How to Keep Hats on a Toddler?

My son won't wear a hat either. When we are at the pool I put some suncreen on the top of his head. If your daughter has a part, you could put some sunscreen on it, otherwise, her hair will protect her scalp from being burned unless you're in the sun for a very long time.

Hi T.-

Try just marching her inside as soon as she takes the hat off. When you get inside, put the hat back on and go back out. If you are away from home (at a park, etc.) head to the car as soon as the hat comes off. Pretty soon she'll realize that taking off the hat = the end of play time. Good luck!

I agree you just need to keep at it. When my daughter was about 1-year-old, we had 1 day where she kept taking it off and I kept putting it on. My sister had a melanoma at 34-years-old so it was a battle that I was willing to fight. After that day I have never had any problems, I guess she realized I was not going to give in. She's now 2 and LOVES hats. She likes the baseball style better than bucket, I think b/c the bucket can sometimes get in the way of seeing things. Good luck!

Buy a hat with a chin strap. Works like a charm! Or just sunscreen up and forget about it.

Some people just don't like to wear hats. I don't.

with my son we tried all kinds of hats until he found one he liked. he liked it so much we had to fight him to take it off ; )
just do it everyday eventually she will get tired of battleing it, plus lather her up with sunscreen, usually that will make her more mad and she will begin to love the hat.

Wallmart does sell a scalp spray as sunscrren that we used on our daughter. It is a little greasy, but the regular suntan lotions are hard to get past the hair and directly onto the scalp. This product was really easy to apply and she did not mind the grease. We used it every day at the beach and not one burn. I do not remember the name, but it was in a pink bottle. It will be the only thing you will see for scalps. It is hot when you are a busy toddler and you can not really blame her for not wanting to wear one. :-)

I have a friend who got this advice from Parents Magazine (last spring) to just spend an entire day (in the house)putting her hat back on, when she takes it off; calmly put it back on, over and over again. It worked for my friend, and her son soon realized that the hat stays on. They just need to get used to the hat, so maybe stick w/ one hat. Soon she'll realize the drill and by summer she'll leave it on. Have fun outside!

I know she's young, but how about a reward system? Is there a favorite toy she likes to have with her a lot? Perhaps have the cause and effect...wear the hat, get the toy; don't wear the hat, don't get the toy. I was a real stickler with hats...still am, as much as possible with older kids...and they knew it was a non-issue early on. BTW, if you have sun concerns, as I did, you might want to try the hats with the long backs that cover the necks...like Flappdoodles and other brands have them. Necks get burned so easily, but I had my kids wearing those flap hats from the get go, and they worked really well.

I like the other responder's idea of a day in the house with the sun hat. Interesting! That may work!

Good luck!

I feel your pain!

I just slather my pasty baby in sunblock and go outside.

The hats just may be making her too warm. We lived in GA when my 2 dd's were 2 & 4 .. I never had hats on them .. too hot. I used the spray sunscreen and limited time outside between 10 - 2 (when the sun is strongest - it was too hot to go outside most summer days anyway!) If you're dd is very fair you might want to just slather her with sunscreen and let her go hatless ...

I don't remember what I did when my kids were little, but you could try wearing a hat yourself and making a big deal about how cute she looks with a hat on... it's worth a try...

good luck and God bless Always,
S.

Hi T.,
Two pieces of advice:
1. Sunscreen, sunscreen, sunscreen
2. Good luck! If you do find a solution--share it with the rest of the world! haha

Seriously, maybe try to put it on her head when she's outside and distracted by what she's doing. That worked for my son at that age. I was (and am still) freaky about applying sunscreen. My son is really fair and I used to spray it right onto his scalp at the part in his hair. I've found that the continuous spray type works best for me.