Natural Hair: Caring For Children’s Hair

Hey Curlies,

If you all have been following me for a while, you know that I do not have any children, but I have been around them for a while.

I got an email from a woman about how she should care for her daughter’s hair. Essentially, you handle children’s hair in the same manner that you would handle any adult who has natural hair. Here are a few tips:

• Protective styling is always very beneficial and easiest when it comes to caring for children’s hair. Children are very active, in that way, they don’t worry about hair health. Braids, twists, and updos are best and help retain length and moisture

• If there isn’t enough time in the day to moisturize your child’s hair every night. At  the very least, spray a little bit of a leave-in conditioner on it, or oil/water mix

• As adults, to care for our hair at night we wear a bonnet or satin scarf. If you know that this routine will not work for your child, at least buy a satin pillow case for them to sleep on

• Wash routine depends on the child, you’ll figure out a routine based on how their hair behaves. Always use sulfate-free shampoo and follow up with a conditioner.If you would like to get fancy, you can even deep condition the child’s hair every now and then

• When creating hair styles, be sure to detangle carefully using a wide toothed comb. Always start from the ends and work your way up. Please remember not to create styles that pull the hair too much. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen children with while bumps on their scalp or complain about a headache because their hair was done too tight. This stress can cause breakage.