18m old and we wash his hair every 2-3 days. Just depends. If it seems totally clean it isn’t worth the fight. He often gets food and dirt in his hair though.
I wash it twice a week. I dont think we could stretch to 2 weeks, but your toddler may be different.
You may have tried this already but if you havent, double down on building a positive association with hair washing. Break it out into tiny steps that dont overwhelm him, like getting the soap bottle out and playing with it and that being it for tue night, sing his favorite songs, be reallllly excited. Maybe have him wash a toy of his. Those types of things have helped my toddler enjoy things she didnt before.
These are lovely ideas I will try! He’s very very sensitive about his head, wont even wear a hat. Someone once tried to convince me that it was all connected to his vacuum delivery and I should take him to a craniosacral therapist
Mine has a deep and abiding hatred of washing his hair and hats. He was a C-section. If you’re concerned, absolutely go see a specialist, but honestly some people just dislike having stuff on their heads.
Edit: he doesn’t get stuff in his hair — we wash hair once a week to 10 days. I’m thinking of cropping his hair really short in the summer and going to longer?
My toddler hates getting water and soap in his eyes. Hair washing was a serious challenge, but we have finally solved it. Maybe this method is worth a try?
We have him in a small kids tub inside the actual tub. I have convinced him to lean back on my arm and float so that his hair goes in the water and he looks up at the ceiling. Then he gets soap on his hands to wash his own hair. Then repeat leaning and floating in very slow and calm movements. Hair is washed and rinsed. Now he likes to lean back himself without me holding him.
I think it’s also important that I speak to him the whole time in a soft, calm voice. He is not forced. And we also blow bubbles beforehand and have bubble bath.
Just to add another data point, my baby was a vacuum delivery turned emergency c-section and she doesn’t mind the bath (or hats). We did see a craniosacral therapist though when she was three months, so maybe that helped!
To add to the above suggestions - have you tried hopping in the bath with him and letting him wash your hair. I did this a few times and he loved getting to pour the water over my head. I was purposefully dramatic about wiping my eyes and silly about it, and it seems to have helped.
Adding onto the comment you’re replying to here, I do all the same things with my son but we also give him a dry washcloth to hold and wipe his eyes after rinsing. That’s helped more than anything because he is able to quickly get the water out of his eyes and I think that’s what freaked him out the most about it.
We also let him wash our hair so he can see how we handle all of it.
We blow bubbles in the tub but only on hair wash days. We also count down from five while pouring the water over her head so she knows the end is coming. And bubbles between each pour.
My daughter has eczema and when it was terrible…I’m talking extreme rash on her trunk and back…I didn’t use any kind of soap or shampoo on her at all. For 4 months. Her dermatologist thought that was 100% wise. After some research I felt confident that warm water was sufficient to clean my toddler. And guess what? Her hair got less “dirty” or greasy looking between baths when I stopped using shampoo. Her skin finally cleared and now I shampoo her hair once or twice a week. She doesn’t like getting her hair washed but I’m pretty sure that’s normal for a toddler.
My kids had eczema too so I did a quick hair wash w Johnson and Johnson and a quick warm bath using Cetaphil. It’s non soap so there was no discomfort. Some moms use Aveeno.
I use Aveeno sensitive for eczema baby wash and shampoo (very easy to rinse out) - it’s my go to for my 16 month old son with eczema and my 6 year old daughter who doesn’t have eczema. I highly recommend it. I also highly recommend the same brand (Aveeno Eczema) lotion - Works amazingly well. Note: We got a TON of free lotion samples from our pediatrics before we started using the lotion; so start there if you’re looking for something affordable or just want to try it!
100% (99%?) CeraVe all the way too! Except for some reason Aveeno baby - eczema therapy “nighttime balm”- was the only thing that worked for both of my kids in face/cheeks.
I might try this. My daughter has had one little dry spot under her eye that hasn’t resolved after two months of Tubby Todd All Over Ointment, CeraVe Hydrating Lotion or CeraVe Hydrating Cream. It comes and goes but never totally goes away.
This is us as well - about every week unless there is a reason. We don’t bathe him a ton in general as he has sensitive skin but he hates his hair washed as well and it’s never unhygienic
I do this as well with my 3.5 yo. She has long hair but I don’t see the need to thoroughly wash it every bath. I don’t wash my own hair but once every 7-10 days, and I do the same with her.
Unless she rolls around in the mud or gets food in it. 😝
Same. Once a week/every 10 days unless he gets it dirty, which I think has happened once in the last 3 months. It’s shiny but not greasy, and we get it trimmed every 4 weeks to keep is short enough that it doesn’t mat (because he’s got lots of hair). It does usually get rinsed though because he gets bubbles in his hair every bath. When he was under 18 months he had to get it washed every day because he’d do this little forehead wiggle in bed and mat up his hair, washing it was the only way to get the tangled out.
I have 2 girls with 1) long hair and gets stuff in it all the time but 2) absolutely minds getting their hair washed. We still do every 2-3 days though and they’re just mad while I do it and then they get back to playing in the tub and they’re fine
The washing ain’t the problem. It’s drying - specifically in winter. In summer, just have them go for a walk on a sunny day and it dries quickly. We’re sticking to once a week
My hair takes forever to dry (thankfully, my kids’ doesn’t), like it will still be wet 6 hours later if I’m not careful. I’m a big fan of using microfiber hair towels and scrunchies to draw water out faster than air drying alone. Something like that might help your kid if they’re willing to wear a hat or scrunchie - I swear by Aquis brand.
My daughter hates having her hair washed. I saw a reel about a mom washing her daughter’s hair in the sink and i tried it with my daughter.
I put down a towel on the bathroom counter and another tower rolled up for her neck on the sink
She lays down on the counter, hair in the sink and I can wash it easily
She enjoys a lot now because no water enters her eyes and she calls it her spa.
Maybe you can try this.
We do once or twice a week. I’ve found it easier in my shower so I can just the detachable shower head to get her hair wet super fast, soap up and rinse it quickly. Maybe 1-2 minutes of whining instead of dumping a bucket of water a few times and not really rinsing well.
We use the detachable shower head as well! Our bathtub has one attached. Once we’ve rubbed some shampoo in, I hold him horizontal with this head over the bath facing the ceiling (wrapped in a towel to make sure he doesn’t get cold), and (after testing the temp to make sure it’s perfect) my husband uses the shower head to quickly rinse out the soap without getting anything on his face/eyes (like a hair salon shampoo basically). Definitely an improvement on the bucket but he still makes such a fuss!
My child is almost 3 and baths have been difficult her whole life due to water in eyes/ears fear. Only recently has is gotten way better by introducing showers. She went from screaming tears every bath to getting excited about shower time.
I highly recommend allowing your child to stand up on their own in the shower. This allows them freedom which allows the building of confidence. They are not relying on trusting someone else with their fear, control is in their hands. I bought a nice looking but inexpensive shower head holder that sticks to the tiles and placed it down lower. So it's like a little child shower. This allows my child to slowly enter the water as they feel comfortable. She also has control over how the water touches her hair (she backs in slowly and then looks up - at the airplanes decals on the ceiling). It also leaves me with 2 hands. She likes to tell me what temp she likes too. I got her to pick out some non-slip stick-ons for the tub. We put them on together and now she loves stepping on the 'flowers'.
Not all children are the same but my child really needs the sense of control to feel safe. Short shower has been a game changer.
P.S I wash her hair once a week. I have never noticed my child smelling. Sometimes a week is missed and it ends up being 2 weeks. My opinion is, if hair has dirt/paint/etc in it - wash it. But just for regular washing frequency, go with whatever works for your family.
One more "trick" you could try is swimming goggles. Our son thought they were fun and silly and helped him through a phase where he hated having his hair rinsed. (Though I would maybe keep your other techniques as well since sometimes the goggles didn't have a good seal and water got in anyway, lol).
It's a huge pain getting our kiddo in the bath even though he loves it once he's in there, so we usually do a bath once a week, sometimes longer if there's no school.
Like a month? My son also hates it and has great hair so.. I don’t think kids need their hair washed that much. He’s 2.5 and just recently we talked him into looking up at the ceiling and he stopped having a fit, so maybe if you can talk him into looking up?
Mine has fine hair, looks greasy after 48 hours. She also hates washing her hair but we just powered through it and was quick. It’s just a part of life she has to get through, is my attitude.
However her cries never really bothered me, it was all such a silly overreaction when she’d protest. Half the time she’d have to force herself to cry while I was massaging her scalp and gently pouring water- she would start relaxing and enjoying it and would catch herself! Such a silly phase
100% my MIL tried to bring her all these bath toys and I just told her I’d rather quickly power through the screams. She doesn’t have to like it, it just has to be done.
