Easy Tips For Taming Your Toddler’s Hair!

Make taming your toddler’s hair easy with these tips on how to do toddler hair. I also include several toddler hair products to make hairstyling painless. Groomed hair is important to your toddler’s hair health and helps compliment their outfits. That means your little one’s hair will match those adorable toddler outfits you’ve been buying.

I have a lot of hair and as a kid, it was no different. I enjoyed it when my hairstyle was complete, I always felt beautiful and ready for my day. However, I also recall not always loving the time it took to get my hair done. My mom supplied me with toys, snacks, and my favorite tv show.

I recommend the same if your toddler’s hairstyle will take more than a few minutes. Toddlers don’t sit still very long and will likely hate hair time if they have to sit there doing nothing until you’re finished!

My son’s favorite snacks are applesauce pouches, peanut butter crackers, and graham crackers. Any of these are guaranteed to get a smile and a few minutes of quiet munching and sitting still. If it’s not snack time, I will turn on one of his favorite cartoons that consist of the Baby Channel or Disney Jr.

How to Do Toddler Hair?

These tips work for all hair types! Straight, curly, and kinky toddler hair. 

1. Shampoo & Condition

Gently shampoo and condition your toddler’s hair. You can buy a 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner if that makes it easier for you. You can also use separate shampoo and conditioner as well. I use both, but prefer to use them separately. Use a tear-free product if it’s likely to get in your child’s eye while washing their hair.  

I shampoo my son’s hair, rinse and then lather up his conditioner. The conditioner stays in his hair during his bath, before we rinse it out. This is why I like to use a separate conditioner. I feel like this helps the conditioner go to work while my son is bathing and playing, so he doesn’t even notice it.

Toddler Hair Products: Shampoo & Conditioner

Cantu Care For Kids – Nourishing Shampoo & Nourishing Conditioner 

This set is free of gluten, parabens, sulfates & mineral oil. It has a delicious scent of coconut.

Aveeno Baby 2-in-1 Shampoo & Conditioner 

Aveeno is tear-free, hypoallergenic, and free of parabens and sulfates.

2. Comb Toddler Hair When It’s Wet

When you are done washing your toddler’s hair, gently pat their hair dry with a towel. Then, use a wide-tooth comb or a detangling brush to gently comb through your toddler’s hair. This helps comb through hair easily. My son has curly hair that tangles easily. When combing his hair wet the process is a lot easier. Most of the knots loosen simply from washing. 

I recommend that if your child has hair that gets tangled easily and you can’t wash it every day, use a spray bottle of water to moisten hair enough that it’s easy to comb or brush. 

Crave Naturals Glide Thru Detangling Brush

This brush works for curly or straight hair! It can be used on wet and dry hair. This detangling brush decreases breakage and is gentle on your toddler’s scalp. I highly recommend this if your child has curly or wavy hair. It makes the detangling process so much easier.

Detangling Comb Set

These combs are great for straight and curly hair. They work on wet and dry hair and reduce breakage while detangling.

3. Use A Detangling Product

Curly or straight, there will be a time when your toddler’s hair gets tangled. If they have curly hair, then this is likely an everyday situation. The best way to defeat knots without a lot of tears is to use a detangling product alongside a detangling brush or comb. Detangling products help to loosen the knots and allow you to get rid of them without hair damage and pain. 

Cantu Care For Kids – Conditioning Detangler 

I use this for my son because it smells delicious, and it sprays out perfectly to cover his hair quickly and evenly. Also, this detangler is free of parabens, mineral oil, and sulfates.

Suave Kids – Purely Fun Detangler 

Suave kids detangler is formulated to be tear-free and contains no parabens and no dyes.

4. Air dry, Air dry, Air dry!

During the warm months, air dry your toddler’s hair as often as possible. It’s easier, quicker, and keeps your child away from unnecessary heat styling which may lead to hair damage.

Just for me offers a 5-in-1 wonder spray that detangles, reduces frizz, nourishes, adds shine, and is a heat protectant! This works wonders in protecting and taming your toddler’s hair. 

5. Use Gentle Toddler Hair Products Whenever Possible

Although toddlers are past the baby stage, their skin is still pretty new to this world. Using regular products on their hair, scalp or skin can cause breakouts, rashes, itchiness, or other undesirable reactions. By using gentle products when possible you can reduce the number of chemicals your child is exposed to and lessen the chance of an allergic reaction.

Easiest Toddler Hairstyles

The easiest hairstyle is to leave it as is. Once you wash and detangle use hair product to smooth and give a gentle hold.

Ponytail. You can leave it as is, twist it, or braid the ponytail. This is my son’s hair in a ponytail with a tw0-strand twist.

Another go-to style when trying to keep his curls out of his eyes is two braids. This style works with cornrows or French braids.

Bun are just as easy as ponytails and keep toddler hair out of their face and protect hair from snagging on anything.

These easy tips on how to do toddler hair can be done by anyone on any type of hair! Another thing to consider is a haircut. Short hair (especially on boys) is much easier to care for. Whichever way you tame your toddler’s hair you want it to be easy to manage and out of your kid’s face so they don’t have to keep swiping at it…or pulling it. Your little one can spend less time sitting for hairstyles and more time playing!

If you want to get really creative, check out these girl hairstyles and charming boy haircuts.