Things I have learned this week regarding a 4-year old’s long curly hair

Photo by Senjuti Kundu on Unsplash

One does not brush curly hair because it becomes Mufasa-like. I tried different brush styles before I noticed this.
Detangling curly hair is easiest during the conditioning stage in the shower.
Bath toys help keep the toddler in place (LOL).
After the shampoo and conditioning stage, I can also use a “detangler” to detangle the hair. This saves conditioner, as conditioner is much more expensive.
If I let the hair dry naturally, the waves look beautiful AF. I can also blow-dry, but the texture becomes different. I have to pre-plan this ahead of time so that toddler’s hair has enough time to dry by itself.
I do not like using a ‘leave-on conditioner’ because the hair looks greasy and dirty. I guess this is my personal opinion.
The TV is my best friend for hairstyling, as it keeps the toddler at bay.
Under no circumstances should I pull the hair hard and hurt her, baby girl becomes unmanageable, and I will lose the opportunity to complete the hairstyle.
I must wash her hair after every visit to the pool because if not, it will become dry, messy, and knotted AF.
I suspect I should not wash, shampoo, and condition her hair daily. Not only it’s a ton of work, but it also seems to dry her hair and make her scalp itchy. I’m doing this wash process whenever the hair looks dirty and greasy, which generally takes 2–3 days or an intense park day under the sun.
If I use hair clips or artifacts to keep the hair at bay, I need to make sure these aren’t touching ears or eyes, as the toddler might get annoyed and rip that shit up.
Learning how to make hairstyles is more challenging than I thought. Hubris won’t help you. Take a deep breath and separate ~1 hour for new hairstyles because this shit is hard.
YouTube is my friend for learning tips and tricks about hairstyling.

Sharing is caring. I hope this helps out other dads!

Originally published on Medium.