Question: My niece is 15 months old, and has inherited a combination of the worst traits of her parent's hair: it's very very fine, like her mother's (and mine), and grows at all sorts of odd angles, like her father's. It's now gotten long enough to hang into her eyes, but it's not long enough to be tucked behind her ears. We fight a never ending (and losing) battle to brush it out of her face.

* Cutting it seems like a temporary solution at best, because it'll just grow again. Plus, I can't imagine getting her to stay still long enough to even attempt a haircut.
* Barrettes and clips slide right out. If gravity doesn't do the job on its own, the niece does her head shaking thing and out flies the clip. (Which she then promptly puts into her mouth, but I digress.)

	+ Yes, we've tried the various "non-slip" barrettes with rubberized this or sticky that or whatever. They're obviously designed for way more hair than my niece possesses.
* Rubber bands stay put only slightly better than clips. And as soon as she notices that there's something in her hair, she grabs it and takes it out. (And yes, puts it into her mouth.)
* Headbands (either the plastic arc type or the large rubber band type) are a lovely toy, but are not to go anywhere near the head. At least according to my niece.

I find myself wondering if they make hair gel for toddlers. Help?

Answer: 
My 20 month old daughter also seems to *like* having her hair loose in her face (pulling out any clips or bands etc.). So usually we just allow her to choose. 

They do make "non-toxic" hairgel/mist for kids, but my preferred solution (temporary, but easy to do in a moment) is simply to brush her hair back toward her ears with plain water. She seems to like that, and her hair is very fine and mostly straight so it kind of sticks there for long enough to eat or play a game or take 'presentable' photos or whatever. (The baby hairspray does stick better but water has served our needs.) 

It has recently gotten long enough to reach behind her ears, so may get easier for you in a few months. 

Rubber bands that are *so tight* she can't pull them out did seem to work (I dislike them... pigtails near the temples... but when we occasionally use daycare someone there puts them in) and surprisingly she doesn't seem to persist on trying to get them out when she finds it's not easy.
I made a natural Xanthan Gum hair gel, 1 tablespoons Xanthan gum to 4 oz water. Mix it in a jar, stays good it the fridge for a couple weeks.