How Quickly Does Hair Grow: Hair care for kids

With children's day right around the corner, I thought a post on how to care for our little ones' hair would be in order. Here goes:

1. Cleansing:
Depending on your lifestyle and the length and thickness of your daughters hair, you should plan to wash their hair once every week or two. When washing, focus on cleaning the scalp. The hair will get cleaned as the shampoo runs down the shaft when being rinsed out.

Photo: thelondonmummyblog.com

2. Conditioning:
Please do not skip this step and for those of you who have someone else wash and condition your kids' hair be sure to insist that this step is NOT skipped (I am stressing this because ALOT of kid hair braiders in Lagos do not understand the importance of conditioning!). Insist also that conditioner is applied lavishly not sparingly. This will help retain moisture and aid the next step: Detangling.

3. Detangle:
This is the step that is dreaded by lots of kids. The pulling, tugging, yanking etc. However, with the right products (moisturizing and detangling conditioner), the right technique (detangling in sections while saturated with conditioner) and the right tools (wide tooth comb, detangling brush) this step can be a lot easier that is often anticipated.

4. Styling:
Most mums opt for protective/low manipulation styles like twists, cornrows, buns etc for kids. This option is a lot easier on kids and parents as they do not have to deal with styling on a daily basis plus there are lots of cute styles to try out on your little one. It is also a good way to reduce manipulation and promote length retention.

Protective/Low manipulation style - cornrows

Length retention

5. Moisturizing:
This will not be a hair care post without me stressing the importance of moisturizing. Moisturize 3 to 5 times a week by lightly misting the hair with your favorite water based moisturizer. you can use a mixture of water and glycerin, water and aloe vera juice, a water based leave in conditioner, just water etc Apply some olive or coconut oil afterwards to seal in the moisture.

Spray bottle

WATER

CAUTION!!!

It breaks my heart to see kids with damaged hairlines. Follow these steps to prevent this:

- Do not braid or cornrow too tight, too small or too heavy. Caution your daughters braider very strongly about this. Note that the effects of braiding hair too tight can be irreversible so it is IMPORTANT that we get this right!!!

- Do not brush edges aggressively.

- Manipulate and detangle gently

- Moisturize. Remember that dry hair is brittle and more prone to breakage.

And lastly, I'll leave you with pictures of cutie pattooties from around the globe: