I received the following message in an email the other day.  I wanted to post it along with my answer, because I believe that it may be helpful to other mothers of toddler daughters.

“Hello,
I was looking thru the pics of your daugthers hair… my daugthers hair at 1 looks JUST like your little girls did… I hear so many negative comments…it makes me so sad…

Please help me : What products did you use on your little ones hair to maintain the growth? The pic at 18 mths is amazing! Thanks in advance for your help…God bless you…”

This is my daughter's hair at a year old.

My response:

My daughter's hair at around 18 months old.

Thank you for your inquiry.  First off, I want to say that I am sorry that you are getting so many negative comments. When my daughter was a year old, I made a lot of mistakes when caring for her hair.  If I had it all to do over again, I would do things differently.  Now I take better care of it.

When it comes to caring for your baby’s hair, keep these two words in mind: moisture & protection.  By protection, I mean protective styling.  This is a great way to assure length retention.  I did a lot of that when my daughter was little because she did not like for me to comb her hair (here’s a link to a protective style that I often used when my daughter was young – braid n braid style).  While your daughter’s hair is in a protective style, keep a spray bottle of distilled water mixed with either oil on hand (jojoba or olive oil would be good).  Be sure to keep her hair moist using the spray bottle.  I spray my daughter’s hair every other night, when it is in a protective style, before she goes to bed (do not make the hair wet, just slightly moist). Remember, dry hair equals broken hair

I’ve just discovered coconut oil.  I wish I knew about it when she was little.  If I had it all to do over

again, I would apply coconut oil to her hair often, especially the areas where the hair is short. I have no idea what products I used on her hair at that time, but now I use Cara B Naturally’s products.  Their mist is great to use if you want to alternate it with the spray bottle/water/oil combo that I mention above. Here’s a link to some of the products that I have used at some time on my daughter’s hair: http://cbpublish.com/myhairjourney_files/category/natural-hair/naturalness-kids/child-hair-product-reviews/ You may want to read my reviews and try some of them on your daughter’s hair, keeping in mind that hair can be so different, so what worked for my daughter may not work for yours.

With patience, care and protective styling, your daughter’s hair will grow and more importantly will be healthy!  Here are two websites that really inspired me to take better care of my daughter’s hair: Beads, Braids and Beyond and Happy Girl Hair.  They have tons of good advice and tips.

I hope you find something in this message that helps and I wish you well on your journey of caring for your baby’s hair!  Please keep me updated.  Feel free to contact me with questions at any time!

My daughter's hair at 3 years old.

These pictures were originally posted here: My Daughter’s Hair History