using a curling iron for aa daughter

Okay hopefully I am not telling you something you already know. If her hair has not been "straightened" in any way curling iron won't work. You use a flat iron or the back of the curling iron to straighten it out a bit to get the curls to stay. It's a lot of heat on a little head so I wouldn't to it except for special occasions. You could wash and blow dry hair "straighter" then when COMPLETELY dry put a few curls in it.

You have to completely straighten her hair before you use the curling iron or otherwise it will not work. Some people use an over the stove hot comb for shorter hair but most people use a simple flat iron. Athena's hair looks like type 4 textured hair and the back of curling iron will not straighten her hair, you need something that has a higher temperature like a ceramic flat iron.You should avoid hot tools until the child is around 6-7 years old because you can really damage their hair. Plus, children at this age tend to squirm around and can risk being severely burned. Second, when children are preschool aged, there natural hair is changing a lot and its very fragile - this is especially true for African American/Type 4 hair. There is a cool website called [URL="http://beadsbraidsbeyond.blogspot.com"]Beads, Braids and Beyond[/URL] that can show you some really cool natural hair tutorials. I would suggest sticking to those until Athena is a bit older.

Thanks Beachy and sugar, I didn't realize it had to be straightened first. I'm just so frustrated lately, because I know it's not comfortable to have all those twists and rubber bands in or even rows. I don't even like a single ponytail for myself and I start to get a headache, granted my hair is much longer than theirs. I can't imagine how annoying it must be for my girls. They really don't complain about it nor do they complain about the long hair sessions, but I see them at night always sleeping almost face down on the pillow or on the side of the face. Sometimes I just want to leave it in an afro and not worry about it but even though it looks good to me I guess it's not acceptable in public. And it's too short to put into just one or two puffs or braids. I thought if I could easily use a curling iron it would solve the problem. Sigh. If I did opt for the flatiron, what would be the best one to get, and I assume no hair cream or hair oil? Is there a heat protectant you would recommend?

I'd go for a well-shaped Afro that isn't too extreme. I don't like the idea of using a flatiron or curling iron on a young child. And I don't believe that preschool kids should have to sit still for hours, having hair cornrowed, etc. The Afro is a lovely look on both boys and girls, and not that hard to maintain. Sharon

for my daughter I find that I can do what you were trying (pony with ringlets) if I do it wet, brush through, add some hair pudding or cream, put in the pony, divide the pony into sections and then do finger twists. The finger twists end up looking like ringlets. If the hair around the pony looks messy, just add a bow around it. I have to admit though, after she cut it herself when she was 3, (yes, I cried!!) and then got frustrated again now at 5, I did give it a trim so she does go with natural hair some days and it looks great. I have also found Ren, a cleansing conditioner that I have used and it leaves great curls for her natural look. Depending on the product I use, her curls are tighter or looser, and then people think she has had a hair cut!