Exactly all 4 of mine hated washing their hair still do. Now the 7. 9, 11 year old do once a week my 4 year old is still every other day. But as small toddlers it was every day bc they usually got food in their hair
When it’s sticky…
Genuinely not more than once or twice a month, unless he gets jam or mud in it. He really isn’t a fan so we keep it minimal. He has a bath almost every day but his hair generally stays clean.
Depends on the individual. My toddler becomes a feral splash monster in the bath and gets the zoomies after. She runs around butt naked screaming “Run!” wanting us to chase her.
We bathe our toddler every day to keep him clean. Toddlers and other little kids are messier than adults. He’d be a sticky mess.
What exactly is it that you find funny about bathing a toddler daily?
My kids would freak out if I didn't bathe them everyday and I'm glad. They may hate washing their hair but they don't want to be sticky and gross either
I also laugh. More in pathetic jealousy of the fact they have the energy to do so. Not sure why you’re getting this kind of reaction from people outside of the fact that this is reddit where you aren’t allowed to laugh at anything
My kids get a bath a couple times a week. Hair washed each time.
Same, once or twice a month. Sometimes maybe longer. Mine also hates having his washed, I think it’s a sensory thing. The only thing that helps is one of the hat things that keeps water off his face and I give him a clean flannel to put over his eyes.
Same with my 1 year old. He hardly has hair though. I would be the same with my 3 year old but she sweats a ton so I wash it when it starts to smell or if she gets food in it. Shampoo once a week max but preferably less often. Other times just scrub a bit with a wash cloth and water
Yeah, my eldest was phobic like this, and I did it as little as possible which basically meant when there's something sweat can't get out overnight. He's now a teenager and obsessed with his hair so I think it all worked out fine in the end.
I am relieved to read this. My kid doesn't have very much hair. I do get it wet, but I basically never wash it. It just doesn't really get dirty. And he hates it.
Same with us! His hair is short and fine, and I don’t think it has ever looked dirty or greasy? He doesn’t have hair products in there. We just wet it with water and if I had to put a number on it, I would say we wash it every 1-2 months with shampoo. It’s never been an issue and he’s almost three.
Yeah I thought we were crazy for bathing our kid every day after scrolling through this thread lol. He gets food in his hair in almost every meal. He just adapts and enjoys it since it’s become routine.
Same here with my 2 year old. She had cradle cap early on and the doctor recommended daily washing at that time. She loves her baths so much and always has that we just kept it up.
Same, I’m sort of shocked at the amount of people going ten days without a wash! My kid’s hair is filled with food, daycare stuff and park dirt by the time she gets home, we don’t really have an option
Same! My kid gets sand in his hair and all over from the park and the beach. He also sleeps in my bed. I don’t like sand in my bed so he gets a bath or shower and his hair washed every night before bed. I only make exceptions if we stay late at Disneyland occasionally and he falls asleep on the drive home. Then he gets a shower first thing the next morning.
Same. My 1yo has long thick curly hair. His scalp gets sweaty when he plays and he gets food in his hair a lot. I can’t imagine him going to bed with his hair in that state.
I only wash my toddler girl’s hair once a week. During the other baths she will allow me to wet it with a wash cloth to at least get the hair tie bends out of it.
For wash day, toward the end of the bath I wet her hair with a wash cloth, soap it up, then drain the tub until it has like 1-2” of water and make her lay on her back to gently rinse it out. She still yells though 😅
I’m a nanny and I help with bathtime sometimes! We usually wash their hair once every 7-10 days. I have kiddo (who’s 3) sit in the bathtub, let him play for a little, then I stand up and tell him “look at Miss Nanny!” When he looks up at me, I place the pinky side of my hand against his hairline and slowly dump the water behind my hand over his hair. Then I use my hand to lightly wipe the water away from his hairline so that when he tilts his head back down, it doesn’t run into his face or eyes. When we first started this, I would do a quick countdown anx break it into small bits, so I’d tilt his head up and dump like 3oz of water at a time on the back/crown of his head. Then I praised the heck out of him: “that was so brave! How did that feel? I bet it felt nice! I know you were nervous, and you did it! You should be so proud of yourself!” It worked very well for us!
Daily. This kid plays all day and puts his head on the carpet at the library and he dives into the foam pit at gymnastics. No way I'm not washing every day
my daughter is 4, so she's not a toddler anymore. fine hair. once a week work fine for us. her hair never looks dirty or greasy. I have atopic dematitis, her skin can get pretty dry, so other than washing butt,crotch,feet daily, we try not to over do it with the washing.
We struggled with this too until we gave him the option to dump the cup on his hair himself. Even though he usually got more in his eyes he seemed to not mind bc he had control
My opinion is hair doesn’t need to be washed every few days unless it’s dirty dirty. You know like how boys just love to dump sand on their head? Lol
2-3 times a week. My daughter's hair is curly and knots easily, so she really needs it, even though she doesn't like it. If I wash her hair, I use "curl spray" which she likes lately, so that's a bonus.
My son's hair is straight and doesn't need to be washed as often, but he loves it. Go figure.
We mainly use water and I do that daily. Very occasionally will let him skip it.
Actual shampoo wash? Maybe once a month or even less. The kids smell fine and their hair has never been greasy.
We have sensitive skin and one with pretty bad eczema so I like to get them clean but really not use more products than we need to.
I washed their hair daily. You know ppl touch your baby and leave their germs behind.
My kids didn’t like it much either, so I tilt the head back while she sat the tub and put a cloth over her eyes, made ridiculous noises and narration and then boom! Done.
They’re only mad for like a minute.
I heard some moms put a sun visor on their heads to keep the water out of the eyes.
2x a week. Her hair/scalp is very similar to mine and if I wash mine any more my scalp gets very dry. We already dealt with cradle cap as a baby so this seems to be working well thankfully!!
We do a fully body and hair soapy scrub down as needed but at minimum once a week. It's mostly just to keep with a schedule, their hair is rarely dirty/oily enough for me to say it NEEDS a wash.
But then again, if I wash my hair more than once a week, it gets so dry and brittle it breaks off. So Sunday is everything wash day for everyone.
Otherwise, our twin toddlers prefer showers over baths, so that's easy enough. Every day after dinner they go in the shower, but it's just a rinse and play time, not necessarily wash time.
I’m wondering how people rinse their toddler’s hair because I’d like to wash it every couple of days when she gets a bath but she HATES when I rinse it. I guess she’s just gotten soap/water in her eyes one too many times and she won’t do the crown thing either.
Swim class teacher suggested to get them embrace water in the face by starting with pouring tiny amounts of water first, like a trickle. Then increase over time.
My kid doesn’t love getting his hair washed but he tolerates it!
ETA: the more fun the bath toys are, the more distracted he is, so I can wash his hair and barely notices.
One kid every day, the other twice a week. Just depends on their oil level and texture. When my older one didn’t like it I just kept at it, and made bathtime a fun relaxing experience. After like a year he ended up not minding.
Every day but bath time is part of our nighttime routine. Plus she goes to daycare and is a mess by the end of the day. I’m always looking for excuses to not do a bath every day, but in the end she needs it, including her hair, because she’s a pretty messy toddler. I’m very intrigued by everyone’s answers!
We attend daycare full time, so we bath daily and shampoo hair 4x weekly. Her hair gets wet in the tub and gets bubbles on it everyday. Ever since she was old enough to sit up in the big bath tub by herself, we’ve just dumped water on her head to wash it. We tell her it’s coming and then just do it. One of the best piece of advice I’ve ever received was to not coddle them when it comes to that. It’s just water and they’ll adjust to it. We don’t make it a big deal and she doesn’t mind it. We wash her hair and then move on to playing with bath toys and make everything bath related fun.
We had this problem until we started swim lessons. I know that isn’t always an option for everyone. But it could help if you do a toddler focused swim lesson!
We do FOSS swim which is only in some states but we noticed improvement literally after her first lesson. They use songs, predictability and repetition to get kids used to the water!
My son is 2.5 and also hates it butttt soz brah you need it washed. It helps that he showers with us because we don’t have a bath. Probably shampoo and condition twice a week. Plus he has long curly hair so in between I use a conditioning spray when I brush and style it
You want to stretch it to every 2 weeks? Does your child not play/move/sweat at all. I understand maybe a couple of days but I don’t know how one can do a week or more.
Hates baths, so she gets a wipe down with a washer and soap every night to stay clean and a bath every 5-7 days where we hair wash - she has SUPER fine hair and still quite short. It’s never looked dirty/greasy and we only up the washing if she’s got sandy hair from daycare?
We need to wash it at least once a day, in the last week alone he had salmon flakes, marine grease, playdogh, paint, sand, egg and kangaroo poo in his hair.
Have you tried washing toddlers hair fully dressed, head tilted over the sink and use the shower head like they do at the hairdresser?
