrushes at Target. (they are 99 cents) You push the bottom and a light blinks. They blink for one minute and are meant to teach kids how long to brush. I bought one of those for my kids to hold while they are busy with that one, I "sneak" in and brush their teeth with a normal toothbrush. We also practice saying "Ahhhh" and I give lots of compliments. My daughter is 19 months old and we noticed just recently that she no longer fights us. She doesn't love tooth brushing, but it is not the fight it once was. GL!

my 2 yr old hates it when i brush her hair so i do it quicky while talking to her. she still cries but gets over it. as for teeth let her do it first! my daughter is miss independent and wants to copy you not have you do it for her.

I also try to let her comb her hair her self first just so that she feels like a big girl. this is the big challenge for us right now since she wants to be a big girl at times and other times wants to stay the baby. not going to happen for much longer once little brother is here next month.

Getting a "Dora" toothbrush worked wonders for us!

I have the same problems with my 2 1/2 year old daughter.
These are somethings that have worked for us.

Teeth-
she has a tooth brush and so do I. That way she isn't taking mine.
she likes to spit-so I say 3 more brushes then you can spit 1- 2 - 3- spit
1- 2-3 spit until they are brushed.
Then the rinse: she likes to drink the water cupped in my hand-so 3 more brushes-water
we get through it- try to have fun.

Hair- I got it cut. She sat still for some else! If you can't cut it try lots condictioner just on the tangles and brushing it through while she is still in the bath. Try not to get it on her head or it will look she needs her hair washed. It works for my older daughter's long hair. Long hair for my 2 year old will just have to wait.

I had no luck brushing my kids teeth until I put the toothbrush in thier hands and let them try it out 1st. They want to be just like mommy and daddy, so I bring them in the bathroom when I brush and hand them a tooothbrush too. I bought them light up toothbrushes and we sing the ABC song while we brush. They give it a swipe and then they ask me to do it beacause it tickles when mommy does it. They also have toothbrushes that sing to you as a reward and to let you know how long to brush.
Hair is more difficult. My daughter is biracial, so her hair is a special kind of curly too. If you wash with heavier shampoos like Pantene or Garnier Frustisse moisturizing, it helps weigh it down and detangle for easier brushing. Spray wet hair with detangler and let it sit a minute. Start at the bottom with small sections and work your way up. I hold mine in my lap in front of the tv with a cartoon she loves. Then section, part and either braid or ponytail it. There is no point in putting baby through all that detangling if you are going to leave it down. It will just get matted the next time she takes a nap. So put it in a couple ponytails or braids. Cover her head with a scarf when she sleeps and you wont have to put her through this near as often.

No more tangles will help, but not totally alleviate the pain of curly hair. I recommend using real grown-up conditioner on her hair - just put it on the back so you don't get any in her eyes when you wash it out. Then brush it out while it's still wet. Tying it back in the morning will help it stay out of knots. Good luck.

My boys were the same way - we would sit cross-legged on the floor (or sit on the toilet lid) & lay them across our laps, cradling their heads in the crook of the L elbow while brushing with the R hand. They struggled some, but we continued to explain the importance of brushing & flossing. Per dentist recommendations, we brushed their teeth until they were 7 & they've never had cavities. Take a deep breath & good luck!

My daughter has very long, thick hair. The trick that works well for us, is that while she is in the tub - I slather her hair with conditioner and comb through before I rinse it out. When she goes to school - especially P.E. days - I put her hair in french braids to reduce the amount of tangles that she comes home with. At bed time - after it has been washed, conditioned and combed out - I pull it up to the top of her head and twist it into a bun and wrap it with a soft pony tail scrunchy. We call that - the "sleeping ball" - it helps to reduce tangles as well. Make sure that the bun is on the top of her head, not the back as it's not comfortable to sleep with it on the back of your head - I know because I do the same with my hair for the same reason. As for teeth - I told my daughter that the tooth fairy doesn't pay for rotten teeth - and if she doesn't take care of them - she won't get paid for them when they fall out. Good luck! I hope that it helps.
PS: Don't brush her curly hair, and especially when it's wet - use a "detangler comb" - the teeth are not in a strait line - rather they zig and zag - left right left right. Start at the bottom and work up to the top slowly - it's easy with the right equipment!

