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I have always had very straight, fine hair, so getting a brush through it has never been a problem. Now I have Katie. From the front, her hair is beautiful with big, soft curls. At the back is a different matter - it's a tangled up, frizzy mess and trying to get a brush through it is impossible. I've heard of anti-tangle sprays, which sound very tempting. Does anyone know of a natural alternative I could use? Because my eldest daughter suffers so badly with eczema if she even looks at 'beauty' products, I have never even used shampoo on Katie, and I don't want to go breaking this rule now.

Do you use any conditioner on her hair?? If so I would and also put some in a spray bottle and add water to dilute it to make your own anti-tangle spray. A'Kin do a lovely shampoo & conditioner with no toxic chemicals and no essential oils. pm me and I will give you the link to their site. I have used this on Saffie since she was born and we've never had any trouble with it. I sell A'Kin now locally so I should have a tester or two knocking around I will have a look for you when you pm me give me your address and I'll send them at least then you can try it before you buy.

My hair has always tangled easily. I hold onto it and brush from the ends up. I do this until all the tangles are out. I do this hanging upside down, like a rag doll. A child can learn to do this, too. I used to watch a friend's daughters brush out their own glorious locks. The girls would brush each other's hair, too. They all had very long hair. They were very careful and knew the no-pull, no-hurt brush technique very well.

I sleep with it in a loose braid to the side (which I learned from watching my grandmother). In the day, I wear a hair srunchie or put it up with hair pins.

I never just brush from the head to the ends. It would pull, hurt, and break off. Even when all the tangles are out, I still hold on to my head at the roots to brush each section. I have thick, coarse, wavy hair for the most part, but it is fine around the hairline. My mother always had my hair cut short when I was a child. I hated it.

I rub coconut oil into the ends every morning and every nite, sometimes hand lotion. Cuts down on dryness, breakage, split ends, and tangles. Some folks use olive oil on the ends. I also smooth a bit of oil over the surface of my hair, never on the scalp, to keep it from being so wild.

I us a leave-on conditioner and can imagine it would work as a detangler. I used to use my fingers to detangle my hair the best I could before using a brush. I never comb my hair, and wait till it is utterly dry before brushing. I let it air dry.

Perhaps, coconut oil, aloe vera gel, distilled water, and a drop or two of organic, essential oils? They might have fun making their own concoctions.

I use the bottom up brushing technique with soph. As you don't wish to use shampoo etc on your daughter, may I suggest egg? whisk an egg yolk and add to her hair. rinse out with water no hotter than blood temperature then leave todry naturally, brushing form time to time as it dries. hope this helps.

I use oliva olive oil soap to wash my hair with and despite the fact that I towel it dry afterwards my hair isn't tangly. In fact I've noticed that since I've started using it I have fewer tangles in my hair between washing too.

Thanks everyone. I've started trying to do the brushing upwards thing, but keeping her still for more than 1 second is just impossible at the moment . I'm going to try putting a little oil on the dry bits next time she has a nap during the day, if that ever happens again

KellyB wrote:I sell A'Kin now locally so I should have a tester or two knocking around I will have a look for you when you pm me give me your address and I'll send them at least then you can try it before you buy.

Thanks for the offer, Kelly. I have a Green People baby set with travel sizes in, so it might be worth me trying those if I decide to go down that route. I suppose now she's nearly 2 1/2 I shouldn't be so worried. But after what Christina went through with her eczema, and still does sometimes, to be honest I'm just scared to use anything that might trigger it off in Katie, too.

You know you can dilute your travel size bottles too they always make things like that too concentrated if you add water it will go further...don't add too much though

I have extremely curly, tangly hair. The worst thing IMHO you can do to curly hair is to brush it. You just encourage the static which makes it worse. Also you pull and tug the roots which damages them and also makes it worse.

Get one of those big combs with wide gaps between the teeth and use that (end up) but only when her is wet. Don't wash her hair too often. Curly, frizzy hair tends to be dry and washing just makes it worse. If it's a mess when she gets up just spray with a little warm water (or water and conditioner) and run your fingers through it gently. Leave it to dry and you'll find that it falls into its natural curls.

Also curly hair tends to be easier to look after if it's left longer. The weight of the hair pulls the curls out a bit. Tie it up if you must but don't use elastic band type things, use a scrunchie which is covered with smooth ribbon-type fabric that doesn't trap the hair. When she's a bit older she'll love playing around with combs and grips.

Cheers
Zoe

Have the same problem with myself and my daughter! We both have loads of curls, my hair is shoulder length, hers is nearly waist length (when wet and straight). To be honest I virtually never brush my hair or hers, I use fingers to detangle it if needed. I also use plenty of conditioner and only wash once a week.