Me too!!! My little girl is close to the same age as yours, and she too won’t keep her hair bows in. I can’t wait till her hair is long enough to braid or do something with that’s more difficult for her to take out!

Wish I had some suggestions, but my daughter is 3 yrs. 4 mos. and her hair is just starting to come in nicely! No need for any bows, bands or anything else yet!

My daughter (now 15) would never keep anything in her hair either—until she turned about 12.  Now it’s all ponytails, all the time.  I wound up trimming her bangs myself so she could see, when she was a toddler.

My 16 month has never let me put much in her hair, but I have had some luck with fountain ponytail irght on top of her head. I found some super small rubberbands and they usually stay in for most of the day (unless one of her siblings decides to pull it off). Good luck.

Although I never had much luck keeping things like that in my girls’ hair when they were toddlers, my friend used to sneak in and put a bow in her daughter’s hair when she was sleeping, so when she woke up she didn’t even realize there was something to pull out.  I thought that was pretty genius.  I always just stuck with the tiny clear hairbands, which don’t pull too much and stay in great.  My girls (I have 4) couldn’t get them out.

Short can be very cute and sanity saving.  With my 3 little girls, (now 2-6 yrs) if they didn’t want it brushed and fixed, it was cut into a short bob that was okay with a quick combing.  Somewhere between 2-3 they started wanting to be princesses and let me take good care of their hair and it has all grown plenty long and thick. If you go the route of the small bands, I was happier with the rubbery ones than I was the plastic ones.  Conditioner on their hair helped lots with avoiding snags as I take them out.  For “pretty” we’ve become big fans of classic ribbons tied in bows or just letting the ends arrange themselves.

My 18 month old is the same way.  I finally cut her some bangs and just comb the rest.  I keep hoping that some day she will be interested in wearing her pretties again.

Oh, Rachel, I wish I knew!  My 3 1/2 year-old daughter has always pulled things out of her hair and won’t let me put anything in except for a clip for Mass on Sundays.  When her hair started to grow longer, I compensated by giving her a cute bob cut (but it would look so much cuter with a little bow!).  My husband has begged her to wear pigtails now that her hair is getting longer, and we even tried bribing with ice cream, but she just won’t do it - even the “ouchless” bands pull on her fine hair too much.  My almost 2-year-old daughter (tomorrow!) will pull out the bows and snap clips, but I have had some success with the tiny hair bands.  I just stretch them around my finger when I wrap them so they won’t pull too much.  She seems to forget she has them in and they look cute with her curly hair.  My cousin said that with her little girl, she would just put the bows and clips in every day anyway, even though her daughter would pull them out, and eventually her little girl started leaving them in…good luck!

Here’s what I did that worked (85%of the time!).  When my daughter was about 10 mos. she started taking out her bows so when she took them out I would say “Ok you don’t have to wear it right now.” But when we would go out to the store or a playdate I would tell her “You’re going to wear a bow in your hair.” Then when we were getting out of the car I would slip it in her hair and take her out of her car seat so she was usually too distracted to notice. If she did I would just tell her she had to wear it while we were out. She got used to it.  When she got closer to two, I would tell her she had to wear it to keep the hair out of her eyes. She would wear it for a while, not all day or anything, but she always keeps bows in when we’re out. I think I just trained her. She’s a strong willed girl but I think setting the standard early worked for her.

Sorry, but my girls had little to no hair until they were around 3….but good luck!

My sister (a hairdresser) has always cut bangs for our babies once their hair began to grow into their eyes.  When they are older I let them grow the bangs out if they want to.  My four year old is currently obsessed with the variety of clips and bows we use to keep her bangs swept aside.

We do bangs to about age four, and then grow them out.

My daughter just turned 2, and we had the same problem.  I agree with Leah.  I would have the bows ready to put on just as we were getting somewhere fun.  It was easier to insist on the issue when she was so distracted.  I was persistent, and she eventually got used to it!  We also played with baby dolls with hair and put them in their hair, I let her “stick” them in my hair, etc.  I also gave her choices…blue bow or red bow?  She liked to think she was the fashion diva now!  Our current favorite are the alligator snappies.  At least that’s what I call them…they are the ones that you can sort of bend/pop open & closed.  I let her pick them out at the store, so she likes wearing these!

Ladies, I am simply weighing in to offer encouragement. In God’s infinite wisdom He gave me two boys, so I had a much easier time of things in that regard, although I did wait as long as possible for that first haircut. As for me, my hair was fine and silky and my mom did pig tails for a while like Margaret O’Brien, and then did a bob with barrettes. My has is so silky that things do not stay in it easily at all, so when I got older and had a pony tail, it was rubber bands with pretty ribbons forever. Ouch! I STILL remember those bands with particular pain. I am sure that your little ladies are lovely with whatever style you choose. Enjoy those blessings for the years pass all too quickly.

