My friend is really worried about her 4 year old DD.
Ever since Ash was born she sucked her thumb. As soon as she was on the ground she'd pick up strands of hair & wrap them around her thumb, then suck.
When she started crawling she went for the brush.
When her hair got longer she started twirling it & has gotten worse & worse even leaving bald patches.
My friend has tried all she can think of. She bought a clip with hair on it to try to stop her pulling her own hair out.
She recently cut it all off hoping Ash wouldn't be able to get hold of it & wouldn't worry about it.
She feels like the only thing left to do is shave her head. But Ash starts school next year & she doesn't really want to do that.
I used to look after a little girl, kinder age, her mum could not control head lice in her daughters beautiful curly locks, she was due to start school in a months time, she shaved her head, it was sad to see but in this occasion it did not do any harm to the little girl, she made friends well and luckily she was not teased for being a girl with no hair.
I cannot think of much in the way of ideas for helping you friend, maybe if her hair is short, put wax or something, sticky and slippery in her hair so it is hard to grasp, twirl and pull?
Thanks. I did say to try tying it up & hair spraying it or something, but thats when she told me she'd cut it all off & couldn't tie it up. She's a bit worried about the amount of hair spray/gel or whatever that she would actually ingest if she did do something like that.
She said that she has no hair left at the front. We are moving back to where they are soon & she's hoping having my girls around will relax her a bit (if stress is the issue) or just distract her.
my niece has done this ever since she had hair and it gets that bad her fingers actually get stuck in her hair :S. she is now 6 so its been going on for a while. There is nothing wrong with her its just a habit. She does it alot when she is tired or bored. She is a real girly girl and i told her that if she twirled it too much then her hair wouldnt grow and then it would turn blue. Oh she believed me and my sister said as soon as she realises what shes doing she stop coz as she says "oh mummy, i dont want blue hair". lol im a meany i know.
You could make your own hair gel that is edible - 1/2 to 1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin and 1 cup warm water, may want to add something like vinegar so it doen't taste nice... otherwise she will end up licking it
ETA: Has your friend asked her daughter why she does it? It may give her a bit of insight and therefore a cure, in saying that though any habit is hard to break.
Hollye - She's a pretty wild child. The hair thing was brought up because she is a bit of a bully. They are thinking about taking her to a paed about that, & mentioned the hair thing then.
You'd think at first about her home environment & maybe anxiety. I did, but trust me, she has a much better home environment than most kids I know.
I may not have been around them much the last few years since we moved, but I know my friend very well. If there was anything going on I'd know about it, so they think it might have to do with the bullying, but don't really know.
I'll see, but I don't think she's girly enough to care about blue hair! Lol!
Matilds'smummy - I'll let her know when I ring her tomorrow. Thanks heaps.
I honestly don't even think Ash would know why she does it since she's been doing it pretty much since birth, but I will definetely suggest that she asks her. Just to see what she says.
Hair twirling
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to your friend. 
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