Sometimes the key to maintaining natural hair is to just keep it simple.  I styled my daughter’s hair into three ponytails using products by Kinky Pride.  I then braided the pony tails and used barrettes to clip them down to her head.  After a few days of her wearing her hair like that. I decided to un-braid the ponytails and here are the results…simple, yet cute:

I used a diagonal part in the front.

The Kinky Pride really added a lot of shine to her hair.  I’m still a big fan.

The barrettes added were clipped above each pony tail and added just the right amount of color.

Here’s a better view of the diagonal part.

Sometimes you just can’t beat cute and simple styles, but now it’s time for another protective style…(coming next)

Here is one last variation of the series of styles that I have been posting of my daughter’s hair.  This time, I removed the bun and replaced it with three bantu knots across the top.  The back is still in the crossed ponytail style.  Check it out:

Below is a variation of the Pony Tails with Buns style seen here: http://cbpublish.com/myhairjourney_files/?p=3842 Instead of four regular pony tails, I braided the top two back-sections of hair.  I then crossed one braid over the other and braided them into the bottom two braids.  Here are the results:

I really loved this style on her.  The braids in the back lasted a few days before I had to rebraid them.

This is the style that my daughter wore on her 3rd birthday. It is a simple sock bun (inspired by the Beads, Braids & Beyond website) on top with four pony tails in back.

Here is the top and front of her hair.

I am still working on getting my parts straighter.  It’s sometimes tough with a wiggly 3 year old

The bun is created by putting the hair in a pony tail and securing it with an elastic band, then wrapping a sock around it.  The ponytail is then smoothed down to cover the sock.  A second elastic band is used to hold the hair down once it is covering the sock.  The ends of the hair can be tucked in beneath the sock.  I then used a third band to hold the tucked ends in place.

Here’s the front with a cornrow across the front.

I was pleased with the way the style came out, but I’m still just learning ya’ll so bear with me, I know it’s not perfect.

Here’s the other side.  I love documenting the process of my learning to care for my daughter’s hair.  My hope is that it’s helpful to someone else out there who’s also in the process of learning and experimenting.

Here’s a pretty basic style that most of us probably wore at one time or another in our childhood.  This style just involves parting the hair into sections and securing them with bands.  I held the ends together here with ball accessories (or knockers).  I also added barettes (which I later removed because they are a big choking hazard).

Please note:  when using clips, barrettes, bands or any other type of accessory on a young child (under the age of three), please try to keep the child in your sight or avoid using them altogether because they are a choking hazard.