Hair twisters
 

My 2.5 yr. old daughter twists her hair in her sleep (just like her mother :|). My wife is gone in the mornings by the time the kids and I wake up so getting everyone ready is my deal. Most mornings it takes me a few minutes to untwist my daughter's hair but this morning, after 20 minutes, I had to get the scissors and cut an inch-long knot (about half the thickness of a #2 pencil) from her hair. She still has enough to tie into ponytails but the hair on her left temple is only a inch or so long now. :(

She's hot-blooded like me so I'd suspect putting some sort of hat on at night is out of the question. Does anyone have any ideas on what to do? Maybe this is just a phase that she'll grow out of, but I don't want her to end up with a buzz hair cut until she does.

Oh, and don't bother trying to psychoanalyze the hair twisting. My wife does it because it's a nervous habit, but my daughter is 2.5 and doesn't have a single worry in the world. :)

I can understand the hot blood, i'm very much so that way myself- I have to have a fan running, just so there is air movement felt on my face, or I can't sleep right.

So hat, mittens, etc., are obviously out of the question... I wonder if applying a little baby oil (like a few drops right on the knot) and letting it soak into the knot would loosen it up or help make it slick enough to unbind? Maybe the friction of the hair that the knot depends on will go away. And I wouldn't try wetting it with water, if you haven't already, I'm almost positive that would make it worse. My hair, when I had it a little longer, would only knot if it was wet.

what about putting her hair into braids or a pony tail when she goes to bed...

My hair has lots of curl in it- and knots just by having the wind blow -- a wide tooth comb and a little patience (though on a squirmy child might not be so easy) gets the knots right out...

My usual preface here: I'm not a parent, I just think I know everything. Don't be so sure that at her age, she doesn't have any worries. I started to develop an ulcer in second grade because I was such a worrier. Maybe your daughter does have some worries...

I was going to also suggest putting her hair in a pony tail or better yet braids. With the braids, there's no loose hair for her to twist except the litte bit on the end, which is much better then the hair right at her temple. You could also get her a doll of some sort so she can still have her habit without causing harm...if you wanted to try that route anyways. :)

Wow, I'd never heard of this before.

I would think that braids would solve the problem nicely.

I used to do this when I was a kid, not sure if I did it in my sleep though. But either way, I grew out of it. Pretty funny actually, I did it so much at first that I was pulling my hair out and making bald spots, mom thought I had a disease and was dieing...we laugh about it now though. :)