If you’re a mom, then you’ve probably been through the drama that comes with taking care of your baby or toddler’s hair. Taking care of afro-textured hair on a little one has many frustrations i.e. the child not being interested in sitting still to discovering that their hair goes from neat and tidy to “hot mess” sooner than you thought it would.

My daughter’s hair is a tad bit different from mine because her hair is fine and consists of tight curls. However, this doesn’t diminish the fact that it needs just as much attention and moisture as my coarse, kinky, curly strands.

My regimen for her 4a, fine curls is:

1. 1x week shampoo and condition followed with pomade.

2. 1x detangle with this tool while drenched in this conditioner usually on wash day.

3. 3x per week moisturize by wetting her hair and applying this hair milk.

4. Every night (or whenever it works out) her hair is covered with this satin bonnet.

I have yet to master keeping my baby girl’s hair neat for more than a few hours at a time nor am I able to ensure that her hair stays moisturized every single day. However, I think I’ve made some progress worth sharing.

Use mild cleansers that are very moisturizing.

Since my daughter kicks and screams on wash day (which happens once a week), I opt to use the most conditioning and moisturizing cleanser, just in case she put up such a hard fight that I feel obliged to skip the conditioner.

Here you might want to stick to baby shampoos, cleaning conditioners or shampoos you know that have worked well on your own hair in the conditioning and moisturizing department. Here’s the shampoo I use.

Condition their hair as often as possible.

If I so much as get 3.5 seconds of my baby’s attention, I drench her hair in conditioner. Why? Because I might not get to do it for a while; so I take the opportunity when I get it. Do your best to mitigate damage by conditioning their hair at every opportunity you have.

I recommend using conditioners with a simple ingredient list. Check out this and this conditioner.

Don’t stress out too much over their hair.

Their hair tends to be in better shape than ours just because they’re “newer” than we are and haven’t gotten into hair ruining habits like using super high heat every week.

The area that sees the most friction and therefore dryness are her edges. I like to roll and tuck them away just to keep them from getting excessively dry, but if it doesn’t happen I don’t stress.

What are some of your favorite practices for natural hair care for babies and toddlers?

Black Girl with Long Hair