Tips on caring for your daughter's natural hair

When I first started plaiting / making my daughters’ hair, I was not very observant or better still I was quite non-chalant about their routine and hair maintenance. But as time went on and I realised how much time I spent taking care of my own natural locs, I decided it was time to take my daughters' hair into full consideration. So what did I do? I had cut my daughters’ hair after they turned 1 year old. By the time I had learnt how to manage both their hair my second daughter was 2 and a half years old.

The first thing I learnt was that combing their hair did not have to be such an ordeal all the time. I learnt to finger comb their hair when wet. Sometimes I immediately braided their hair and while braiding, I would comb each section separately.

As I read up on stuff concerning my hair, I also read about children’s hair. There are two important treatments I use for my daughters' hair.

1) In a 30 – 35 ml bottle of water (tip: use an empty bottle of coke; properly cleaned) put 5ml of glycerine, 5ml of Jojoba oil and shake it all up together. When properly shaken add between 15 – 20mls of Castor oil or 10 – 15mls of baby oil (Pears Baby Oil brand is a good one). This mixture is very good to use as often as you can on the hair. It gives it a very nice shine and helps retain moisture.

2) In 30 – 35ml bottle of water (Same as above) put 10ml of glycerine and either 15ml of Castor oil or 15ml of Coconut oil. Once again shake very well. This also retains the hair moisture while also softening the hair.

3) Coconut oil and Castor oil are very good for hair. They replace lost oils and soften the hair especially when used consistently.

4) Be cautious when using Eucalyptus oil for children. It can result in unwanted effects on children. Some children break out in rashes, some have inflamed skins and other forms of breakouts. It is best to talk to your doctor before using Eucalyptus oil on your child's hair.

5) A friend uses the following monthly therapy for her daughter’s hair. Wash hair with shampoo. Mix mayonnaise with egg yolk and coat hair with it. Leave the mixture on the hair and cover with shower cap for about 20 – 30 minutes. Then rinse off thoroughly. Please rinse off very very well. Then use conditioner to finish off. Doing this over time also softens the hair.

6) Another friend taught me the following. You do not have to use shampoo every time when washing your daughter’s hair. You can alternate between a shampoo and conditioner. So, wash with shampoo one week and then wash with conditioner the next week. Reason being that shampoo, even though it cleans the hair, leaves it completely dry. So washing every time with shampoo does not do your hair any justice. I also use this principle for my locs: shampoo wash one week and conditioner wash the next week.

Prof Mom