Tips For Your Child’s Kinks, Coils & Curls Hair

Do you have a baby with beautiful kinks, coils, or curls? Perhaps you’re a mama with natural hair yourself, but you were never really taught how to care for it. Maybe you’re a fair-skinned mama who had never run their fingers through natural hair until they had a mixed child with gorgeous curls. 

Whatever the case, everyone wants their child to have healthy, happy, and vibrant hair — even if they don’t have it themselves and even if they need to learn something new to achieve it. 

Here are 7 tips that can help you learn how to best care for natural hair on your little one’s head (which is easier said than done!). 

1. Strive for a simple routine

Let’s face it. Kids are complicated enough. The last thing that most parents want is to have another time-consuming activity each day. Hair care is important, but you can keep it simple in their early years. What’s most important is consistency. When you formulate a simple routine, you’ll be able to maximize consistency even when life gets busy. Here’s the basic formula for a kids’ hair care regime.

A. Cleanse 

Cleansing your child’s hair is essential to hair growth and scalp well-being. Hair begins its growth in the follicle where new hairs grow through tiny pores in the scalp When you wait too long between washes, it can become difficult for the new hair to poke through. This can result in two issues: painful bumps and ingrown hair. 

When you skip shampooing too often, you may also run into issues with functional infections, dandruff, stunted hair growth, etc. Prioritize cleaning your child’s hair. Everyone’s hair type is different but try washing your child’s curly hair once a week or every two weeks and adjust based on how the hair reacts. Make sure you’re washing with a gentle sulfate-free shampoo!

B. Moisture

When your child’s hair is clean and nearly try, begin the moisturizing process. Think of this like applying lotion after a bath or shower. You need to make sure their hair doesn’t dry out, and it’s hard to over-moisturize natural hair. Dry hair will break more easily, so be sure to lock in moisture to protect your child’s hair. The LOC method is popular - liquid, oil, cream. 

C. Style 

This is where the protective styles come in. We’ll talk more about protective styles below, but protective styles are any style in which the ends of your hair are tucked away. Good examples include braids, twists, or cornrows. As the name suggests, these styles help to keep your child’s hair protected for 2-6 weeks while you clean and moisturize your child’s hair over that time. 

D. Repeat

Wasn’t too hard, right? We hope not! It’s time to do it all over again. Clean, dry, and moisturize the hair once again. You can definitely go right back into a protective style, but make sure to switch it up so that your child’s scalp gets a break. Fortunately, there are many different styles available, so they can go from braids to twist-outs to buns. 

2. Detangle their hair before washing

Everyone with curly hair knows the pain of it getting tangled. Why? Because it’s going to happen no matter how careful you are. It’s not your fault. It’s not your child’s fault. It’s just how curly hair is. While there are things you can do to minimize tangles, you’ll always spend some time detangling. 

When you detangle, you want to use safe detangling methods to make sure you aren’t too rough or damaging to their kinks, coils, or curls. Try a wide-tooth comb or finger detangling for the best results. And — even when you’re frustrated — try to avoid yanking, pulling, or ripping through hair. You could come from tip to root, not root to tip. 

We recommend detangling their hair as part of your pre-hair washing routine. Detangling before washing helps to prevent breakage, and it also promotes further distribution of protection throughout the hair. 

3. Invest in good styling tools and accessories

Your child’s hair is worth caring for the right way and purchasing tools that work well will prevent you from wanting to rip your hair out (or prevent you from ripping their hair out!). Here are some tools you may want to invest in. 

• Spray bottle
• Durable hairbands
• Detangling brush
• Wide-tooth detangling comb
• Sectioning clips
• Edge brush
• Diffuser
• Bobby pins
• Satin hair bonnet
• Smoothing hairbrush

4. Maintain protective hairstyles

As noted, protective hairstyles are one of the best ways that you can care for your child’s hair. They keep the ends of our hair tucked away and minimize manipulation. These hairstyles are particularly great in harsher weather conditions (winter and summertime) because they give hair a break from nasty weather. 

Some protective hairstyles take hours to do depending on the amount of hair you have or if you’re using extensions. However, most kids won’t sit that long. So, we’ve compiled a list of some of the best simple protective hairstyles you can use on your little one as you’re getting started. 

• Toddler’s mini puff with flat twists
• Lasts up to a week
• Flat twists with buns
• Lasts up to a week
• Simple cornrows with beads
• Lasts up to one week
• Classic two-strand twists with beads
• Lasts up to two weeks
• Fulani cornrows with double braided knots
• Lasts up to two weeks
• Simple mini cornrows with chunky all back cornrows
• Lasts up to one week
• Double Patewo (clap hands) with twists
• Lasts up to two weeks
• Shuku with a puffy bun 
• Lasts up to two weeks
• Patewo with curve
• Lasts up to two weeks
• Cornrowed Bantu knots 
• Lasts up to one week
• Fulani themed cornrows with double knots
• Lasts between 2 to 4 weeks
• Half cornrows, half braids
• Lasts up to 4 weeks

5. Use safe products

Shampoos, conditions, and other hair products with harsh chemicals can harm your child’s hair. Before you purchase a product inspect its ingredients list. Some brands are more trustworthy than others and craft products with the health of their consumer’s hair in mind.

Here are some products that we recommend for kids: 

• Shampoo and Conditioner Duo for Kids
• Soft & Curly 2-Pack for Kids
• Hair & Scalp Oil with Vitamin E
• Gentle Daily, Detangling Hair Care for Kids 
• Herbal Style & Shine for Natural Hair

6. Purchase a silk pillowcase or bonnet

Did you know that cotton is incredibly absorbent? Throughout the night, the cotton fibers in your pillowcase will drain the moisture for your hair. Hair can also get snagged on the rough cotton fibers, which will cause damage as well as split ends. 

To prevent this, purchase your child either a satin or silk bonnet to wear at night or have them sleep on a satin or silk pillowcase. This is a simple way to provide 8 hours (or more!) of protection to their hair. 

If your child struggles to keep the silk bonnet on, a pillowcase is a great option. You might also consider loose braids or twists before bed if they’re not currently in a protective style. 

7. Be gentle

Whether you were a curly girl or not, everyone has memories of being put between their mama’s knees for a rough hairdo. Just remember that the way you handle your child’s hair can lead to breakage as well. Always be gentle in how you handle their hair and be sure to take off any rings or clip any chipped nails. These two factors can often lead to snagging, tearing, and breaking without parents even realizing it!

Final Thoughts

If you’re a mama new to the curly hair world, take a deep breath. You may have never tried to tame hair like your child’s and the good news is you don’t have to! Instead of trying to downplay your child’s natural texture, you can use the tips above to tame the frizz and define their curls. Curls, kinks, and coils are beautiful just the way they are. Your baby just needs your help to keep them healthy and protected!

Learn which hair type your child has here: What Are 3C, 4A, 4B and 4C Hair Types? 

Read more about protective styles you can use once you get a little more comfortable or your child gets a little older: 

• Protective Styling: Why You Should Wear Protective Styles
• Crochet Braids: One of the Most Versatile Protective Styling Methods
• How to Care for Your Natural Hair this Summer

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