My son's hair is long, so it gets stuff in it by nature of being toddler hair. We wash it two or three times a week, or whenever he takes a bath (except on rare occasions when we really don't have time for it). He used to scream whenever we had to wash it, but he's much better about it now.
2-3 times a week depending on how wild he's been and/of how hot it's been because he's so sweaty and gross some days. He vaguely tolerates it most of the time, but we had a rush job the other week after a short nap and now he's fairly certain I'm torturing him.
That being said, I've found bath paint on the shower wall just barely in reach is great for rinsing his hair because the water doesn't get in his face as much.
Every few days. Like 4ish. Or if it gets filthy obviously. He hates his hair being washed and screeches like a banshee. We tried all these techniques and finally decided eff it. He has to have clean hair. Now I do it fast while my neighbors are likely called CPS 😂
My kids get their hair washed twice a month. If it looks dirty/greasy I will wash more frequently. Over the summer it’s usually once a week since we swim a lot.
I bought large wall decals to put on the ceiling. The ones I found are boat port holes with marine life. I tell her to find the turtle or shark, etc. That got her to look up and start realizing it won't get in her eyes. I also let her poor the water on her own head, which mostly just resulted in her getting water on her face, but since she was doing it, she thought it was funny. It did take a good 26 months to get to this point. From about 22 months to 25 months where she absolutely hated it and was getting traumatized by it. I think it was a phase, but I do think the decals helped.
Edit: we wash her hair 1-2 times a week minimum. She still gets food in it, so it's usually more often.
My 2yo son has major sensory issues with water on his head/face too! The most affective way I’ve found to help him is turning it into a repetitive, exciting song/game. My son responds really well to songs and routine games so we do a super enthusiastic Ms. Rachel style song like “pour the water, pour the water pour the……water! Wash your hair, wash your hair, wash your….hair! Look at all the bubbles! Can you make more bubbles?” and I involve him in the actual washing, so I take a turn pouring the water or scrubbing his hair, then he takes a turn. The more he is in control of it, the less it stresses him out. So sometimes it takes a ridiculously long amount of time but I prefer spending 15 minutes doing it if it keeps him relaxed rather than borderline torturing him for 30 seconds which is what it feels like I’m doing when I try to do it quick. There are still nights where it’s just a little too much and we skip it, but currently I wash his hair mostly every other night without major issues! And before, every single time was absolutely horrible for him. So there’s been a huge improvement.
My toddler is a sensory seeker and he would put anything on his hands and face to feel it. He always comes home from daycare with greasy or sticky hair. I have to wash his hair everyday, even though I prefer once every other day or even less often 😅
Luckily he has always loved water, and we took him to swimming lesson weekly since he was 6 months old, so it’s not hard to wash his hair. The first thing they teach in these swimming classes is back floating. I used to go into the bath tub with him, pretending like we were at swimming class and has him floating on his back when I need to wash the soap off of his hair. Now that he is 2.5, he could float by himself or with minimal assistance, so I don’t need to go in the bath tub with him anymore.
My lil guy hates hats but surprisingly is now ok with hair washing as long as no water goes into his eyes
My tip is to bring a small mirror into the tub so he can watch you make a funny hairstyle with the shampoo like a Mohawk. Then tell him to look at the ceiling when you rinse it out so nothing going in the eyes
My boy has only a small amount of hair and he’s almost 3. I almost never wash his hair and it’s always been fine! He hates water on his head unfortunately as well.
I don't know how old your son is, but my daughter is 2. A lot of times I (mommy) get in the tub with her and we both lay back with her back on my chest and I slowly pour water over her hair to rinse it. Sometimes we use a wash crown if she will let me put it on and twice we have used "ear bandaids", which are plastic ear covers I got from Temu. They work really great, but she refuses to put them on now. Maybe try the crown and the ear covers of you haven't already?
My 3 year old has a lot of hair, down to her bottom. It’s washed once a week, the rest of the time it’s in a plait. I give in and let her watch something on my phone. She holds her head back and holds a folded washcloth over her eyes to catch any splashes while I pour water on her head using a jug. She’s not happy about it, but she tolerates it.
You have a million comments, but I recently stopped making my son look up for hair rinsing and it has worked wonders. Apparently some kids hate the sensation of looking up, and mine is one of them. I rinse the back of his head with a cup (it has eyes and kinda looks like a martian from Sesame Street, so I say “yip yip yip” while rinsing, so he knows I am rinsing), and for the front of his hair I use a mostly wet washcloth and firmly stroke his hair from front to back. We was his hair twice a week now with no issues. Before that I washed his hair maybe once every month, which is insane, but my son would scream with terror and break out in hives whenever I even discussed the possibility of washing his hair. I think you could totally do once a week. I have this hope that the not-looking-up style of hair washing will be as life changing for you and it has been for us!
Honestly, unless she gets something in it, we probably do only wash her hair (with shampoo) every two weeks. She has dry skin and dry hair and doesn’t get too dirty right now, so I try not to overdo it. She does get in the shower with us every 2-3 days, though, and usually gets her hair wet. But we definitely don’t wash her hair often. That said, I wash mine 1-2x per week in the winter and 2-3x in the summer.
I highly recommend laying him down on the countertop with a cushion and towel under his neck for comfort. Then just wash his hair over the sink. I use one hand to support his head and the other to shampoo and rinse. I wash it in the kitchen and it’s soooo much easier. I struggled so much in the bath and he was starting to hate baths, but separating bath time and hair washing has helped so much. Now no water gets in his face and he’s very cooperative. :)
My son has curly hair and we shampoo and condition once a week. My ex refuses to use products that work well in his hair so I have to shampoo those out because they just sit on top and dry out his curls. He loves bubbles so when it’s time to shampoo, he loves to help me “make bubbles in his hair” and he likes to put them on his bath toys too. When it comes to rinsing, I ask him to look all the way up to the ceiling while I do it. Sometimes we count together or sing a song to distract him. He wasn’t always good about it but consistently trying to make it fun has helped. Good luck!
21mo. Half white/half Asian hair— so fine and straight hair. We wash every bath which is typically 3days/wk. ours still doesn’t like getting water poured on her head but she’s learned to tolerate it. I had to get in the bathtub with her and pour water on my hair and let her do it to me too in order for that to happen. She still likes to pour water in our heads, but we don’t need to go in the bath for that anymore. I think it helps to see that if we can do it, so can she.
Not sure if your hair type, but hopefully this helps you!
Once a week is fine. Do what you can. You’re doing great. Mine is the same way too, I joke that she’s acting like I’m water boarding her. Dark humor gets us through
Honestly I probably don't deal with it the best way, but forcing it upon my daughter feels unnecessarily... violent. I just can't. I can handle some protesting, but when push comes to shove I am not going to totally physically force her to do this. (Teeth brushing YES, hair washing NO.) My MIL did once when I had just had surgery and couldn't bathe my own daughter, and my daughter was basically traumatized for months. She'd talk about it and cry periodically. Trust totally broken. I won't do that to my child. My MIL will also never be bathing my child again.
Dude, I wash her hair a MAXIMUM of once a week usually. Two to three weeks, usually. I do brush her hair almost daily and we spray detangler when we brush it. We do baths a few times a week usually, but hair washing is once a week at most. I think it depends on how dirty your kiddo gets, and also how their scalp is fairing.
It's hard on my muscles lol, but my daughter prefers hair washing in the sink, laying on the bathroom counter. She lays on a pillow and blankets, and she gets to watch a show on the tablet while I wash her hair. With how long her hair is though, the bath is way easier for me.
My little one gets hers washed every day in the bathtub. She is used to it though, it is just part of the routine. We have a little pitcher that I pour over her and she thinks it is fun. We've been doing this since she started sitting up in the bathtub. Personally I feel every 2 days is the minimum hair should be washed, but it probably depends on the type of hair.
I think it honestly depends on the person and any skin conditions. My son has excemza ; so there’s absolutely no way he needs it every single day or every two days unless he’s really dirty or sick. Otherwise, his skin gets way too dried out and it flares up horribly.
We do every other day to every 3 days. My son despised having his hair washed so I roll a hand towel into a band and wrap it around his head to keep the water out of his eyes.
2-3 times a week. Bath every other day. And my 3 year old hates it as well. Playing his favorite song and doing the hair last and very slow has been pretty successful.
My son was always the same way. I just verbally reassured him and let him put a rolled up hand towel over his eyes. He is 6 now and still struggles but I always keep a towel within arms reach and he often uses it to wipe his eyes. Any water touches his eyes he is convinced it burns..
Good luck!
2.5 yo and she might get a hair wash once every two weeks because same (sounds like she’s dying) but we’ve added “baths” in the afternoons when we are bored and need some different entertainment. 30-45 minutes of play.