I thought my oldest would make herself bald by ripping clips out of her hair.  Now I do bangs and then grow them out when they are older. None of my girls (4 of them) would keep the pretty clips and bows in. :( But the youngest, now 4, will wear it for half of mass and then pull it out.

By the time my girls were 3 they were obsessed with hair accessories.  They went through the same stage as your daughter Rachel.  They both had nice hair, and eventually just started to ask for the “pretties”.

The teeny tiny elastics are the best. Now I either put them in her bangs when she’s eating breakfast (very distracted!) or we make a game of it and count 1-2-3, which is how many twists it takes for me to get it in. In the beginning (around 12-15 months), I did just give her bangs because it was impossible to get her to keep anything in, and I hate when their hair is hanging in their eyes.

We were just talking about this at my baby shower the other day.  (My fourth daughter is due in July!)  I just make it a part of our routine, starting as young as I can put something in their hair.  All three have gone through a stage of trying to pull their bows/barrettes/hairbands out, but I just battle through it like most other undesirable stages.  I also experiment a little with what works best.  I have 2 with fine hair and 1 with curly thick hair (a completely foreign concept to me) so I try different kinds and sizes of accessories.  I use a lot of the little hairband/ponytail holders, especially with my girls with fine hair and then clip a bow on top of that.  The bows are easier to get out, but the ponytails usually stay in.  I prefer the Goody colored ouchless ones that are just big enough to go around my finger.  I buy bigger ones for my older girls because they are wearing more and more “full” ponytails.  I also love the look of headbands, but those are really difficult for the little ones to keep in.  My kindergartener wears a lot to school, though.  Basically, I just treat hair accessories like any other part of their outfit.  Most kids go through phases of not keeping their shoes and/or socks on, too.  And some days the fight is just not worth it.  Those are the days you hope some other kid’s hair is messier than your kid’s hair. 

As the mom of 6 daughters, I can share that I pretty much gave up on bows and frills for babies after #2.  When their hair started getting in their eyes, I trimmed bangs. Then when the rest of it got long enough, I used a small elastic to pull up some hair on top of the head. (Think Pebbles from the Flintstones!)  On most days the elastic stayed unadorned. I often tried to add a ribbon bow barrette on top of the elastic for Mass on Sundays.  I could never get barrettes to stay in without an elastic keeping the hair together securely.  I love reading about how much you are enjoying your daughter after all the years of baby boys!

Rachel, I so get the ‘Because I can’.  My first dd came after 4 boys and now our ‘baby’ is a girl.  With 6 boys you can be sure that we are all about ‘pretties’, pinks and purples with our girls.  My older dd and I have so much fun picking out things and dressing our little Miss.  She got past the pulling pretties out and then moved right into the stage of putting every pretty she could find into her hair, anywhere she could find a spot.  Enjoy!!!!

HAIR GEL!!!!

When my little girl hit that age, I used some nice smelling hair shaping gel just in the front and would kind of twist the offending hair around my finger and shape it to the side. Than, sometimes during the day, it would wear off and I would do it again if needed, or sneak a clip in when she was coloring or very engrossed in something. Just make sure, it smells good and dries non oily-like, and is for shaping. We got one container and it lasted a long time so it was ok that I spent a bit more on it. I was kinda put off at first about the thought of this, but was very desparate and so glad it helped.

The other option, is to have TWO barrettes. When she takes out the first, imediately pat her head as if your smoothing her hair while she gives you the evil or stinky eye, and pop the second one in. If you do it quick enough, sometimes they won’t notice.

I used the same distraction techniques an earlier poster did, but with hats. “Oh look! This is your wagon hat.” “This is your stroller hat.” It worked like a charm with everyone (boys included). But I couldn’t use the same thing with bows, clips, bands or otherwise. They were apparently uncomfortable. Annoying, etc. Bangs were the only solution. And an adorable one at that. I did it myself when they were really little, then at about 2 we went to the salon. Which has always been a fun (occassional) little treat. At around 5 or 6, the older girls finally decided on all long hair and were willing to do what it took to grow out those bangs ... so, it was on their terms. Our 4 year old is a bangs and bob kind of girl completely. She still dislikes anything in her hair and doesn’t like to feel it on her neck. (Which is another post ... cause she has the hairiest neck and shoulders EVER! Adorable. But hairy!) AND she’s my twirly-est girly-est one. No use having a battle. Hair is hair. It grows. They’re beautiful no matter what. I don’t think you should make it a big deal. After all, you proably don’t want her obsessing about it later.

My daughter was born with lots of hair and now at two it is very long.  She hates stuff in her hair for any length of time.  She’ll want a headband, then not leave it in.  She’ll want barrettes, and then pull them out.  If I braid her hair, I find the pony on the floor and she’ll have a half braided head. I always let her wear something if she wants too, but I’ve stopped pushing it. Less stress for me that way.  I love her long hair down, it is so pretty.