Biracial hair care

[kaiya23]

My daughter is mixed race; I'm white, her father is black. Her hair is still thin and smooth, but has begun to curl very tight, especially in the back. She is probably still considered to be a "baby," as she is a week shy of her first birthday, but most babies don't have tangling issues yet, so I'm posting here.

Currently she will sit on the changing table after I get her dressed and let me wet her hair, rub in conditioner and let me comb through it (she'll even leave in a clip!) . This helps to let me comb through the curls to eliminate tangles and "reorganize" the curls so she doesn't have a halo of fuzz around her head. I condition every morning and after baths. I use the Johnson and Johnson conditioner indicated for the ease of combing through, mainly so when I wash her hair, what rinses off doesn't hurt her eyes.

I'm not quite interested in braiding hair yet, mainly b/c I know she won't sit still for it...cutting fingernails is enough of a fight for me. I also feel like her hair is not even close to the coarseness of her father's and I don't want to damage her hair by pulling it that tight yet.

Unfortunately, she still rubs her head on stuff all day...the hair on top of her head becomes fuzzy and doesn't stay curly, the stuff on the back tangles and becomes matted to her head. Does anyone have experience with or suggestions for how to best keep her hair looking good and prevent tangles?

[hairhelper]

Mixed hair that is of african american decent, should be treated like African American hair. Most african American's are mixed after all...I speak from experience, we didn't just get off the boat from Africa. We came to American, during slavery there was mixture with white (rape) and of course voluntary mixing, and mixing with Native Americans. There are people in my family that look white and those that are obviously identifiable as black. Those that are lighter like my brother could conceivably say he's mixed and most assume he is, but when they see me (and we come from the same parents) they assume I'm black. My mom has real red hair by the way, and that's unusual in Aamerican community but it happens. So what you're dealing with isn't necessarily mixed hair, it's african American hair. Her hair needs moisture. It's that simple. You can get a more moisturizing shampoo or for now, use what you have, but realize that it strips her hair. Qhemet Biologics is alnatural and it is Amla/ olive creme would be good to put on while it's wet. You could also wash her hair like I was mine every other or three days (as if she does not have an oily scalp like yours you are stripping her hair of moisture). My sister in law learned the hardway what I'd been telling her all along. Her hair is not the same and cannot be treated the same. My sister in law is caucasian and fought me for 10 years about it as my niece's hair went from frizzy, to really frizzy. By the way, the texture will change and get coarser and frizzier. So anyways when you wash it, apply moisture and then seal with an oil. I like unrefined coconut oil. Just a tiny bit will help. If you want to define curls I love sabino's moisture block. It'll lock that moisture in that you apply, but keep out all the elements including rain until the next wash. When she gets older if you ever flat iron it, it will also be a heat protectant. They have free samples at www.gotfrizz.com Hope that helps.

[kaiya23]

I only wash her hair twice a week. She doesn't yet understand that she needs to tip her head back when I wash and rinse her hair, so I'm looking to use products that are "tear-free" until she is old enough to understand how to tip her head back as I rinse so that the product doesn't hurt her eyes if it runs down her forehead. That's where I got the conditioner from. There are several children on my husband's side of the family with similar hair care needs and my MIL just puts adult conditioner in as a leave-in conditioner before she braids....that's where I got the concept of using conditioner.

What would be the best way of combing / brushing through her hair once there is product applied? I've read somewhere to use a comb that had space between the teeth, but I'm not sure how that would work before her hair grows out longer.