Leaving long hair wet on a 7 year old granddaughter

We didn't have a hair drier when I was a child so we had no choice but to let our hair dry naturally and it didn't do us any harm, though it was a bit grim. Our house was older, colder and damper than many homes are today. We'd lounge on the rug by the fire during the winter to try to help it along.

Yet another who didnt use a hair dryer on my DD’s hair, rarely on mine and we have all survived?

My dd does not dry dgd's hair either. She even goes to bed with it wet. I think it's odd and I worry she'll get a cold in the head but I know better than to comment!.

Welbeck

Nanna58

My hair was always left to dry like this when I was young, and I didn’t come to any harm. Was never allowed to wash it the week I had a period as my Nan told my Mum that would send you mad , but that’s another story !!??

Me too! You jogged my memory but I do now remember that was a very prevalent tale in the 50s/early 60s. Can't imagine why!

I was brought up to never leave the house with wet hair and to dry it too, so I used to dry the children's hair when they were little

There was certainly no money for luxuries like hair dryers when I was a child. my long hair was just towelled dry and left. Can't remember if I used one for DD. Probably not often, she wouldn't have wanted to sit still for that long.

Towels dry it enough to stop it dripping down the child.s back. It would be damp rather than sopping wet.

How strange not to dry a childs hair. How horrid to sit with cold wet hair, dripping down your back. Uncomfortable and chilly.

The OP has vanished.

So not worth saying I've never used a hairdryer in my life.

I’m obviously in the minority here, but I’d hate to go to bed or sit around with wet hair, and wouldn’t have wanted my DC to do so either. I always used a hairdryer on them and they all seem to have survived with healthy hair intact.

I can’t remember us having a dryer when I was little, so I dare say it was dried in front of the coal fire. We had a heavy dayglo orange one when I was in my teens though - I recall it shooting sparks out when it overheated.

three pages and counting...

I leave my nine year old daughter’s hair to dry naturally. It’s much easier to deal with and untangle when dry than when it’s wet. And it takes ages to dry with the hairdryer.

As a matter of interest, I googled this,and it makes for some it makes some thought provoking reading.

If it helps londonia, and you’re still there, I have always used a hairdryer, and would never have put my girls to bed with wet hair, any more than I would sit and dry ‘ naturally’ after a shower, unless it’s really hot, or the house is really warm. I find having wet hair in a cold house very uncomfortable, but then it is very thick. One of my daughter in law’s leaves her children to go to bed with wet hair, in a not overly warm house. Didn’t agree with it, but never said anything. They’ve always had more ‘colds’ than the rest of us. Could be totally unconnected, but in my opinion, it’s just uncomfortable.

annodomini Your mother was in the vanguard - and a professional. I don't think hairdryers were in general use in the home, except perhaps for the rich.

Power points to plug them into were not numerous. A farm cottage that DH and I bought in the eighties had been built in 1895 but "brought up to date" in the thirties and electricity installed. There were all of two power points - one in the kitchen and one in the livingroom.

crazyH

I’m not going to waste my time answering .....why do OPs ask for advice and not get back ?

I can`t see what the problem is tbh,although many years ago,a friend of mine who was a hairdresser said leaving hair to dry naturally can cause dandruff.
From then on i dried my hair.

If given a good rub with a towel to get rid of excess water it should be fine to dry naturally.

some unspecified dire effect on my health.
You'd have caught your death of cold!

I remember going for swimming lessons from school, we never dried our hair properly and had a long walk back to school afterwards.

Elegran Londinia must be one of the younger grannies. Hairdryers have only been around for a comparatively short time
I don't know where you've been, Elegran, the first patent for a hand-held hairdryer was in 1911. My mum trained as a hairdresser in the 1930s and among her armoury of equipment was a rather formidable electric hair dryer. I don't think she ever used it on us - we all had short hair - but she did try to give me ringlets with rags in my hair overnight. Only a few times, though! She would never let me go out with wet hair which would have had some unspecified dire effect on my health.

My DGD refused to have her hair dried after about 3. She's 8 and sometimes now dries her own hair with a hairdryer and a mirror. I can see long sessions in mirrors developing as she gets older. Problems change. It's best not to worry.

I wouldn’t worry, my hair was always left after washing.

I was watching a couple living in the wilds of Scotland, who farmed, amongst other things, sheep. The film showed them with the less than year old baby having his nappy changed in the mountains and having his bottom washed in cold water? from a stream. He didn’t react at all.

Worry ye not???

My hairdryer is used regularly. To defrost the chest freezer . Rarely use it on hair.

I was always made to have my hair dried as a child. If you go outside with wet hair you will catch "your death of cold".

I had long hair until my 30s, didn't have a hairdryer, slept with wet hair, never did me any harm. Both my GDs have very long hair and let it dry naturally.