Parents Need advice on competition hair for short hair

[gymmama43]

I have a little one who has always had issues growing hair. She recently turned six and still had very short, THIN, wispy hair that barely reached the nape of her neck.

She would often leave gymnastics crying because she so desperately wants a ponytail and all of the other girls have one. After months of crying, I finally convinced her to get a haircut in the hopes that would encourage some growth.

It's been six months since the haircut and her hair has thickened up CONSIDERABLY but has not grown in length but maybe a 1/4". Of course, she still wants that ponytail!!!

I want her to keep her hair short. Honestly, it looks adorable on her. And, because no other girl has short hair, I think it will make her memorable to the judges.

But my biggest concern is that I don't know how I'll keep her hair out of her face during competitions if she insists on trying to grow it out. Are barrettes and/or bobby pins allowed at meets? Would these pose issues for the floor routines where her head will touch the floor at times?

Any advice is GREATLY appreciated!

 

[sportsmommy]

My de wears both barrettes and bobby pins. Her hair is thick but shoulder length. Its a nightmare trying to pull up for meets. I braid the front and use lots and lots of clips and hairspray.

 

[Ariekannairb]

While my daughter is growing out her hair we have been braiding back her bangs and doing a super thick gel job on the whispy bits that won't stay in. I generally will have her wash it the night before. I fix it while it is still wet. It dries while she sleeps and then the next morning I take it down and re-do it. It is simple since it has dried how I am fixing it anyways.

 

[GymnastMomX2]

What about pulling it up in a 1/2 pony tail, or just pulling the bangs up. You could even get creative and do a 1/2 spiderweb hairstyle or braid the bangs back.

 

[Faith]

With dd when she was very little I pulled the front sections into two little bunches. Spray any strays.

That was cute but not serious enough when she got to competing in proper comps, so I did two braids with the same front sections.

You can get tiny elastic bands for plaiting horses manes which work well. I found her hair was to thin to hold regular ties.

 

[gymmama43]

Thank you for all the suggestions! I'm glad to know pins and barrettes are OK during competitions!

 

[JoyAvenueMom]

There are some cute ideas on this site. I have seen lot of girls with short hair using the tiny pony tail bands to create really fun looks.

http://sportsgirlsplay.com/hairstyles-for-gymnastics-and-cheerleading/

 

[motigymnasticsmom]

Our gym requires meet hair to be up. So, we use got 2 b gel for meet hair, never moves, and it washes easily after meets. You wet the hair, then put the gell(fast, because it dries quickly), then do it in the style you want.




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[JMACAZ]

We have a very similar hair situation here. DD is in the process of growing out her bangs. Meet hair for us is, hair pulled back into a bun. HC said bobby pins and clips were fine as long as they blended in with her hair. I also found some very strong gel to slick it back.

 

[rjb123]

Last year (at six) DD was still growing out her bangs from a self cut done at age five. Putting her hair up for meets was challenging but I ended up dividing the top (bang area) into several pieces and pulling them back into tiny pieces, securing with a little rubber band, then pulling all of them together (plus the rest of her hair) into one big ponytail. Lots and lots and lots of gel and hair spray to finish it off. I would do trial runs before her practices to see if it would stay during the meet (my thought was that if it would stay up for practice it would stay up through a meet!) and that helped quite a bit too. Good luck!

 

[eryes]

One if my DDs had a pixie cut her L3 year. We didn't do anything more than a little spray glitter to glitz it up. But as she grew it out, we did the "spiderweb" type style in the front to keep it away from her face and make her feel special (sisters hair was in multiple French braids so I felt like I had to do something). I thought it looked really cute.

Check out princesshairstyles.com - she's got all sorts of ideas, tricks, and instructions! Some are totally over the top, but others are perfect for competition.

 

[mommyof1]

My daughter has chin-length hair and I am terrible at styling hair. My solution is a simplified spiderweb with the front. Divide the very front into four sections, make each into a tiny ponytail, then connect into three tiny ponytails as follows: lower right + half of top right, half of top right + half of top left, half of top left + lower left. Then glue it all down with lots of hairspray.

 

[SignHere]

Can you do two pigtails up high? Those look cute with the pony-o's that have ribbons tied on them so they sort of look like two "buns".

 

[SignHere]

Well, I tried to post a picture. no success.

 

[GymMom&Coach]

My DD is on the left of the pic, she also has very thin very short hair! Its really hard to see, sorry, but I part all the way down the middle, the seperate into three ponytails on each side, which connect (sometimes with the help of clips) Hope that helps

 

[momofthreegirls]

My DD was growing out a pixie cut during her first competition season. The best style for meets was the spiderweb with tiny rubber bands. Also French pigtails with the little rubber bands.

 

[ac7179]

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