[vegangoddess]

it is natural curl..... after i spray conditioner on it in the morning and run my fingers through it trying to get the snarls out the curls regroup into individual little springs.....by the end of the day however after nap and playground time ...... it is a matted mess with all sorts of suprises embedded deep...... every bath i can rinse out a pound of sand from the play ground.... i should bag it and resell it .....hahaha.

[MMC66]

I love all the puffs - I am totally intimidated by those twists - out of my league for now.

I put Addy's hair into little "puffs" or that was what they were supposed to be but they ended up looking like these aenemic little sprigs. Her hair is quite fine and thin.

I did suck it up and have it trimmed on the ends because it was so scraggly. The girl who cuts my hair is white and has a biracial little boy with hair just like Addy's so she was familiar with the hair. I just wish I knew what to expect. Here's the best pic I could find of her hair. Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated.

I use a moisturizing shompoo for AA hair and a conditioner on top of that. I do have to wash it every day though because she always manages to get food in it.

Thanks,
Martha

[LisaCA]

Hey martha,

nice photo. her hair looks great.

you might have a problem with washing her hair everyday as her hair changes. Those few times that dd touched her hair with her hands (she tends to touch me and fingerpaint me with food), i would put a scarf on her head. She wasn't thrilled with it initially, but i'd just tell her how pretty she looked and vanity took over . if it's just a bit of food, you can just rinse it out with water (no soap). if it's all throughout, you have no option but the shampoo thing.

btw, we change our approach to dd's hair as she gets older. when dd's hair was your daughter's texture, we just put a small dab of jojoba oil in our palm and rubbed it together then ran our hands thru her hair. that was all it took. As her hair changed we added a few more products with moisturizer. We're now using the Carol'd daughter products which are great, but probably a tad heavy for your daughter's hair right now.

lisa

[MMC66]

Thanks Lisa,
I know I probably wash her hair too much. I'm a super clean freak about my kids but her hair seems pretty dry. I just put about six little pigtails in since my last post and it looks OK. I think I should keep them in so she gets used to it. recnetly when I do it, she constantly picks at them until they come out - so annoying. What kind of holders do you recommend - I got the shiny ones that they used when they did my daughter's cornrows but they're almost too slippery. I don't like the rubberbands because they hurt coming out. I need something really small because these little ones I use still have to be wrapped around at least 6 times.

Are there special needs programs at beauty schools for the stylistically challenged. It's a big leap from the books to Addy's head.

Where did you get the jojoba oil??

Thanks Again,
Martha

[LisaCA]

jojoba oil-we bought ours at Trader joe's (cheaper there) but you can find it at Whole foods or any natural market. it may be in a regular market, but I never shop there anymore (so disappointed by the lack of anything natural/organic,etc-dd's ruined everything ). If you can't find it I can always send you some to try.

I'm a clean freak about things too, but with dd i'm learning to just look away . There are many times I can't even watch her eat -it's so gross.

we use the stretchy things made by Goody, bought at target. these are made in many colors, some fuzzy, some just covered rubber bands (covered by thread or fabric). they don't pull out much hair as an uncoated rubber band.

her hair is rather short, so maybe you should just enjoy the time without having to deal with her hair. get her used to having you touch her head, massage the scalp when adding oil, comb and brush it, but then let her have her little pile of curls. she looks great and you can wait till she's older for the elastics. Just remember not to do the elastics too tight which risks hair loss around the edges.

Hey, I only did something with dd's hair because i had to-it's so long that she had to have something done with it. most of the time she wore an afro, but after a few months the hair was well over 4 inches and the afro became too floppy. didn't have all day to run around and shape her 'fro. Right now she has a single pony tail from the top of her head which is 5 inches long when braided-this really is a curse, esp for those moms who have no interested in doing anyone's hair, including my own. So relax, enjoy the short hair . You'll be doing hair soon enough.

[leaabc123]

I found a small ouchless band made by munchkin. They are called munchkin minis and come in various colors. I pick them up at a local grocery store. They are made by the scunci company.

They work great in little D's hair. On top, she has about 3 inches and in the back, about 1 inch. I usually leave the back out and do the top in ponies or twists.

[LisaCA]

scünci makes great bright colored hair do-dads. I think rite-aid has them too.

[leaabc123]

Whoops too late to edit...I meant made by scunci and called munchkin mini's.

We get jojoba oil in the natural section of a local grocery store. I have also started using apricot baby oil madeby burt's bees. Has a better scent to it and is great for the skin as well. Olive oil can also work in a pinch.

[maxkinzie]

What is it about rubber bands that makes them so bad. I've tried a variety of other bands and they either break or come right out/don't hold. I currently am back to rubber bands, we change them daily, I cut them out, and put lots of oily conditioner stuff in. Am I doing something BAD to her hair? So far my alternative is to do nothing which clearly causes problems for us all.
thanks!

[LisaCA]

traditional rubber bands tend to pull out hairs (ouch!) and cause tangles. there are Ouchless rubber bands out there that break after one use (sometimes before ) that can be used and are slightly better than the originals.

[joskimo]

I bought some of the ouchless but they still hurt Hannah when I try to take them out of her hair. They are like rubber bands but more of a plastic? This picture is a little dark, but I just found the glory of the ponytail holders with balls on the end. They are so much easier to take out of her hair, fewer tears.

[blessedx3]

I also use rubber bands but I cut them out which keeps from pulling out hair. I have tried other types of rubber bands but they seem to break way to easy.

[mckenna]

i use the ouchless and cut them out. i use a finger nail clipper and just snip them right out. works great for me. i posted this on it's own thread. martha replyed, thanks, but i wanted to get your imput too. i wish i had a picture to show you, but i don't, sorry.

this morning:
i fixed my daughter's hair so cute (so i thought). i divided it in 4 parts and did 4 connecting ponies down the length of her hair. i don't know if i am expplaining this well. they all ended in the back with little curly ponies.

then, this moring when i dropped my son off, his before school teacher said "you have her hair fixed ghetto again" now i have two problems with this. what exactly does that mean and it had obviously happened before.

as added info, the teacher was aa, i am cc, and my daughter is aa/cc.

was i being "accused" of making my daughter too black???

[sneezyone]

Awwe...joskimo what a cutie! I love her little puffs. You're right, the pony holders will balls have always been my personal faves. They last longer and are easier to take out.

P.S. Martha, I think Addy's hair is adorable in that last picture. Iff dd had that much hair she'd still be wearing it au natural.

[bellazmama]

Her hair looks like Bella's did at that age. When she got food or other crud in it, I "washed" it with conditioner. ONLY use shampoo once a week max.