I love that age...they are so cute! She is trying to be more grown up like you right now...I would brush her teeth in the morning when I did mine, give her the toothbrush, let her do it... and ask her to show you her pretty teeth and then show her yours, if she hasn't done a good job, say opps! missed a spot, let me help...show here again how to brush up and down and around and around..Think Barney song "the wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, etc.,) sing it with her....they are magical at that age...I washed my granddaughters hair every night with her bath, and used a good conditioner, L'Oreal makes a good kids shampoo and cream rinse for instance...no tears!! Then use the no tangles spray if needed to tame the knots...take that strand with the knot and hold it towards the end by the knot, and comb or brush it out...and it won't hurt her tender little head. Good luck, hope this helps...let me know if it works!
J

We brush teeth in the bathtub with an electric brush - both the 4 and 2 year old love it! We brush first before there is any soap in the water because they almost always dunk the brush!

As for the hair - I put my daughter in the sink so she can see herself and so I can reach her better. We use a really good spray on conditioner so there are no tangles to deal with and a wide tooth comb. Give her something to distract her and get to combing.

Good luck!

My older daughter has curly hair, and I started using "real" shampoo and conditioner on her at about that age. Obviously you have to be careful about not getting it in her eyes, but it is well worth the extra effort. Our favorites are Aveda Be Curly, and Aveda Dry Remedy (since her hair is also very dry). I leave the conditioner in for a while while she's in the bath, and after it has soaked in a while, I brush her hair using a wide-toothed comb, starting from the bottom and working my way up. And then as soon as she gets out, I squeeze as much water as possible from her hair and immediately put on an anti-frizz serum. This all seems to keep her hair from getting tangled and frizzy.

As far as brushing her teeth, Sonicare makes a kids' toothbrush now. It's not cheap (around $60, I think), but it will last forever (just get new brush heads every 6 months or so, and the brush heads are around $10 each), and does a GREAT job of cleaning their teeth! It tickles a little bit but both of my girls love it, and it makes dentist visits very easy since they have no plaque to speak of. Also if they insist (as my younger one does) on brushing their own teeth, the toothbrush does a great job of cleaning even when kids wouldn't do so well on their own.

I hope that helps!

For curly hair DON'T brush it dry. Brush it in the bath or shower WITH conditioner on it. Style it wet. Just squeeze the water out, and press with a towel (don't rub at it with a towel). THEN spray it saturated again with no-more-tangles OR use a mousse or gel. Then don't mess with it. Let it air dry in the summer. In the winter, blow dry it VERY gently (with a towel held behind it to keep the curls from blowing apart).

I cannot even express how painful it is to have curly hair brushed dry.

For teeth brushing, I let my kids brush my teeth while I brushed theirs. It's kind of funny, if they told me to open wider, they opened wider as well as if to show me how. They were so busy getting the cavity bugs off my teeth that they paid no attention to me brushing theirs. It worked well for my kids. Even my daycare kids.
My daughter had very long curly hair. We always started with a wide tooth comb after shampooing and combed up from the bottom towards the top in small sections.
Once we got the tangles out, we put it in a braid so that when she slept, it couldn't get tangled again. The next morning was very easy for combing.
I don't know how long your granddaughter's hair is, but we kept my daughter's hair in braids quite a bit. It was down to her fanny, but it was easily manageable that way.
My neighbor has granddaughter's whose hair is never combed because they throw fits so mom just leaves it. The go to grandma's once a week for a bath and a good scrubbing and hair coming. For some reason, they let grandma do it, but she doesn't take any guff about it. They spend the night and get to wear their pretty nightgowns grandma sewed for them so that's an incentive.
But, do try letting her brush your teeth while you brush hers.

Best wishes!

If you have to cut her hair short for now. Also use a hair conditioner on her hair when washing and leave it in for a few minutes. Then still use the No More Tangles. It will help a lot. As far as the brushing teeth goes buy her a special toothbrush and toothpaste that is just hers and let her put it in a special place and make a game out of brushing her teeth. Children like games and if you make it a game it will be more fun and she should be more willing to let you brush them. Pretend the tooth brush is a car, bus, boat, airplane, etc....When you brush her hair don't try pulling the brush all the way through her hair at once. Take little sections at a time and work slowly from the from the bottom up to get the tangles out. I hope you understand what I mean from the bottom up. Good Luck!