Baby Hair Care

Baby Hair Care Tips – What I Recommend

I get a lot of questions from new mothers about how to care for their little one’s hair, so I’ve decided to post one of the responses to a recent email I received that pretty much covers most of the questions I get which are…

What do you recommend for baby hair care (baby hair care regimen)/What products do you recommend?
1. I would recommend shampooing with Eli’s African black soap
shampoo…this stuff is amazing, it comes from Ghana and it lathers
really well. I actually use it to wash my hair, hubby’s hair and baby’s
hair, and we all shower with it as well, so it doubles as a shower gel!
Ghanians actually use African black soap to bathe newborns so it’s safe
for baby’s, just don’t get it in the eyes because it will burn like
most soaps.

2. Butter and seal. I’ve been using this method for a long time in
both me and baby’s hair and it’s the best way to keep our hair from
drying out…you can do it on damp hair (straight out the tub) or on dry
hair. Lately I’ve gone back to using my trusty Eli’s shea hair butter
and then I seal with either my Eli’s mango papaya shea oil or evoo
(extra virgin olive oil from the local supermarket). I prefer the Eli
oil because it smells really good so baby smells really good too
butter and seal as often as you need to even if that means doing it
multiple times a day…never let her hair get dry because it will just
get brittle and break off.

What can I do about dry hair/the dry spot in the back?
Apart from what I mentioned above, you can also buy some satin fabric or a satin pillowcase to lay
down where she lays her head when she sleeps…I used to carry around a
satin pillowcase and lay it down in baby’s stroller or car seat because
as moist as her hair was before i left the house, between the fabric
from the car seat and stroller you’d think I hadn’t put anything in her
hair all day because it would get so dry so fast. Cotton bed sheets and
fabrics on car seats and strollers are killer for baby hair!

What can I do to make my babies hair grow faster?
Just leave baby’s hair alone and let it grow at it’s own pace. I don’t believe there’s anything extra you can do to help a baby’s hair grow faster…hair is always growing, but you have to maintain and care for the hair that’s already present in order to see the growth. If you don’t it will break at the same pace or faster than it’s growing which will make it appear as though it’s not growing.

What styles do you recommend/when should I start braiding?
My
husband was very adamant about not braiding her hair or causing any
tension to avoid any breaking or receding of her hairline…so she just
wore a crazy little afro till it was more than long enough to go in to a
loose ponytail. Even now I still don’t do cornrows or anything
(especially to the front of her hair) but if her hair is long enough to
do loose braids or twists you can do that to help retain moisture
longer…but as far as styled cornrows i wouldn’t recommend those
because in order to look good there has to be some tension and pulling.

So in a nutshell I would recommend this simple regimen:
1. Shampoo no more than once a week with Eli African Black Soap Shampoo
2. Butter and seal daily (or more if needed) with Eli’s Shea Hair Butter
and a small amount of Eli’s Mango Papaya Shea Oil (a little goes a long
way with this oil)…or you can use a different oil of your choice
3. Get a satin pillowcase or satin fabric to lay down under baby’s head to avoid dryness
4. Keep the styling options very simple avoiding too much manipulation and tension

Hope that helps