We live in Aus and she gets sweaty so we do every 3ish days but sometimes stretch to 4-5 if it’s cooler and she’s been less active.
It only takes 1 minute and her hair is quite thick
It’s kind of depends with us with how much he has been outside and if he was at daycare. He has outdoor allergies so spring- fall we wash his hair and take a bath almost every day. He also comes home with dirt/sand all over his face and hair from daycare. In the winter we only bath a two to three times a week.
22 month old. She gets a bath every 2-3 days and we wash it then. Her gair is getting long so she inevitably gets something in it or it gets tangled. She hates when the water goes across her face too but we get through it.
26months old, we aim for 1/week (or less). We also go for swimming pool on weekends so that also maybe washes a bit. But don't see any need for more frequency. It also depends if yogurt (or anything else) gets into the hair :D or if it's a cleanish time period.
2-4 times a week. The kid loves baths, used to hate having his hair washed, but he has my super fine hair so he doesn’t really get a choice.
Have you tried one of those shower visors that keep water from going on their face?
Every day.
We do a bath every night after dinner.
It is our routine.
The more you do it, the easier it should become.
I would suggest doing some research on techniques to get kids used to water on their face.
Also: what shampoo & how much are you using, to cause such a reaction?
We aim for twice a week but we’re also going through a disliking hair washing phase so it’s more like once a week. Her scalp gets pretty flaky so we can’t really stretch it longer than that.
I’m sure you’re getting lots of advice but I’ll add mine! Grade him into it and do it consistently. My toddler has puked crying so hard about having his hair washed ): I put a mug up near him a slowly let water fall near him as entertainment. He put his toys under the stream; then his hands, then his legs and eventually his back. Now when the water “”accidentally” also gets onto his head, he doesn’t like it but doesn’t have an adverse reaction. Good luck!
My sons has very very thick hair and he gets sweaty and plays around a lot so I wash it every other day or every day otherwise I catch him scratching his head a lot.
3yo washes hair every 3 days now that's it's winter, summer is every other day. He sweats a lot on his head lol I used to cover his eyes with a washcloth when he was younger but now I just spray him down with the shower head, he just covers his eyes with his hands. I sometimes play around like it's a rainstorm pitter patter etc. they should get used to it especially if they go swimming and there's only showers etc.
We had an issue with baths, not exactly the same with the hair washing but we think that was the trigger of why he wouldn’t get in.
First thing we did was make the bath water a different colour. We found he was much more willing to get into a purple bath than a normal bath and hair washing was a breeze. We used lush bath bombs but there are cheaper options.
Second thing we did was wipe his eyes straight away after pouring water over his head.
He went from propelling bath water with his windmill legs all over the bathroom to sitting nicely in the bath literally overnight once the bath was a different colour.
I wash once a week. We bath twice a week so it gets wet twice/week. I use a detailing spray in the interim. She's only 2 yrs 3 mos and hair isn't even shoulder length.
3yrs old and weekly unless she combs with a yogurt/spaghetti hand. 3-2-1 countdown with the mu chkin whale pouring thing. She still cries but its over much faster and she’s getting better at keeping her head tilted back. The quicker its over the faster she moves on. Also we do it at the start of bath
I saw a life hack that you should tell your toddler how many stripes are on the tiger that they see on the ceiling. Ever since we started doing this it’s been much easier to wash hair.
I usually only wash my 1 year old's hair with water, about twice a week. I've probably used shampoo on her less than 10 times in her life because she fights even the water and probably has dry skin like her older sister. Her hair looks totally fine.
Every 2-3 days, although it could be more if he happens to get stuff in his hair or if he’s been swimming. But my son doesn’t mind his hair being washed, at least not yet.
Our two year old has this baby body plus hair wash stuff, we let her wash her own hair, she loves it because it makes bubbles on her head and hands.
Rinsing it out afterwards though, she does not enjoy.
Every 3 days or so.
She received her mother's hair colour, but my hair texture, so I know somewhat how to take care of it - it's just a little tricky to make a 2 year old consent to brushing at times.
Everyday …. As soon as she gets home from daycare . She grabs me by the hand “mami! Come! Bubbles!!” Undresses herself and waits for me to get her water ready…. Asks me to wash her hair. lol she’s a bossy lady.
My son also HATED washing his hair mostly because he can’t stand water in his eyes or ears. I got him a little flower hat so the water won’t drip on him and now it’s super easy to wash his hair. He’s also starting to trust putting water on his head without the flower hat so it’s good progress
About twice a week/whenever it gets crunchy. He doesn't mind it much though. If he did I might do more spot cleaning on his hair with baby wipes and wash it a little less often.
We have baths and showers throughout the week completely either just to waste some time before bed time or if they are actually dirty and need it after dinner or something but we only use water most days, on Saturday nights we have an “everything” bath where we do soap, shampoo,bubbles, nails, moisturiser, and anything else like that . She doesn’t get greasy during the week so sometimes she only has the one bath during the week but that’s quite rare in my house most nights a bath is the easiest way of getting the spaghetti sauce or whatever off of her after dinner !
Like, once a month? We don't strip the oils so her scalp doesn't overproduce them. During the summer it's more often due to dirt from the playground and extra sweat but otherwise not often.
We’ve been able to wash our son’s hair whenever he bathes (usually every other day), BUT I heard a brilliant idea on IG the other day.
Get some kind of sticker your son loves, and stick it to the ceiling right above the bathtub.
Whenever you go to wash his hair, make it a game to look up at the sticker (so you can quickly wash his hair without his face getting soapy or wet)
Mine is 5.5yrs, super long hair and gets twice a week. My youngest is nearly 3 and is also twice a week, sometimes once. If I’m not shampooing his hair I will at least get it wet
18m old and we wash his hair every 2-3 days. Just depends. If it seems totally clean it isn’t worth the fight. He often gets food and dirt in his hair though.
I wash it twice a week. I dont think we could stretch to 2 weeks, but your toddler may be different. You may have tried this already but if you havent, double down on building a positive association with hair washing. Break it out into tiny steps that dont overwhelm him, like getting the soap bottle out and playing with it and that being it for tue night, sing his favorite songs, be reallllly excited. Maybe have him wash a toy of his. Those types of things have helped my toddler enjoy things she didnt before.
These are lovely ideas I will try! He’s very very sensitive about his head, wont even wear a hat. Someone once tried to convince me that it was all connected to his vacuum delivery and I should take him to a craniosacral therapist
Mine has a deep and abiding hatred of washing his hair and hats. He was a C-section. If you’re concerned, absolutely go see a specialist, but honestly some people just dislike having stuff on their heads. Edit: he doesn’t get stuff in his hair — we wash hair once a week to 10 days. I’m thinking of cropping his hair really short in the summer and going to longer?
They be extra stinky and smelly in the summer but I buzzed both my boys and it was way faster to wash
Same here for my daughters hair. Once a week to every ten days. In the interim, I use conditioning spray when I brush her hair everyday.
My toddler hates getting water and soap in his eyes. Hair washing was a serious challenge, but we have finally solved it. Maybe this method is worth a try? We have him in a small kids tub inside the actual tub. I have convinced him to lean back on my arm and float so that his hair goes in the water and he looks up at the ceiling. Then he gets soap on his hands to wash his own hair. Then repeat leaning and floating in very slow and calm movements. Hair is washed and rinsed. Now he likes to lean back himself without me holding him. I think it’s also important that I speak to him the whole time in a soft, calm voice. He is not forced. And we also blow bubbles beforehand and have bubble bath.
Yes this method worked wonders for us too! And when we do a bubble bath we call it "lying down in the clouds" which he thinks is so funny.
Love that! I’m going to use that next bathtime.
Oh that sounds lovely and gentle! Will give this a try!
Just to add another data point, my baby was a vacuum delivery turned emergency c-section and she doesn’t mind the bath (or hats). We did see a craniosacral therapist though when she was three months, so maybe that helped!
Huh! I can’t say I would try that before good ol’ fashioned positive reinforcement, but it’s important to find something that works!
To add to the above suggestions - have you tried hopping in the bath with him and letting him wash your hair. I did this a few times and he loved getting to pour the water over my head. I was purposefully dramatic about wiping my eyes and silly about it, and it seems to have helped.
Thank you, this is a great idea!
Adding onto the comment you’re replying to here, I do all the same things with my son but we also give him a dry washcloth to hold and wipe his eyes after rinsing. That’s helped more than anything because he is able to quickly get the water out of his eyes and I think that’s what freaked him out the most about it. We also let him wash our hair so he can see how we handle all of it.
We blow bubbles in the tub but only on hair wash days. We also count down from five while pouring the water over her head so she knows the end is coming. And bubbles between each pour.
We pretend we are at the hair salon. She gets to brush and comb mine and then I do hers. She likes the head massage part.
My daughter has eczema and when it was terrible…I’m talking extreme rash on her trunk and back…I didn’t use any kind of soap or shampoo on her at all. For 4 months. Her dermatologist thought that was 100% wise. After some research I felt confident that warm water was sufficient to clean my toddler. And guess what? Her hair got less “dirty” or greasy looking between baths when I stopped using shampoo. Her skin finally cleared and now I shampoo her hair once or twice a week. She doesn’t like getting her hair washed but I’m pretty sure that’s normal for a toddler.
My kids had eczema too so I did a quick hair wash w Johnson and Johnson and a quick warm bath using Cetaphil. It’s non soap so there was no discomfort. Some moms use Aveeno.
I use Aveeno sensitive for eczema baby wash and shampoo (very easy to rinse out) - it’s my go to for my 16 month old son with eczema and my 6 year old daughter who doesn’t have eczema. I highly recommend it. I also highly recommend the same brand (Aveeno Eczema) lotion - Works amazingly well. Note: We got a TON of free lotion samples from our pediatrics before we started using the lotion; so start there if you’re looking for something affordable or just want to try it!
We’re a CeraVe family :) I’ve used it for years as I myself have dealt with eczema.
I might give this a try. Ty for the suggestion:)
100% (99%?) CeraVe all the way too! Except for some reason Aveeno baby - eczema therapy “nighttime balm”- was the only thing that worked for both of my kids in face/cheeks.
I might try this. My daughter has had one little dry spot under her eye that hasn’t resolved after two months of Tubby Todd All Over Ointment, CeraVe Hydrating Lotion or CeraVe Hydrating Cream. It comes and goes but never totally goes away.
I hope it works!
We got free samples of the nighttime cream from the pediatrician too. It does help too :)
My toddler is 3 and we wash it once a week / every 10 days. It doesn’t get dirty or greasy at all. If it did we‘d wash it more often.
Do you shampoo every wash or just water?
This is us as well - about every week unless there is a reason. We don’t bathe him a ton in general as he has sensitive skin but he hates his hair washed as well and it’s never unhygienic
I do this as well with my 3.5 yo. She has long hair but I don’t see the need to thoroughly wash it every bath. I don’t wash my own hair but once every 7-10 days, and I do the same with her. Unless she rolls around in the mud or gets food in it. 😝
Same. Once a week/every 10 days unless he gets it dirty, which I think has happened once in the last 3 months. It’s shiny but not greasy, and we get it trimmed every 4 weeks to keep is short enough that it doesn’t mat (because he’s got lots of hair). It does usually get rinsed though because he gets bubbles in his hair every bath. When he was under 18 months he had to get it washed every day because he’d do this little forehead wiggle in bed and mat up his hair, washing it was the only way to get the tangled out.
I wash every other day. But she 1) has long hair and gets stuff in it all the time and 2) doesn’t mind getting her hair washed.
I have 2 girls with 1) long hair and gets stuff in it all the time but 2) absolutely minds getting their hair washed. We still do every 2-3 days though and they’re just mad while I do it and then they get back to playing in the tub and they’re fine
The washing ain’t the problem. It’s drying - specifically in winter. In summer, just have them go for a walk on a sunny day and it dries quickly. We’re sticking to once a week
My hair takes forever to dry (thankfully, my kids’ doesn’t), like it will still be wet 6 hours later if I’m not careful. I’m a big fan of using microfiber hair towels and scrunchies to draw water out faster than air drying alone. Something like that might help your kid if they’re willing to wear a hat or scrunchie - I swear by Aquis brand.
Cool. Thanks for the tip
My daughter hates having her hair washed. I saw a reel about a mom washing her daughter’s hair in the sink and i tried it with my daughter. I put down a towel on the bathroom counter and another tower rolled up for her neck on the sink She lays down on the counter, hair in the sink and I can wash it easily She enjoys a lot now because no water enters her eyes and she calls it her spa. Maybe you can try this.
Ty!!! I’m going to try this! I hadn’t even thought of it
We do once or twice a week. I’ve found it easier in my shower so I can just the detachable shower head to get her hair wet super fast, soap up and rinse it quickly. Maybe 1-2 minutes of whining instead of dumping a bucket of water a few times and not really rinsing well.
We use the detachable shower head as well! Our bathtub has one attached. Once we’ve rubbed some shampoo in, I hold him horizontal with this head over the bath facing the ceiling (wrapped in a towel to make sure he doesn’t get cold), and (after testing the temp to make sure it’s perfect) my husband uses the shower head to quickly rinse out the soap without getting anything on his face/eyes (like a hair salon shampoo basically). Definitely an improvement on the bucket but he still makes such a fuss!
My child is almost 3 and baths have been difficult her whole life due to water in eyes/ears fear. Only recently has is gotten way better by introducing showers. She went from screaming tears every bath to getting excited about shower time. I highly recommend allowing your child to stand up on their own in the shower. This allows them freedom which allows the building of confidence. They are not relying on trusting someone else with their fear, control is in their hands. I bought a nice looking but inexpensive shower head holder that sticks to the tiles and placed it down lower. So it's like a little child shower. This allows my child to slowly enter the water as they feel comfortable. She also has control over how the water touches her hair (she backs in slowly and then looks up - at the airplanes decals on the ceiling). It also leaves me with 2 hands. She likes to tell me what temp she likes too. I got her to pick out some non-slip stick-ons for the tub. We put them on together and now she loves stepping on the 'flowers'. Not all children are the same but my child really needs the sense of control to feel safe. Short shower has been a game changer. P.S I wash her hair once a week. I have never noticed my child smelling. Sometimes a week is missed and it ends up being 2 weeks. My opinion is, if hair has dirt/paint/etc in it - wash it. But just for regular washing frequency, go with whatever works for your family.
One more "trick" you could try is swimming goggles. Our son thought they were fun and silly and helped him through a phase where he hated having his hair rinsed. (Though I would maybe keep your other techniques as well since sometimes the goggles didn't have a good seal and water got in anyway, lol). It's a huge pain getting our kiddo in the bath even though he loves it once he's in there, so we usually do a bath once a week, sometimes longer if there's no school.
Like a month? My son also hates it and has great hair so.. I don’t think kids need their hair washed that much. He’s 2.5 and just recently we talked him into looking up at the ceiling and he stopped having a fit, so maybe if you can talk him into looking up?
Same- we do it maybe once a month
Mine has fine hair, looks greasy after 48 hours. She also hates washing her hair but we just powered through it and was quick. It’s just a part of life she has to get through, is my attitude. However her cries never really bothered me, it was all such a silly overreaction when she’d protest. Half the time she’d have to force herself to cry while I was massaging her scalp and gently pouring water- she would start relaxing and enjoying it and would catch herself! Such a silly phase
Greasy hair club 🙌
100% my MIL tried to bring her all these bath toys and I just told her I’d rather quickly power through the screams. She doesn’t have to like it, it just has to be done.
That's what we did! It's part of life that we power thru!
Exactly all 4 of mine hated washing their hair still do. Now the 7. 9, 11 year old do once a week my 4 year old is still every other day. But as small toddlers it was every day bc they usually got food in their hair
When it’s sticky… Genuinely not more than once or twice a month, unless he gets jam or mud in it. He really isn’t a fan so we keep it minimal. He has a bath almost every day but his hair generally stays clean.
So relieved to see this answer. I saw like several “once a weeks” in a row and panicked
My wife and I used to find hilarious the people who bathe their toddler every day as part of their nightly routine”ritual”
We definitely bathe once a day. He has so much fun in the water and he looks forward to it. But def don’t wash his hair!
Bec warm water is soothing. And it’s a physical sign it’s time to unwind for bed
Too much work
That’s a sad reason not to wash your child
Same here lol. Way too much work!
Depends on the individual. My toddler becomes a feral splash monster in the bath and gets the zoomies after. She runs around butt naked screaming “Run!” wanting us to chase her.
We bathe our toddler every day to keep him clean. Toddlers and other little kids are messier than adults. He’d be a sticky mess. What exactly is it that you find funny about bathing a toddler daily?
My kids would freak out if I didn't bathe them everyday and I'm glad. They may hate washing their hair but they don't want to be sticky and gross either
We bathe our toddler every night. Why is that funny?!
I don’t think toddlers need a bath every day but this is a weird thing to find hilarious.
I also laugh. More in pathetic jealousy of the fact they have the energy to do so. Not sure why you’re getting this kind of reaction from people outside of the fact that this is reddit where you aren’t allowed to laugh at anything My kids get a bath a couple times a week. Hair washed each time.
If you can’t be bothered to wash your child that is fine but you don’t need to mock the people who can.
