Poor Baby: Learning How To Maintain Your Child’s Hair When It’s Nothing Like Your Own…
For moisture, that depends on the child’s hair follicle. Natural products that are free of parabens, sulfates, mineral oil and petroleum are the way to go – and they are not that hard to find. Most products will say on the packaging that they are free of the list above and you can find them in the aisles of Walmart, Walgreens, and Target. And yes, the baby lines are worthwhile because the products aren’t as heavy (if you have fine hair, use the baby products too!) and you do not want to weigh your child’s hair down with product. Shea Moisture, Carol’s Daughter, and Kinky Curly all offer baby products. You can also dilute some products with water to use in your child’s hair.
Some of the best products are found right in your kitchen cabinet. Tea Tree or Jojoba oil is great for the scalp. If your child has a dense, kinkier texture that tends to be dry, try a few drops of castor oil (use sparingly as it is a heavy oil). Coconut oil tends to be a great moisturizer for most people. For finer, curlier textures, tea tree or grapeseed oil will do the trick. Always start with a pea-sized amount and work your way up to figure out how much oil your child’s hair needs. You can over oil their hair. Also mixing a few drops of oil(s) with water in a spray bottle is great to quickly moisturize your child’s hair in the morning or before styling.
Now, if you are moisturizing your child’s hair but finding that the moisture doesn’t stay that means you need to seal the moisture by using a more solid type of product, better known as a “butter.” Whipped Shea butter, mango butter and certain whipped creamy products are good for sealing. Whipped Shea butter is usually constructed with oils and glycerin to make it less dense and more airy. Glycerin is a great product for moisture, but be careful because it’s a humectant and will attract moisture from the hair, which sounds great but will cause hair to take forever to dry and leave your child with a big poof ball for hair. But if you want your child to have big, plump twists, glycerin away. Want a defined braid out? Stick to natural oils and seal with a whipped Shea butter and/or mango butter.
There’s tons more information that I could provide, but this should get you off to a good start with better maintaining your child’s healthy hair. Remember that the healthy habits you start now will last them a lifetime. If you have anymore hair questions tweet me @jouelzy…oh baby, your child’s hair is beautiful!
Jouelzy offers tutorials on all aspects of Black hair care via her YouTube channel. You can also find her daily hair tips and inspirations on Facebook.
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