HELP, My little girls hair is in TROUBLE!

[kitten73]

My daughter is 8 years old and she is natural. I wash her hair once a week with Creme of Nature shampoo and CON. I use the 10-1 dominican conditioner as a pre poo along with tea tree oil on her scalp as an oil treatment before washing. I blow dry her hair and then use the maxi glide to flat iron on the 4 setting and I apply IC heat protectant before hand. I then grease her scalp with surge hair oil or kids organic african best "Gro Strong" which has no petroleum or mineral oil. I braid her hair up in big braids (not tight because she gets bumps) and she wears a scarf to bed at night, when it stays on that is. She is in swim class now Thursday and Friday and although she has a good swim cap, her hair gets wet. We wash it every Friday night though and oh, I also use VO% clarifying poo for the first two washes. Her hair over the past week has been breaking off something terrible. I have never seen little hairs dropping all over her shirt when I do it and that is happening now. I also see her edges and the top have broken off really bad. I want to get some nexxus emergencee or something to use on her hair but not sure how that will work with natural hair, I did Aphogee on her before and it was a nightmare. Can any mothers or naturals give me some advice? I plan on going to the beauty supply tonight.

 

[Lovelylocs]

I am not a mother (only 22...lol), but my sister is natural. Would you mind describing your experiences with aphogee in greater detail please?
Also, what is her hair type and length?

 

[tropicexotic]

Do you put conditioner on her hair under her swim cap (that might create a barrier for the chlorine's damaging effects)? Other than that I'd say stay away from heavy duty protein treatments...a milder protein conditioner like aubrey gpb or keraphix mixed with honey and olive oil might be able to do the trick if done regularly enough. HTH

 

[ayoung]

I'm natural (almost 3 years) and I also swim. I agree--maybe put conditioner around her edges (or all over her head) under her swim cap--I do that.

Also--She swims on Thurs. and Fri--and you wash on Fri---I would say wash her hair each of those days. The chem. in the pool are so harsh! I tried just 'rinsing' after one of my swim days---never again!! That was not enough.

Her hair is braided and you can still use shampoo to clean her hair--I kinda of pay attention to my edges and back but still work the shampoo through my braids gently--rinse gently and thorough then do the same w/ a conditioner--then add some kind of leave in. You can then put her braids in a ponytail or smooth them somehow and put a scarf on her and they shouldn't be fuzzy at all!

hth--good luck!!

 

[jngn]

Well, my hair type is natural 4a/b and I use Nexxus Keraphix with no problems at all. I follow it up with Nexxus Humectress and my hair is very soft afterwards. Also, you might want to change your clarifying shampoo to something of higher quality. I really like Elucence's clarifying shampoo. It doesn't overly strip the hair, but it removes all the buildup. I also like the Nexxus Aloe Rid gentle clarifying shampoo. Actually, the Nexxus line has a two step clarifying process to rid the hair of chlorine. You can find out more about the Nexxus line by going to their website. Nexxus can easily be bought at your local Super Walmart. You can purchase Elucence at www.pleasantimage.com I've ordered from them many times with no problems.

 

[Healthb4Length]

I am agreeing with what the other ladies have to say. I think you SHOULD put on a conditioner and then put on the swim cap. You may also want to try a swimmers' shampoo...Aubrey's Organics sell this and I've heard good stuff about this. I went to my local Trade Secret's yesterday and I found a formula that converts any shampoo into a swimmer's shampoo, I don't have the name of the product but maybe you can check it out and see if that may help.

 

[simplycee]

Yes! Good advice! As the mother of a little swimmer I recommend the same. L'oreal makes a kids swim shampoo that removes chlorine from the hair. For my daughter I would use a heavy conditioner (some type of cholesterol) on her hair from root to tip, braid in six sections and put on a swim cap. When she got out of the pool we would go right to the shower and rinse and poo with this shampoo. I would add a leave in and put on a hat or scarf.

My SIL would apply vaseline or a heavy hair grease to my niece's hair and add a swim cap and wash with the same shampoo when the lessons were over. Both my niece and my daughter kept healthy hair.

 

[caligirl]

You need to shampoo or at least rinse her hair after every swim. When I had to take swim in school, I would rinse my hair in the shower immediately after getting out of the pool. When I got home I would shampoo with creme of nature.

