Hair combing...

   Sigh..yes haircombing. The one thing that can bring Kaya to tears quicker than anything. We have constantly fought those tears. We've always combed her hair so it's not like it's something new but with long hair...and LOTS of corkscrew curls..and being thick to boot..it's not her fave time of day.
  When her hair is wet it comes down past the middle of her back..when dry it's just below her shoulders. So yeah..lots of curls.
  We had tried everything under the sun..detangler, spray in conditioner, different shampoos and conditioners, even hair products for black hair. We couldn't use toddler hair stuff...not strong enough. Had to be careful with African hair care products...too oily. Tried every suggestion and tip we could get. From Dollar Tree "miracle items that worked for my girl" to anything we could think of.
  We had read online that curly hair dries out faster (hence frizzy curls or fuzzies stuck in curls) so we always have used moisturizer. Our last conditioner was Mane and Tail because a friend of ours whose little girl is half black/half Chinese had hair identical to Kaya's and they swore by it. Made her hair soft..but not the miracle cure for tangles.
  After another night of nearly an hour to do Kaya's hair, both of us near tears..it struck me Steve's friend is a hairdresser. She gave us some EXCELLENT tips and with some internet research I think we've found a winner.
   We wash her hair but only use shampoo every other time (to prevent dryness in winter) and use Biolage conditioner allowing it to be on her hair for 3 minutes. Then once out of the tub we work Biosilk lotion from the bottom of her hair to the top working it in the layers etc. Then we comb. When done we use mouse that has Moroccan tree oil in it. She's been sleeping on a silk pillowcase as well.
  So far, knock on wood, it's been going well. Very few tangles when we comb. It's just getting her to the point that she realizes that it doesn't hurt.  But it's nice to not feel like I could lay down and cry after doing her hair. 20 minutes is so much nicer than an hour or more.
  I know it sounds silly but an hour of a crying child and feeling like you are the reason she hurts is not easy on the nerves.
  So hoping this system keeps on working :) :) :)