A desperate mum has turned to Facebook for help after her daughters covered themselves in nappy cream. And you’ll never believe how long it took to get the thick goo out of their hair.

We’ve all been there – take your eyes off the kids for just a couple of minutes and all of sudden they’re into the pantry or, worse still, nappy rash cream.

New York mum Wendy Pryce was in dire straights when she discovered her daughters, Jamie, 4, and Morgan, 3 had coated themselves in DESITIN Rapid Protection Nappy Rash Barrier Ointment.

It’s thick, gooey stuff designed to create a protective barrier – so you can only imagine how difficult it is to remove.

“My immediate reaction was to put them in the bathtub,” Wendy told TODAY Parents. “That was my first mistake — getting their hair wet. Zinc oxide is water insoluble.”

She spent the next three hours frantically trying to get it out of the girls’ hair, and Googling for a solution. In desperation, she posted in a Facebook group. “Please any mamas have tips for removing DESITIN from Hair?” she wrote. “We’ve tried bath soap and Dawn. Thank you.”

The post included a photo of her gorgeous girls, covered in nappy cream. “I was absolutely convinced we were going to have to shave their heads,” the mum admits.

But her fellow mums came to the rescue, with hundreds of suggestions and comments. While some recommended a gel spray that removes adhesive, Wendy wanted to try something she had on hand. She decided to try a mum’s suggestion to use cornstarch and baby oil.

Wendy used the cornstarch on the girls’ hair first, to absorb the grease and stick to the cream. Then she added lots of baby oil, because ‘oil removes oil’.

Then came the painstaking part – using a fine tooth comb to brush out the concoction. She then used dishwashing detergent to rinse the hair. But it wasn’t an immediate fix. It took five days for the hair to be completely rid of the cream.

“There’s no chance they will ever do this again,” Wendy said. “The removal was torturous.”