Any great ideas for getting Vaseline out of a toddler's hair?

[Cathy in IL]

This little guy I have been caring for is a magnet for mischief. I have cared for many children, but there has never been one who finds trouble as quickly and consistently as this one!

He has -

Bit a chunk out of the schoolroom table,
Chewed the heads off a few rag dolls,
Cracked multiple pencils,
Bit the tips off an orange crayola marker,
Cracked the antennas off all the radios,
Attempted to flush the cell phone and car keys,
and climbed everything in the house that is remotely climbable.

Today he was out of my sight for all of a minute while I helped my dd with one math problem. He found the Vaseline on the counter. He opened it and smeared about a thrid of a container into his hair.

I have tried half a bottle of shampoo and some dish soap that say "tough on grease". He still has a very slicked back look going! How do I get this out of his hair??

[Kelli in TN]

Well, just take advantage of the situation and spike it up like a punk rocker! Just go with it, baby, just go with it!!:D

[stephanie]

This little guy I have been caring for is a magnet for mischief. I have cared for many children, but there has never been one who finds trouble as quickly and consistently as this one!

He has -

Bit a chunk out of the schoolroom table,
Chewed the heads off a few rag dolls,
Cracked multiple pencils,
Bit the tips off an orange crayola marker,
Cracked the antennas off all the radios,
Attempted to flush the cell phone and car keys,
and climbed everything in the house that is remotely climbable.

Today he was out of my sight for all of a minute while I helped my dd with one math problem. He found the Vaseline on the counter. He opened it and smeared about a thrid of a container into his hair.

I have tried half a bottle of shampoo and some dish soap that say "tough on grease". He still has a very slicked back look going! How do I get this out of his hair??

I'm not too sure about the water b/c doesn't vaseline repel water? I could be wrong, but I thought it did. I wonder if peanut butter would work on it like it works on gum? It may be worth a try. I hope it doesn't make more of a mess! Make sure he doesn't have a peanut allergy and do it in the tub! I'm sure one of these moms has a suggestion!

[Ferdie]

Try washing his hair a few times with Dawn dishwashing soap. Just don't get it in his eyes. Then sprinkle cornstarch on his hair and press it in to soak up the oil. Wash that out with Dawn. Repeat the whole process a few more time and it was be better. Not completely gone but better.

Don't forget to take pictures because this will be really funny one day.

[Sharon H in IL]

Can you set up a large-muscle activity zone for this little guy? He sounds like the sort of lad who could really use some physical activity. Then some water play, like a water table. It's very soothing for tactile/kinesthetic energy types.

[Hillary in KS]

Washing a couple of times with Dawn dishwashing soap worked like a charm for us!

[CLHCO]

nt

[RoughCollie]

Our triplets opened and smeared the largest jar of Vaseline I've ever seen all over one another, their walls, their furniture, and their bedding, on the first night they slept in their toddler beds. They were very quiet about it. We never did figure out how they got that brand new jar open.

I had to wash their hair several times a day for a week to get it all out.

[Lorna in the boonies]

If you work some cornmeal into his hair, it will absorb it (takes a while to get all the cornmeal out of the hair afterward, though).

A few years ago I used Vaseline to get rid of dd's lice infestation -- she had very thick, waist-length hair. After washing her hair over and over and over and getting nowhere, I googled and found the cornmeal suggestion. It worked great (other than the fact that I was finding isolated pieces of cornmeal in her scalp for the next week or so -- but we preferred the cornmeal to the lice, anyway!).

[Cathy in IL]

Thanks for all the ideas ladies, I will try some tomorrow. Kelli, my dd did discover that his hair will hold a mahawk nicely now. She is having fun with it! Yes, Stephanie, Vaseline definitey repels water. I wonder if SunButter would work like peanut butter. My other child is terribly allergis to peanuts, but we have soy and sunflower butter. I think I will try washing it a few more times tomorrow and probably try the cornstarch and Pepsi ideas. I am sure the other children will be amused to see what we try.

I think we need spring to get here. All my kids are needing to move. Yesterday I moved all the furniture against the walls downstairs and took out the ride on toys. It was like a mini gym!

We did get photos of it. I find that I can eaither get frustrated and angry when these things happen, or grab the camera. These sorts of things make great scrapbook pages!