African American Hair Care

jenniferraborn

I am not adopting but I am caucasian and am currently a foster parent for a 16 month old African American boy. I am clueless about his hair. I looked on the internet and settled on washing it once a week  and adding some coconut oil hair milk. His scalp still gets dry but this seems to be working ok. Thursday afternoon he had a meeting with his mom and she put his hair in plaits and now I am unsure of what to do. Can I wash it with them in or do I just take them out? How long do you leave them in? Do you use a separate conditioner when you wash his hair? Or just regular baby/kid shampoo?

I apologize for my ignorance but I just want to do right for my little guy.

Any advice on how to care for his hair is really appreciated.
Thanks!
Jennifer

dholsapp

https://www.chocolatehairvanillacare.com/ this website is a fabulous resource for working with African American hair.

mysticl

Does your foster care agency have meetings, trainings, etc. where you can talk to other foster parents?  If so go up to one of the African American parents and ask for help.  The parents at my agency were very willing to help out.  

MayDayGirl

Agree with Fred, and when you take them out get a rat tail comb with a metal "pic" at the end, and put some water and conditioner on a spray bottle. Spray before taking out, using the pic to undo braid and comb/detangle gently as you go. Depending on how much hair he has it can be a timely process.

MayDayGirl

Agree with Fred, and when you take them out get a rat tail comb with a metal "pic" at the end, and put some water and conditioner on a spray bottle. Spray before taking out, using the pic to undo braid and comb/detangle gently as you go. Depending on how much hair he has it can be a timely process.

sumati

You can also skip using shampoo when you wash it.  You can "co-wash" the hair.  Just use conditioner to wash it.  This keeps moisture in the hair.  I oil my scalp at least once or twice a week with coconut oil.

Definitely do like MayDayGirl and use watered down conditioner or a de-tangling spray when you take the braids out.  Combing from the bottom up also helps with any tangles and keeping it from getting knotted.

jenniferraborn

Thank you ladies! 

BLISS KISS

I'm lurking. I am a cosmetologist/ salon owner who specializes in multicultural hair care.

Two lines of hair products that I'd recommend. Aveda anti humectant ( white jar blue lid). It looks like hair grease. However it's light. Use it on the scalp and it will keep the scalp from becoming dry. Carols daughter has a complete line of hair products that you can look up on www.hsn.com. sephora has the line too. If the hair is a loose curl , look for mixed chicks hair care.

For maintenance, please shampoo and condition the hair at least once every other week. It will /can get a build up if you don't.

To take the plats out , the rat tail comb method is the best method. You take it out once the hair starts to go from neat to unraveling.

Shampoo with normal baby shampoo & conditioners.

Best wishes..

meganroselee

This. I would add that to wash the braids weekly with water and regular washout conditioner. Depending in his hair texture this might make the braids frizzy but I hate the smell of dirty hair.... Consider asking mom to cut his hair---- my son's hair is so much easier now that we cut it.... blockquote class="Quote" rel="fredalina">I would leave it in as long as it looks (and smells) good, even up to a month, and just add leave in conditioners and the coconut oil treatment. I would try to avoid shampoo.