 

[Mizani_Mrs]

I don't have kids but when i do go swimming i make sure my hair is saturated with something (conditioner, oil, or vaseline) so that if my hair gets wet, it own't absore the chlorine water because its already saturated. However, i don't typically dip my head under water. If i were, i'd wear a showercap or Saran wrap underneath my swimcap. HTH

 

[MissCapricornCutie]

Hi Kitten,

It's interesting you post this because I'm going on vacation and was looking for before/after haircare tips.

I got some good info from here: http://growafrohairlong.com/swimming.html

 

[kitten73]

I think she is between a 3a & 3b, i never got that texture thing down right. it's not coarse, and the curls aren't tight. the aphopgee made deja's hair super duper hard. i had a very difficult time moisturizing it after that. i mean, her hair got so hard. i came to the board and the ladies told me not to use it on natural hair.

 

[kitten73]

she goes to swim class right after shcool while i am at work. maybe i can send her some conditioner in her swim bag and tell her to slather some on before she puts on her cap. i am a little reluctant because i don't want her to overdue it and have conditioner running in her eyes. that is a good idea though, i have to teach her how to take care of her hair so having her do that before going in the water is a good start.

 

[kitten73]

oh thanks, i totally forgot about aloe rid by nexxuss. i am sure the VO5 isn't a high enough quality clarifier. i am going to get the nexxuss line tomorrow.

 

[kitten73]

I live in the Bronx, are there any Trade Secret stores in NY? I have never heard of them. I will look on the net for a product like that. I have so much stuff in my closet, rather than spending money on a bunch of new products, converting the poo i have into a swimmers poo would be great. thanks so much

 

[kitten73]

Deja has class on Thursday and Friday evenings after school. i am still at work when she takes class. she is in advanced swimming now and it's at her afterschool center (boys and girls club). i would have to teach her to do all of this herself. the washing i have been doing on friday nights or saturday morning. maybe that is the problem. i have to wash her hair as soon as we get home from class when i pick her up. her hair never gets totally soaked so i fugure it is okay to wait until friday night. i takes so long to do her hair, she is dead tired when we get in. i think i may tell her to put the vaseline in her hair before putting on the silk cap that i have in her bag that goes under her rubber swim cap. then when we get in, i will wasj it and jsut let her go to bed with it wet. that is my whole thing, i hate letting her go to bed with a wet head. i think she is going to catch cold.

 

[carameldiva]

i'm natural too- 2 yrs and 5 months- i would reccommend putting conditioner all over her head underneath the swim cap- also shampoo and condition/deep condition on the days that she swims. To stop the current breakage- i would reccommend using this mix that i now use courtesy of anky- miss keys 10 en 1, rivas silicon mix hair treatment and toque agico emergencia. Hope this helps.

 

[kitten73]

thank you so much. she goes after school so I am not with her at the sessions. i slatherd her pony tails with miss jessies buttercreme this morning. when she gets home tonight i will wash and condition. tomorrow she has another session so i will do the same thing and saturday will be wash and treatment day. i will stop blow drying and using the maxi glide for a while. i will let her air dry and mositurize.

 

[Supergirl]

You gave a thorough description of her hair regimine including the fact that she's in swim class. In addition to the other ladies' recommendations, I might add that blow drying and flat-ironing on a weekly basis cannot be good for the little sweetie's hair. Good luck with everything!

 

[ctcks]

How about leaving the swim cap off? Those things break the hair just putting them on and taking them off! For the swimming days, just use a conditioner or natural oil before swimming and rinse out the chlorine with shampoo after swimming as usual. Between Thursday and Friday use simple bantu knots or thick cornrows? Swimming is not worth this damage. But be encouraged...There is a way around it. My guess is that the caps are causing the damage.

 

[SignatureBeauty]

I also agree about the blow drying and flat iron may be a bit too much, My daughter who is natural and has very thick dry hair, I never applied heat to her hair,Not even a weekly press because it starts to shed real bad and looks awful, I think you should keep the swim cap on just apply the conditioner and make sure that the cap is not to tight around her edges,My daughter swims alot also and her hair is still healthy, and we follow the same routine as the other ladies said and it works out fine, also I never use protein in our hair either because it makes it so hard and crispy and we are both natural, And I hate that feeling of my hair and hers so protein is out, but I also do Hot oil treatments and the only leave in I have been able to use are the ones that are infused with herbs that are made for dry hair, I have no problem with anything, also I deep condition bi weekly with a cholesterol conditioner, Just keep the heat off her hair for a while and give her scalp massages around her edges. Good Luck!!!!!

 

[Netta1]

Also I would elminate heat from your current routine.