Wild, tangled hair
I still remember the painful process of my own mother trying to get a brush through my long, thick hair every morning before school. In the end, she dragged me off to get the whole lot chopped off. on reflection this was a little extreme!
The secret to pain-free brushing is the right tools and products. Always use a good quality, gentle moisturising shampoo and then condition the hair, combing it in with a wide-toothed comb. If possible, leave the conditioner in for a few minutes or you could simply comb through a little leave-in conditioner.
Don’t be tempted to shampoo every day – it’ll strip hair of all its healthy natural oils. Instead keep long hair plaited during the school day (always use a snag-free elastic) and brush again at bedtime. Put the hair into several smaller plaits if your child is comfortable sleeping in them to avoid night-time knots and use a detangling spray before brushing again in the morning.
School sun protection
It’d be nice if you could coat your child in sunscreen every morning and they’d be protected until the end of the school day, but sadly that’s not the case. Sunscreen breaks down on the skin over time and has to be reapplied.
Putting a sunblock in your child’s school bag seems the answer but, even if you can trust them to apply it, they might not do so effectively. Studies show that few of us use sunscreen that well. We tend not to put on enough and we skimp over certain areas, like the forehead for instance.
No sunscreen will block out all the harmful rays but the higher the SPF, the longer a product will protect from burning UVB rays. It’s equally important to find a sunscreen that gives lasting protection against UVA as these are the rays that really damage skin long-term.
Even the best will only last for up to five hours, less if a child is playing sport or swimming, so you should encourage them to put on more before they walk home from school. Remember that sunscreen should be applied to dry skin 30 minutes before sun exposure.
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