[thedaddy]

Hi all. I replied to a thread in transracial and only heard crickets. Looking at the threads here and in that folder, it doesn't look like much is going on. I have a new baby and wanted some advice on hair, anyone around?

[megaphonemo]

There are lots of folks here - give it some time... Folks here have been great with hair help - god knows I have needed it!!

Welcome!

Mega

[millie58]

What kind of help do you need? I need help also but I may be able to help...

[Kirsten]

Try the yahoo group! It's active and tons of suggestions:

adoptionhair_skincare@yahoogroups.com

Kirsten

[nickchris]

I think I remember your question, it was pretty general. Hair and skin information is readily available if you search the old threads. When you have more detailed questions such as raising a child of color, feel free to post in the transracial or AA parenting section.

[thedaddy]

Thanks for the replies. Looking at the list of threads, there just didn't seem to be alot of activity unlike other times I have visited here.

Actually I did not even know I could search the database, so that was cool. Learned alot already.

My daughter is AfA and 3 months old, and my wife and I are CC with virtually no experience caring for black hair. I was just wondering when it's time to begin the daily moisturizing. Right now her hair is baby hair and it and her scalp seem pretty healthy, so it's easy. Actually she does get a little flakey on top (we thought it was lice at first, lol). But I read on here that soon her baby hair will drop out and be replaced by the courser, kinkier hair, which requires a bit more care. Just wondering when that usually is or does this vary between individuals. I guess I'll know when it happens :^)

Also, this is kinda stupid, where do you put all that background from your adoption story in your profile/signature? On the edit page it just shows a bunch of places to write your favorite things, etc, but I didn't see a place for a sig. We have a long adoption story that I wanted to share.

Thanks!

[millie58]

the signature is from your profile. You go to it and make a signature or edit the one you have.

As far as knowing when to start, I would think it's when the tightly curled hair grows in. (I'm AA but I'm the worst with hair).

Good luck!

[nickchris]

It varies as to how "coarse", or kinky the hair may be. Some AA babies hair does change earlier than others. Within the first 6 months, maybe the first 12 months. Some in the toddler years. There are phases for some until the thicker hair fills in. The hair may not be that "coarse" per say but like soft cotton. The term coarse is relative.. actually well moisturized and maintained kinky curly hair should not feel dry and like sand paper. The hair may have a looser curl, for some the curl pattern may be very tight. For some kids the hair changes again during puberty. Of course diet, hair maintenance, and even if there is hard tap water can affect the hair texture and curl pattern. Do not think that because there is a term biracial hair that its that much different. Curly hair is curly hair.. you have to find the right product. Some so called products for AA/Black hair is not that great. Focus on the right ingredient for your Dds hair type.
Sorry to be so vague but there is a lot of variation in curly kinky hair. I am an AA mother with AA kids..and I am not kidding, 3 different textured heads of hair to take care of. One child has multiple textures on one little head.

Check this site out, and go through the different curly hair types: there is a kid section that you can reference as your DDs hair go through phases. I am more so into simple ingredients (no petroleum, parabens etc) for babies and kids, no greasing of the hair and scalp. I do suggest that the younger the child the simpler the approach to hair and styles..but that's just me.



Welcome to NaturallyCurly.com!

hair types:
Hair Types on NaturallyCurly.com

kids
CurlyKids on NaturallyCurly.com

Hope this helps some!!

[lionbird]

Thanks Nickchris for the links and your experience. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that it never occurred to me that just as CC hair has an infinite amount of variations, this is also true for AFA hair. Makes perfect sense now, though. Part of it is that I'm just not much of a hair guy, so having a daughter of any race requires me to gain a new skill set.

Right now it is just soft and fluffy. I love how it smells. Kinda spicey. We are just doing very basic care and it looks beautiful. My wife just bought some sprays by Curls that says it's for babies, we may experiment with that soon.

[thedaddy]

Whoops, wife forgot to logout last night!

[nickchris]

lol no worries, curly hair in general can be a task, but looks beautiful once we find the right routine. Hope all works out.

[eariel84]

My advise is this. If you have the time, go to school for cosmotology. I say this because I am transracially adopted. I am African American and my sister is too, but our parents are white. My sister and I were both adopted as infants. My dad had a good job so my mom was able to go to hair school to learn how to do our kind of hair. At the time I didn't appriciate it because I was a child, but now looking back as an adult it shows the dedication my mom had to us. For my own kids, I did use the baby detangler sprays or just plain Johnsons baby lotion on hair and scalp until age 2. Then I went to the regular african american hair lotions or greases. Good Luck!!