Caring for Children’s Hair

Want to get a head start on healthy heads of hair for your kids?
You can do this by teaching them how to properly wash and dry
their hair. Help them learn non-destructive styling techniques
(until they reach the age where their friends know way more than
you do about hair — and everything else).
Many babies have little hair to work with, and what hair they have
is often very fine, delicate, and easily damaged. As a child grows,
new hair grows that’s often thicker than the baby hairs seen in the
first year of life.
In many infants, the new hair grown at about one year may have
a completely different texture or color than what was previously
present!
Probably the most damage to children’s hair comes from the
styles used to make them look cute or to keep their hair out of
their faces! Ponytails, pigtails, and braids can pull out the hair at
the roots and produce traction alopecia (see Chapter 5 for more
on traction alopecia). This hair loss condition is very common
among African American children, who often have multiple pigtails
that pull on the scalp in many areas, or Caucasian children with
wild or very curly hair. Unfortunately, this type of hair loss is often
permanent.
People take so much pride in the way their children look that they
often treat the kids like dolls, using hairstyles that are counter to
the hair’s natural growing tendencies and that can harm the hair
over time. To avoid damaging a young person’s hair, follow these
recommendations (most of the rules discussed earlier in this chap-
ter apply just as much to children as they do to adults):
 Don’t keep rubber bands in the hair overnight.
 Rotate hairstyles so that one area isn’t always receiving
traction. For example, do a ponytail one day, braids the next,
and then leave it loose with a headband for a day or two.
 Use a good conditioner to make the hair slide more easily
when you’re combing out knots. For longer hair, use detan-
gling agents along with a good conditioner to minimize the
formation of knots in the first place.
As with adult hair, always start at the end of the hair and work
toward the scalp, not the other direction. (Hardly anyone
does this properly, but now you know!)
When working on knots, hold the hair between the ends and
the scalp tightly in one hand as you comb the hair so that the
child doesn’t feel the pain of the comb pulling on the hair.
 Use a plastic comb rather than a brush to prevent static
electricity from building on the hair as it dries. Static elec-
tricity will make the hair stand up with more exposure to the
elements like sun, heat, and wind.
 Never back comb the hair, as this is guaranteed to damage
children’s delicate hair shafts.
 Encourage children’s involvement in hair care. Show
them how to properly wash and dry their hair and comb
out tangles, and help them choose a flattering and easy care
hairstyle.
Fostering independence in proper hair grooming should be
your goal.
 Inspect your children’s hair on a regular basis, especially
when they start school. Hair lice is practically a rite of pas-
sage for school-aged children and is easily spread from child
to child. Early detection and treatment is important in mini-
mizing any effects that head lice can have on the hair, such as
permanent patches of hair loss.
 Make hair care fun. Hair care should be an enjoyable
experience.
Get off to a good start by using no-tears shampoos and patting
hair dry to eliminate the pain and suffering of hair washing.
Play with suds, styling dramatic and funny do’s.
Managing your children’s hair gives you an opportunity to
share an important common experience. Throughout your
children’s lives, hair will be important, and if you use their
hair to help instill pride in their looks, you help enhance their
self-esteem.