Sensitivity in my 3 year old

I need help on combing my soon to be 3 year old...She has a hair texture about 3c/4a but she literally screams to comb her hair. I have really examined how I comb her hair and I don't think it is rough or not tender. What i can confirm is that she seems to either have a very sensitive scalp or really hates combing her hair (how could she at barely 3 years old?). I have been pulling it into a single plait more often than not to avoid combing through it but her borders are breaking. What can I do??? Would you recommend loose styles for her instead of the cornrows (they don't stay anyway) and plaits (comes undone as well)? Someone help please!! FYI, my older daughter (6yrs) has a slightly tighter curl with hair down to her mid back and I have no trouble with her hair, never really did.

Aww poor baby!! No child should be screaming while getting their hair done, you must be doing something wrong, even people with sensitive scalps dont scream when their hair is properly detangled. Im tenderheaded so I would move around while getting my hair done sometimes, but never scream. When you comb her hair, do you use a spray bottle with water/oil or leave in conditioner to help detangle? Also when combing do you start and the ends and work your way up, while gently gripping the hair near the scalp to help stop the pulling? Are you using a widetooth comb? and if her edges are breaking thats a big indication that her cornbraids are too tight, its good to alternate styles to give the hair a break from pulling, so I would lay off of the braids for awhile.

Maybe you can give her something fun to do while you are doing her hair to make it a desirable activity rather than a tramatic one. Make sure the fun activity is something you only do while doing her hair. Like a special doll with hair like hers she can style with you. A movie she really likes to watch or game she likes to play.

If she is in pain, then maybe you are combing her hair wrong. Use Kandy's suggestion for combing her hair.

thanks both of you...I use a detangler in her hair and I do hold the bas while detangling from the ends to the roots...@Kandylandkurls: the breakage is not from too tight but from the same, cry free hairstyle all the time (a single ponytail). I would actually like to explore some loose styles where her hair can hang free without becoming too tangled. I have tried the distraction (my husband would play with her while I combed her) but right now i think that by starting wih the wrong approach for her hair in the beginning (trying to do it like her sister's) i sorta psyched her out of the whole hair grooming thing. Truth be told, based on your suggestions, I am doing this thing right but i need to be patient as i try to work out a way for both of us to enjoy this experience. I need to redo my thinking as well because i really dread combing her hair and i think she may be feeding off that as well. I will keep trying...please pray that it is something we can get over successfully in time!

I just wanted to chime in and let you know you aren't alone. My 9 year old daughter still screams when I detangle her hair. I've been natural for the last 9 years so have considerable experience, have tried every method under the sun, posted to all the message boards for advice (although I'm new to this community) and tried everything that's been suggested. She still screams, at 9 years old. It makes for a stressful process for both of us (and my husband as well), so I understand your plight. I wish I had advice. For detangling her hair (and my own), I currently use a method very similar to Nikki's method. Separate into sections (I do about 12 sections because she has very long, thick hair), saturate with conditioner and comb through with a wide toothed comb, twisting each section after it's done. I rinse with the twists still in and only take them down when I'm ready to style. This is the best method I've found, but the tears are still there.

Thank to all of you for your feedback....I have hesitated replying with my solution because i wanted to use it more than once to see if it would work consistently. My rescue has come in a bottle of Kinky Curly Knot Today!!!! I spoke with a lot of people and then finally decided to try it....AND IT WORKS!!!!
She still whimpers now and then but this product has changed our experience by far. The one thing i do differently is that i style her hair wet. I thought that this would make her sick, especially now in the winter but not so...she has been fins so far! I have her hair detangled after a shampoo in 5-10 minutes, and on a regular day, less. In fact, her hair does not tangle as much as before with the Knot Today in there. So, yes, her scalp is still sensitive (i can tell when I catch a portion of hair that had a tangle that i missed and was not expecting) but by and large, we are on our way to happy hair days!!! My aim for both my girls is to show them that they never have to relax their hair to make it manageable, mixed hair or not! Thanks again!!