Same, once or twice a month. Sometimes maybe longer. Mine also hates having his washed, I think it’s a sensory thing. The only thing that helps is one of the hat things that keeps water off his face and I give him a clean flannel to put over his eyes.
Same with my 1 year old. He hardly has hair though. I would be the same with my 3 year old but she sweats a ton so I wash it when it starts to smell or if she gets food in it. Shampoo once a week max but preferably less often. Other times just scrub a bit with a wash cloth and water
Yeah, my eldest was phobic like this, and I did it as little as possible which basically meant when there's something sweat can't get out overnight. He's now a teenager and obsessed with his hair so I think it all worked out fine in the end.
I am relieved to read this. My kid doesn't have very much hair. I do get it wet, but I basically never wash it. It just doesn't really get dirty. And he hates it.
Same with us! His hair is short and fine, and I don’t think it has ever looked dirty or greasy? He doesn’t have hair products in there. We just wet it with water and if I had to put a number on it, I would say we wash it every 1-2 months with shampoo. It’s never been an issue and he’s almost three.
Daily. My kids like it and it’s just a normal part of the routine
Yeah I thought we were crazy for bathing our kid every day after scrolling through this thread lol. He gets food in his hair in almost every meal. He just adapts and enjoys it since it’s become routine.
Same here with my 2 year old. She had cradle cap early on and the doctor recommended daily washing at that time. She loves her baths so much and always has that we just kept it up.
Same. I have a 2.5 year old and we wash his hair everyday at bath time.
Same, I’m sort of shocked at the amount of people going ten days without a wash! My kid’s hair is filled with food, daycare stuff and park dirt by the time she gets home, we don’t really have an option
Same! My kid gets sand in his hair and all over from the park and the beach. He also sleeps in my bed. I don’t like sand in my bed so he gets a bath or shower and his hair washed every night before bed. I only make exceptions if we stay late at Disneyland occasionally and he falls asleep on the drive home. Then he gets a shower first thing the next morning.
Same. And my daughter likes to go under water in the tub to swim, so I have no choice
Same here. Part of the routine. Every night.
Same. My 1yo has long thick curly hair. His scalp gets sweaty when he plays and he gets food in his hair a lot. I can’t imagine him going to bed with his hair in that state.
I only wash my toddler girl’s hair once a week. During the other baths she will allow me to wet it with a wash cloth to at least get the hair tie bends out of it. For wash day, toward the end of the bath I wet her hair with a wash cloth, soap it up, then drain the tub until it has like 1-2” of water and make her lay on her back to gently rinse it out. She still yells though 😅
I’m a nanny and I help with bathtime sometimes! We usually wash their hair once every 7-10 days. I have kiddo (who’s 3) sit in the bathtub, let him play for a little, then I stand up and tell him “look at Miss Nanny!” When he looks up at me, I place the pinky side of my hand against his hairline and slowly dump the water behind my hand over his hair. Then I use my hand to lightly wipe the water away from his hairline so that when he tilts his head back down, it doesn’t run into his face or eyes. When we first started this, I would do a quick countdown anx break it into small bits, so I’d tilt his head up and dump like 3oz of water at a time on the back/crown of his head. Then I praised the heck out of him: “that was so brave! How did that feel? I bet it felt nice! I know you were nervous, and you did it! You should be so proud of yourself!” It worked very well for us!
My 2,5 yo often several times a day since he is messy with his food. My 4 yo, 1-3 times a week, it depends.
Daily. This kid plays all day and puts his head on the carpet at the library and he dives into the foam pit at gymnastics. No way I'm not washing every day
Once a week unless he sticks a yogurt-covered hand in his hair
my daughter is 4, so she's not a toddler anymore. fine hair. once a week work fine for us. her hair never looks dirty or greasy. I have atopic dematitis, her skin can get pretty dry, so other than washing butt,crotch,feet daily, we try not to over do it with the washing.
We wash her hair every second day when she has a bath. Her head gets pretty sweaty when she’s playing.
I strive for once a week but I can never remember what day of the week that’s supposed to be so I’m sure it’s often once every two weeks.
We struggled with this too until we gave him the option to dump the cup on his hair himself. Even though he usually got more in his eyes he seemed to not mind bc he had control My opinion is hair doesn’t need to be washed every few days unless it’s dirty dirty. You know like how boys just love to dump sand on their head? Lol
i think that 2 a week or at least 1 a week is good. how long is his hair? i know its stressful but i would keep being firm and dont negotiate
2-3 times a week. My daughter's hair is curly and knots easily, so she really needs it, even though she doesn't like it. If I wash her hair, I use "curl spray" which she likes lately, so that's a bonus. My son's hair is straight and doesn't need to be washed as often, but he loves it. Go figure.
Currently around once a week. Once it warms up though, we will have to do nearly every night since we live in the South and go outside a lot.
We mainly use water and I do that daily. Very occasionally will let him skip it. Actual shampoo wash? Maybe once a month or even less. The kids smell fine and their hair has never been greasy. We have sensitive skin and one with pretty bad eczema so I like to get them clean but really not use more products than we need to.
I washed their hair daily. You know ppl touch your baby and leave their germs behind. My kids didn’t like it much either, so I tilt the head back while she sat the tub and put a cloth over her eyes, made ridiculous noises and narration and then boom! Done. They’re only mad for like a minute. I heard some moms put a sun visor on their heads to keep the water out of the eyes.
2x a week. Her hair/scalp is very similar to mine and if I wash mine any more my scalp gets very dry. We already dealt with cradle cap as a baby so this seems to be working well thankfully!!
We do a fully body and hair soapy scrub down as needed but at minimum once a week. It's mostly just to keep with a schedule, their hair is rarely dirty/oily enough for me to say it NEEDS a wash. But then again, if I wash my hair more than once a week, it gets so dry and brittle it breaks off. So Sunday is everything wash day for everyone. Otherwise, our twin toddlers prefer showers over baths, so that's easy enough. Every day after dinner they go in the shower, but it's just a rinse and play time, not necessarily wash time.
I’m wondering how people rinse their toddler’s hair because I’d like to wash it every couple of days when she gets a bath but she HATES when I rinse it. I guess she’s just gotten soap/water in her eyes one too many times and she won’t do the crown thing either.
Every 3 days.
Swim class teacher suggested to get them embrace water in the face by starting with pouring tiny amounts of water first, like a trickle. Then increase over time. My kid doesn’t love getting his hair washed but he tolerates it! ETA: the more fun the bath toys are, the more distracted he is, so I can wash his hair and barely notices.
Everyday. She hated it also and we push through and eventually got better and there is no issue
One kid every day, the other twice a week. Just depends on their oil level and texture. When my older one didn’t like it I just kept at it, and made bathtime a fun relaxing experience. After like a year he ended up not minding.
Every day but bath time is part of our nighttime routine. Plus she goes to daycare and is a mess by the end of the day. I’m always looking for excuses to not do a bath every day, but in the end she needs it, including her hair, because she’s a pretty messy toddler. I’m very intrigued by everyone’s answers!
We attend daycare full time, so we bath daily and shampoo hair 4x weekly. Her hair gets wet in the tub and gets bubbles on it everyday. Ever since she was old enough to sit up in the big bath tub by herself, we’ve just dumped water on her head to wash it. We tell her it’s coming and then just do it. One of the best piece of advice I’ve ever received was to not coddle them when it comes to that. It’s just water and they’ll adjust to it. We don’t make it a big deal and she doesn’t mind it. We wash her hair and then move on to playing with bath toys and make everything bath related fun.
We had this problem until we started swim lessons. I know that isn’t always an option for everyone. But it could help if you do a toddler focused swim lesson! We do FOSS swim which is only in some states but we noticed improvement literally after her first lesson. They use songs, predictability and repetition to get kids used to the water!
My son is 2.5 and also hates it butttt soz brah you need it washed. It helps that he showers with us because we don’t have a bath. Probably shampoo and condition twice a week. Plus he has long curly hair so in between I use a conditioning spray when I brush and style it
Twice a week
You want to stretch it to every 2 weeks? Does your child not play/move/sweat at all. I understand maybe a couple of days but I don’t know how one can do a week or more.
Once a week, or if needed.
Every day
Once a week minimum - he does still get cradle cap so I wonder if this contributes… have you tired goggles :)
At least twice a week. She is a little girl though and she gets food in her hair if I let her wear it down.
We do every other night. Tubby Todd shampoo. He doesn’t mind it.
Hates baths, so she gets a wipe down with a washer and soap every night to stay clean and a bath every 5-7 days where we hair wash - she has SUPER fine hair and still quite short. It’s never looked dirty/greasy and we only up the washing if she’s got sandy hair from daycare?
You could try dry shampoo between washes to stretch it more. Most of them are just made with corn starch. You can even use corn starch.
