How can I make my 3 year old look neat and tidy?

Question

My littlest daughter always looks messy. She gets dirty constantly and her hair turns into a tangled cloud around her head as soon as I brush it. I usually get her dressed first because she's easier to wake than my older daughter, and by time I've got the other one dressed and we leave for school, I look at my little one and she's grubby and shaggy looking again.

She won't tolerate any barrettes or hairbands. I use smoothing cream on her hair to try to keep it looking neat. What else can I do to keep her looking nice? My older one is a really girly girl and she has always kept herself clean and tidy looking. My younger one looks like no one takes care of her, even though I'm spending hours a day washing and brushing her and changing her into clean clothes.

Answer 1

lol...if you find an answer, let me know. My oldest never liked being dirty, and my youngest looks like he is made of dirt!

Answer 2

what about french-braiding her hair into 2 french-braids?  that is guaranteed to stay neat all day...  (especially if you spritz her hair with water first to dampen it a little, and braid it tight...)  

Answer 3

Unless your worried about what others think, why do you need to have her looking so tidy?  She's 3, other people (well parents!) get that.  If her clothes are neat and clean, then she might really not look as bad as you think to anyone other than you, you know?  Maybe you have a serious tom boy on your hands!  I'd say pick your battles and just let this one go.  If she's not actually dirty, caked w/ food...but just a little messy, then she likely looks like every other 3 year old alive.

If I'm taking the boys out someplace and DO want them looking cute and tidy, we actually don't dress them until we're just closest to leaving.  And then, we dress the one FIRST, who will "mess up" the least...so maybe DON'T  get your 3 year old ready first, wait until you've done everything except walk out the door, then throw her clothes on.  

Answer 4

At 3 she'll either have to tolerate bands or barrette's or get her hair cut in a bob. As for the messy clothes that's normal...buy a load of aprons off Ebay and put those on her...also leggings are great....comfy and cute with a dress or skirt and you can change them a lot as they're faster to wash and dry than jeans.

Answer 5

Don't brush her hair until after she's in her car seat.  

Answer 6

hair: cut it seriously it will help even after it is grown back and when you put it up and she takes it down put it up again not as gently as you did the first time and do this everytime she takes it down (give yourself 20 minutes to get her hair done) I did this with my daughter and before she turned 3 she had stopped taking her hair down without asking me (she breaks out on her neck in the summer when her hair is down so there is no choice here)

get her dressed right before school and keep some baby wipes around to clean the dirt off of her

Answer 7

I would stop spending hours a day trying to make a 3 year old look tidy.  Most people that see your daughter with dirty clothes and messed hair probably just think that your daughter must have been having a lot of fun.  There are some occasions where I can see why you would want your daughter to look extra clean(weddings, church, etc)  I think the way to do that would be get her ready right before you have to leave the house.  

My daughter didn't like to wear barrettes, but she needed to for swimming lessons.  After the completion of the class my daughter just got used to wearing them.  Maybe if you try to put a barrette in you daughters hair everyday-even if it is only in for a few minutes-she might get used to it.  Another thing to consider is maybe only having her bathe every other day.  Bathing daily might cause her hair to be dry-missing a bath every other day will let her natural oils onto her hair and weigh it down slightly-also it is easier to comb out, but it will not look that oily(just do a sponge bath if she is really dirty).