Chronicles: 10 Tips For Your Curly Girl's Natural Hair

Were you privileged enough to have a sweet, precious little girl made of sugar and spice and everything nice, including a head full of luscious, curly locks? Do they seem to get tighter and drier with every passing day? Are you frustrated by her tender scalp as she screams and cries crocodile tears if you even so much as look at her with a comb or brush in your hand? Funny...I probably don't know you, yet your story sounds a lot like my own. As time goes on, hair becomes such a tough nut to crack, With boys dads usually just cut it, or we take them to the barber, as they know all about making boys' hair ready for manhood. And we know, cutting can be scary, but not necessarily that painful.

On the other hand, little girls and the question of how to maintain their tresses present a conundrum. They aren't going to sit still and gossip for hours while a skilled practitioner yanks and pulls at their locks for an hour or so. What's a mom to do? Here are some ideas about how to make this manageable so you don't end up taking your baby for a "perm" when their hair is just way too sensitive for it.

Your main goals:

1.) Give her a healthy looking and feeling head of hair by limiting breakage.

2.) Make it pretty and appropriate for her age.

3.) Keep your "hair time" stress free.

4.) Avoid the high cost of salons.

5.) Leave unhealthy chemicals out of it.

There are ways to achieve these goals without pulling your own hair out, but the work is not for the faint of heart. If you can't handle the sound of your daughter's crying or whining about how it feels to have her hair combed, this will be nearly impossible. If you're not in it for the long haul, meaning setting yourself up to know it may take a while, it won't work. But, if you're willing to set time aside and exercise an extra dose of patience, these techniques can truly do the job.

First things first! You have to examine what you're using to get the job done.

Tools:

Use combs and brushes with large amounts of space between bristles and teeth. Curly hair gets trapped around them and can easily be broken off or pulled out. 

Find shampoos that are paraben and sulfate free. Whenever anyone washes their hair it's going

through quite a process. It gets stripped of key oils and some damage actually occurs. What you want is to cleanse the hair with as little harm as possible. Dilute a paraben and sulfate free kids' version of shampoo to keep it safe and not allow the hair to go through too much trauma.

Use a mild conditioner made for kids' hair, also avoiding sulfates.

Oils, such as grapeseed, olive, or argan, are important to restoring moisture after a thorough wash, but the best moisturizing tool you can use is water itself. I know! Water shrinks curly hair and makes the coils even tighter. That's okay. Curly hair has a really difficult job of getting the sebum from your scalp all the way down the shaft. The curls inevitably deter this natural process so the tresses need help. Water is a great moisturizer for this process, along with a smoothing oil like the ones mentioned above.

*Pomades are a great way to seal in the moisture of the water and oil. The molecules of pomades are large so they don't actually moisurize the hair, but they work well to seal in the moisture you've already applied. They also give your baby's hair a healthy, glossy appearance.

Processes:

Shampooing: If you are washing her hair more frequently than twice a month you should reconsider. (See the reference to shampoos above.) Hair won't thrive if it's being traumatized with frequency.

How to:

Separate her hair into four sections and braid them. If it isn't that long yet, part it in four sections and use soft scrunchies to keep it in sections. Next, thoroughly wet the hair with water only from scalp to ends. Make sure it's soaking wet, as this prepares the hair for the shampoo. In the first section, pull the braid apart or take the scrunchy off. Use the diluted shampoo to wash the section by gently working the shampoo from the scalp down the hair shaft. Don't imitate shampoo commercials. Squeeze the shampoo gently from top to bottom to avoid breakage. When you're satisfied the hair is clean, apply conditioner and rebraid / put the scrunchy back on before proceeding to the next section. Repeat this process for each section until all four sections are complete. Rinse out the conditioner, unless you used a leave-in conditioner.

Drying her hair:

NO HEAT PLEASE! Of course, using any type of heat on hair does damage. Keep the hair braided
and allow it to air dry. If there's no time for that, it's okay. You can style a curl girl's hair while it's wet. In fact, that's the best way to do it since the moisture provides a slippery hair shaft making brushing and combing smoother and easier to manage.

Making Her Happy

This is the single most important issue for this period of time. If she's dreading the moment, you are setting yourself up for a negative experience every time, which will put you on a path to avoiding her hair. This, in turn, will result in you feeling like the salon is the only option. Make "hair time" a fun, enjoyable moment for the two of you by using things kids love.

> Her favorite video (a perfect time for binge watching Netflix)

> A vanity with a chair and mirror attached to see the progress ($20-$50) at Walmart / Target etc.

> A snack (cut grapes, baby carrots, apple slices, graham crackers, etc.

> Praise for sitting nicely and cooperating (high fives, little dances, applause)

These are just a few ideas for keeping your daughter and her hair happy. Visit my next entry to find out more about styling!