Doing Own Hair...When?

[bruyere]

Parents, at what age did your DDs start doing their own hair (buns) for class, performances, and the like? Teachers, what age do you recommend that they be able to do this? Any pointers for perfecting the bun? Thanks!

[Wendigowild]

My daughter is 9 and I still do her bun; I'm hoping soon she will ask to do it on her own by the time she is 10.

[keb]

My DD artistic director always said that when the girls get their first pair of pointe shoes, they should be mature enough to do their own hair. I thought that was a reasonable timetable.

[Guest coupe66]

My dd began doing her own hair at age 10. She had already been playing with putting her hair up in a bun for several months or so by that point, so I knew she basically knew what she was doing. For me, trying to get everyone out of the house on time was getting more and more difficult, and one day I just told her I really needed her to officially begin doing her own hair for class. I still do help her occasionally (especially for performances), but she does her own hair 99.9% of the time, and she has gotten quite good at it!

[Mulberry]

My daughter could do her own for class at 10. It was neat enough for class, but I still insisted on doing it for exams and auditions etc! Now she's at boarding vocational school she's having to do it herself every day (she's eleven). Once she's been there a while I fully expect her to be better than me!

[doublejoy]

My daughter started making her own buns for class at age 8, and by the time she was 9 I was not even allowed to make performance buns anymore:(

She is young for her class and I think seeing the other girls do their own buns encouraged her to try. Now at 10 I think almost all the girls make their own buns.

[ksrnmpr4712]

I think my daughter was about 10 years old. She started complaining that I wasn't getting the "bumps" out when combing her hair into a bun. That's when I decided she was old enough to do her own hair. Now she fixes her hair beautifully.

[yankee]

As often as I tried to put my DD's hair up into a neat bun for ballet I just could not keep it straight nor tight enough. It was either sagging or somewhere just above and behind either the left or right ear. She used her embarrassment as an impetus to learn to do it herself -- and NEATLY! -- beginning at age 7.

[BelaNina]

My daughter was a late bloomer, I guess. She started putting her own hair in a bun at 11 years old.

[dancingjet]

She started experimenting with it at 8 or 9 but started doing it on her own consistently this past year, at age 10. That's for class; I still help when it's performance time.

[ceecee]

I would have to say that my daughter did not regularly do her own bun until after she went to her first summer intensive, which for her was round age 13. Before that, even though she COULD do it, I was much faster and we were always in a hurry, so usually I would do it.

[lemlemish]

My DD was doing it at 9, not because of any special talent or aptitude, just because I suck at doing it. I think I tried for like a month or two, then she was like, "that's ok, mom - I think I should try to do it myself." By the second week, hers were much better than mine. I think she started practicing the first day she saw my sad attempt in the mirror.

[TwelfthNight]

My daughter had to learn to do her own bun when she went to her first intensive at age 11. She still had trouble getting her hair into the high ponytail, though, so her bun was a little low. I have to say, though, that her hair is down to her waist and it is extremely thick so she still did a great job considering all that hair, lol. Personally, I loved putting her hair up so I wish she would still let me:)

 

As far as pointers, what worked for us might not work for others because someone else's amount and texture of hair might be different. However, DD's instructor gave us some helpful hints early on. First, start with a high ponytail. Then split the ponytail into two. Take one side and twist it. Then wrap the twisted side around the ponytail and secure with pins. The take the second strand, twist it as with the first strand, and wrap it the opposite way around the ponytail (and now first section that was wrapped around), secure with pins. If you do it correctly, you will have a nice, neat, flat bun. Of course with my DD, hers is never really flat because of the amount and thickness of her hair, but it still looks nice and stays. Also, for those days when the hair has a mind of its own, a hair net is your best friend. Hope that helps.

[lsu]

lemlemish, boy can I relate! I was terrible in my attempts at making buns, so out of embarrassment my daughter at a very young age started making her own. Actually I saw this as a good thing and followed through with really terrible sewing of her pointe shoes. (though I really tried to do a good job!) After she saw what I did to her first pair, she started sewing her own. My ineptitude as a mother, I think, made her the independent young woman I see today.

[Mobadt]

Isu,

 

That made me laugh! And it sounds like my house....

 

My oldest DD started doing her own bun at 9 - partly for the same reason as you - she highly disliked the way I helped her do hers. She never looked back. Same with younger DD, though I think her reason was more that her sister did it herself at that age. Neither of them will let me near their hair - let alone their pointe shoes! At our studio though we do have a class to instruct all as to how to sew those and encourage the girls to sew their own. I really never get the chance to do either for them - even when they are in a hurry! IMO, that's a GOOD thing!