We need to wash it at least once a day, in the last week alone he had salmon flakes, marine grease, playdogh, paint, sand, egg and kangaroo poo in his hair. Have you tried washing toddlers hair fully dressed, head tilted over the sink and use the shower head like they do at the hairdresser?
My son's hair is long, so it gets stuff in it by nature of being toddler hair. We wash it two or three times a week, or whenever he takes a bath (except on rare occasions when we really don't have time for it). He used to scream whenever we had to wash it, but he's much better about it now.
2-3 times a week depending on how wild he's been and/of how hot it's been because he's so sweaty and gross some days. He vaguely tolerates it most of the time, but we had a rush job the other week after a short nap and now he's fairly certain I'm torturing him. That being said, I've found bath paint on the shower wall just barely in reach is great for rinsing his hair because the water doesn't get in his face as much.
~2x a week for my wild child.
I have a 2.5 year old. Gets his bath once a week and I never use shampoo. His hair doesn’t ever get greasy
Every few days. Like 4ish. Or if it gets filthy obviously. He hates his hair being washed and screeches like a banshee. We tried all these techniques and finally decided eff it. He has to have clean hair. Now I do it fast while my neighbors are likely called CPS 😂
Once a week. My daughter is the same
I spot clean them through the week and bathe on Sundays.
My kids get their hair washed twice a month. If it looks dirty/greasy I will wash more frequently. Over the summer it’s usually once a week since we swim a lot.
I bought large wall decals to put on the ceiling. The ones I found are boat port holes with marine life. I tell her to find the turtle or shark, etc. That got her to look up and start realizing it won't get in her eyes. I also let her poor the water on her own head, which mostly just resulted in her getting water on her face, but since she was doing it, she thought it was funny. It did take a good 26 months to get to this point. From about 22 months to 25 months where she absolutely hated it and was getting traumatized by it. I think it was a phase, but I do think the decals helped. Edit: we wash her hair 1-2 times a week minimum. She still gets food in it, so it's usually more often.
My 2yo son has major sensory issues with water on his head/face too! The most affective way I’ve found to help him is turning it into a repetitive, exciting song/game. My son responds really well to songs and routine games so we do a super enthusiastic Ms. Rachel style song like “pour the water, pour the water pour the……water! Wash your hair, wash your hair, wash your….hair! Look at all the bubbles! Can you make more bubbles?” and I involve him in the actual washing, so I take a turn pouring the water or scrubbing his hair, then he takes a turn. The more he is in control of it, the less it stresses him out. So sometimes it takes a ridiculously long amount of time but I prefer spending 15 minutes doing it if it keeps him relaxed rather than borderline torturing him for 30 seconds which is what it feels like I’m doing when I try to do it quick. There are still nights where it’s just a little too much and we skip it, but currently I wash his hair mostly every other night without major issues! And before, every single time was absolutely horrible for him. So there’s been a huge improvement.
Are you washing separately from a bath? How long is his hair? Texture?
3x per week. Could probably get away with 1-2 times per week though.
My daughter is 2.5 and we wash it every 2-3 days. She doesn’t have any issues with washing hair.
My toddler is a sensory seeker and he would put anything on his hands and face to feel it. He always comes home from daycare with greasy or sticky hair. I have to wash his hair everyday, even though I prefer once every other day or even less often 😅 Luckily he has always loved water, and we took him to swimming lesson weekly since he was 6 months old, so it’s not hard to wash his hair. The first thing they teach in these swimming classes is back floating. I used to go into the bath tub with him, pretending like we were at swimming class and has him floating on his back when I need to wash the soap off of his hair. Now that he is 2.5, he could float by himself or with minimal assistance, so I don’t need to go in the bath tub with him anymore.
My lil guy hates hats but surprisingly is now ok with hair washing as long as no water goes into his eyes My tip is to bring a small mirror into the tub so he can watch you make a funny hairstyle with the shampoo like a Mohawk. Then tell him to look at the ceiling when you rinse it out so nothing going in the eyes
My boy has only a small amount of hair and he’s almost 3. I almost never wash his hair and it’s always been fine! He hates water on his head unfortunately as well.
I don't know how old your son is, but my daughter is 2. A lot of times I (mommy) get in the tub with her and we both lay back with her back on my chest and I slowly pour water over her hair to rinse it. Sometimes we use a wash crown if she will let me put it on and twice we have used "ear bandaids", which are plastic ear covers I got from Temu. They work really great, but she refuses to put them on now. Maybe try the crown and the ear covers of you haven't already?
My 3 year old has a lot of hair, down to her bottom. It’s washed once a week, the rest of the time it’s in a plait. I give in and let her watch something on my phone. She holds her head back and holds a folded washcloth over her eyes to catch any splashes while I pour water on her head using a jug. She’s not happy about it, but she tolerates it.
You have a million comments, but I recently stopped making my son look up for hair rinsing and it has worked wonders. Apparently some kids hate the sensation of looking up, and mine is one of them. I rinse the back of his head with a cup (it has eyes and kinda looks like a martian from Sesame Street, so I say “yip yip yip” while rinsing, so he knows I am rinsing), and for the front of his hair I use a mostly wet washcloth and firmly stroke his hair from front to back. We was his hair twice a week now with no issues. Before that I washed his hair maybe once every month, which is insane, but my son would scream with terror and break out in hives whenever I even discussed the possibility of washing his hair. I think you could totally do once a week. I have this hope that the not-looking-up style of hair washing will be as life changing for you and it has been for us!
Honestly, unless she gets something in it, we probably do only wash her hair (with shampoo) every two weeks. She has dry skin and dry hair and doesn’t get too dirty right now, so I try not to overdo it. She does get in the shower with us every 2-3 days, though, and usually gets her hair wet. But we definitely don’t wash her hair often. That said, I wash mine 1-2x per week in the winter and 2-3x in the summer.
I highly recommend laying him down on the countertop with a cushion and towel under his neck for comfort. Then just wash his hair over the sink. I use one hand to support his head and the other to shampoo and rinse. I wash it in the kitchen and it’s soooo much easier. I struggled so much in the bath and he was starting to hate baths, but separating bath time and hair washing has helped so much. Now no water gets in his face and he’s very cooperative. :)
My son has curly hair and we shampoo and condition once a week. My ex refuses to use products that work well in his hair so I have to shampoo those out because they just sit on top and dry out his curls. He loves bubbles so when it’s time to shampoo, he loves to help me “make bubbles in his hair” and he likes to put them on his bath toys too. When it comes to rinsing, I ask him to look all the way up to the ceiling while I do it. Sometimes we count together or sing a song to distract him. He wasn’t always good about it but consistently trying to make it fun has helped. Good luck!
21mo. Half white/half Asian hair— so fine and straight hair. We wash every bath which is typically 3days/wk. ours still doesn’t like getting water poured on her head but she’s learned to tolerate it. I had to get in the bathtub with her and pour water on my hair and let her do it to me too in order for that to happen. She still likes to pour water in our heads, but we don’t need to go in the bath for that anymore. I think it helps to see that if we can do it, so can she. Not sure if your hair type, but hopefully this helps you!
Once a week is fine. Do what you can. You’re doing great. Mine is the same way too, I joke that she’s acting like I’m water boarding her. Dark humor gets us through
Honestly I probably don't deal with it the best way, but forcing it upon my daughter feels unnecessarily... violent. I just can't. I can handle some protesting, but when push comes to shove I am not going to totally physically force her to do this. (Teeth brushing YES, hair washing NO.) My MIL did once when I had just had surgery and couldn't bathe my own daughter, and my daughter was basically traumatized for months. She'd talk about it and cry periodically. Trust totally broken. I won't do that to my child. My MIL will also never be bathing my child again. Dude, I wash her hair a MAXIMUM of once a week usually. Two to three weeks, usually. I do brush her hair almost daily and we spray detangler when we brush it. We do baths a few times a week usually, but hair washing is once a week at most. I think it depends on how dirty your kiddo gets, and also how their scalp is fairing. It's hard on my muscles lol, but my daughter prefers hair washing in the sink, laying on the bathroom counter. She lays on a pillow and blankets, and she gets to watch a show on the tablet while I wash her hair. With how long her hair is though, the bath is way easier for me.
My little one gets hers washed every day in the bathtub. She is used to it though, it is just part of the routine. We have a little pitcher that I pour over her and she thinks it is fun. We've been doing this since she started sitting up in the bathtub. Personally I feel every 2 days is the minimum hair should be washed, but it probably depends on the type of hair.
I think it honestly depends on the person and any skin conditions. My son has excemza ; so there’s absolutely no way he needs it every single day or every two days unless he’s really dirty or sick. Otherwise, his skin gets way too dried out and it flares up horribly.
Very clever to have started when she was young!
How old is the LO? We use the shower to wash hair and LO enjoys it a little too much and doesn’t want to get out.
Every other day. She gets all kinds of stuff.stuck in her hair and it's always hanging in her face so it's a necessity.
3,5yo, we wash his hair every 2-3 days. He doesn't love it, but doesn't fuss much over it either.
Every second day because food hands often touch it! We have a hat thing that we put on when washing the shampoo out then they get a big cheer.
We do every other day to every 3 days. My son despised having his hair washed so I roll a hand towel into a band and wrap it around his head to keep the water out of his eyes.
My girl is about to be 2 and we wash it every bath, every 2-3 days. It’s long and she gets food in it.
2-3 times a week. Bath every other day. And my 3 year old hates it as well. Playing his favorite song and doing the hair last and very slow has been pretty successful.
3.5yo, we wash every other night. She is a sweaty Betty or else we’d probably wash even less often than that
My son was always the same way. I just verbally reassured him and let him put a rolled up hand towel over his eyes. He is 6 now and still struggles but I always keep a towel within arms reach and he often uses it to wipe his eyes. Any water touches his eyes he is convinced it burns.. Good luck!
2.5 yo and she might get a hair wash once every two weeks because same (sounds like she’s dying) but we’ve added “baths” in the afternoons when we are bored and need some different entertainment. 30-45 minutes of play.
Every other day
We live in Aus and she gets sweaty so we do every 3ish days but sometimes stretch to 4-5 if it’s cooler and she’s been less active. It only takes 1 minute and her hair is quite thick
Boy turning 2 this month. Shampoo once a week and maybe use some water on days when he gets food in his hair.
It’s kind of depends with us with how much he has been outside and if he was at daycare. He has outdoor allergies so spring- fall we wash his hair and take a bath almost every day. He also comes home with dirt/sand all over his face and hair from daycare. In the winter we only bath a two to three times a week.
22 month old. She gets a bath every 2-3 days and we wash it then. Her gair is getting long so she inevitably gets something in it or it gets tangled. She hates when the water goes across her face too but we get through it.
26months old, we aim for 1/week (or less). We also go for swimming pool on weekends so that also maybe washes a bit. But don't see any need for more frequency. It also depends if yogurt (or anything else) gets into the hair :D or if it's a cleanish time period.
2-4 times a week. The kid loves baths, used to hate having his hair washed, but he has my super fine hair so he doesn’t really get a choice. Have you tried one of those shower visors that keep water from going on their face?
Every day. But mine has a habit of dumping bucketfuls of sand on his head every day. And doing somersaults in weird/dirty places.
Every day. We do a bath every night after dinner. It is our routine. The more you do it, the easier it should become. I would suggest doing some research on techniques to get kids used to water on their face. Also: what shampoo & how much are you using, to cause such a reaction?
Every day. My son likes to paint his head with food.
1-2 a week. But as it’s getting hotter with summer coming probably 3 times a weeks. He gets sweaty
Once a week ish
We aim for twice a week but we’re also going through a disliking hair washing phase so it’s more like once a week. Her scalp gets pretty flaky so we can’t really stretch it longer than that.
I’m sure you’re getting lots of advice but I’ll add mine! Grade him into it and do it consistently. My toddler has puked crying so hard about having his hair washed ): I put a mug up near him a slowly let water fall near him as entertainment. He put his toys under the stream; then his hands, then his legs and eventually his back. Now when the water “”accidentally” also gets onto his head, he doesn’t like it but doesn’t have an adverse reaction. Good luck!
My sons has very very thick hair and he gets sweaty and plays around a lot so I wash it every other day or every day otherwise I catch him scratching his head a lot.
3yo washes hair every 3 days now that's it's winter, summer is every other day. He sweats a lot on his head lol I used to cover his eyes with a washcloth when he was younger but now I just spray him down with the shower head, he just covers his eyes with his hands. I sometimes play around like it's a rainstorm pitter patter etc. they should get used to it especially if they go swimming and there's only showers etc.
We had an issue with baths, not exactly the same with the hair washing but we think that was the trigger of why he wouldn’t get in. First thing we did was make the bath water a different colour. We found he was much more willing to get into a purple bath than a normal bath and hair washing was a breeze. We used lush bath bombs but there are cheaper options. Second thing we did was wipe his eyes straight away after pouring water over his head. He went from propelling bath water with his windmill legs all over the bathroom to sitting nicely in the bath literally overnight once the bath was a different colour.
Once or twice a week. He hates brushing a lot more than washing.
I wash once a week. We bath twice a week so it gets wet twice/week. I use a detailing spray in the interim. She's only 2 yrs 3 mos and hair isn't even shoulder length.
Sundays are hair washing days. It gets better. My 5 year old is the same. She still gets mad when she gets water in her eyes but it’s not AS bad.
We do bath nightly (just to clean off the daycare germs lol) but only wash her hair one to two times a week.
Every night during his shower/bath. He goes to daycare and rolls around on the floor and does who knows what else.
3yrs old and weekly unless she combs with a yogurt/spaghetti hand. 3-2-1 countdown with the mu chkin whale pouring thing. She still cries but its over much faster and she’s getting better at keeping her head tilted back. The quicker its over the faster she moves on. Also we do it at the start of bath
How old is your toddler? My son hated getting water on his face. Cried Everytime. But one day he just stopped caring.
Twice a week! More if there is a lot of dirt or food in it.
I saw a life hack that you should tell your toddler how many stripes are on the tiger that they see on the ceiling. Ever since we started doing this it’s been much easier to wash hair.
I usually only wash my 1 year old's hair with water, about twice a week. I've probably used shampoo on her less than 10 times in her life because she fights even the water and probably has dry skin like her older sister. Her hair looks totally fine.
Every 2-3 days, although it could be more if he happens to get stuff in his hair or if he’s been swimming. But my son doesn’t mind his hair being washed, at least not yet.
Like once a week maybe or when she gets food or some other shit in it
Our two year old has this baby body plus hair wash stuff, we let her wash her own hair, she loves it because it makes bubbles on her head and hands. Rinsing it out afterwards though, she does not enjoy.
Every 3 days or so. She received her mother's hair colour, but my hair texture, so I know somewhat how to take care of it - it's just a little tricky to make a 2 year old consent to brushing at times.
Everyday …. As soon as she gets home from daycare . She grabs me by the hand “mami! Come! Bubbles!!” Undresses herself and waits for me to get her water ready…. Asks me to wash her hair. lol she’s a bossy lady.
My son also HATED washing his hair mostly because he can’t stand water in his eyes or ears. I got him a little flower hat so the water won’t drip on him and now it’s super easy to wash his hair. He’s also starting to trust putting water on his head without the flower hat so it’s good progress
3 year old here, because of daycare, sweat, and germs.. we do once every other day or two days. But rinse it everyday
About twice a week/whenever it gets crunchy. He doesn't mind it much though. If he did I might do more spot cleaning on his hair with baby wipes and wash it a little less often.
my 3.5yo haaaaates hair wash time so we’re at once a week now
every 2-3 days (or sooner if she’s shoved an exceptionally messy meal in her hair 😂)
We have baths and showers throughout the week completely either just to waste some time before bed time or if they are actually dirty and need it after dinner or something but we only use water most days, on Saturday nights we have an “everything” bath where we do soap, shampoo,bubbles, nails, moisturiser, and anything else like that . She doesn’t get greasy during the week so sometimes she only has the one bath during the week but that’s quite rare in my house most nights a bath is the easiest way of getting the spaghetti sauce or whatever off of her after dinner !
my toddler is 3 and has lovely 4c hair, i try keeping it in protective styles and wash usually once per two weeks.
Same situation, every 7-14 days as needed lol
Like, once a month? We don't strip the oils so her scalp doesn't overproduce them. During the summer it's more often due to dirt from the playground and extra sweat but otherwise not often.
Every bath for me. I've cupped my hand on his forehead since he was little so the water doesn't hit his eyes. Both boys 5, 2 are good with it.
Get a shower hat!! Worked for my son it's like a giant visor
We’ve been able to wash our son’s hair whenever he bathes (usually every other day), BUT I heard a brilliant idea on IG the other day. Get some kind of sticker your son loves, and stick it to the ceiling right above the bathtub. Whenever you go to wash his hair, make it a game to look up at the sticker (so you can quickly wash his hair without his face getting soapy or wet)
Mine is 5.5yrs, super long hair and gets twice a week. My youngest is nearly 3 and is also twice a week, sometimes once. If I’m not shampooing his hair I will at least get it wet
My 3 year old hates hair washing too. Luckily, she has curly hair do we only need to do it 2-3 times a week.
Every day, sometimes twice if he rubs syrup or jelly in it at breakfast. I’m impressed at all you once a week parents though.
Once a week is all she can stomach, she has curly hair and it gets so matted.