Your theories as to why your hair was longer and thicker as a child.

[Bublnbrnsuga]

I noticed a lot of ladies here and in albums I frequent had thick, long hair as a child. Many are doing helpful things to their hair to regain it's luster from childhood, but many have not achieved it yet (including me). My mother used to grease my scalp dag on near daily with Posner (bergamont) hair grease, loaded with petrolatum and mineral oil, she would only wash my hair when it was too straight, ie dirty, she didn't put my hair in protective styles, she would always use those ponytail holders with the balls on the ends to hold my hair, she would place barrettes on the ends of my hair (hey, that's damaging to the ends, right?), she would only trim my ends during 'March winds', etc, etc. Now, here I am doing what I know is right for my hair, but I am not seeing the length or the thickness I had when I was little.

My theory- as you grow , your cells are rapidly dividing, so therefore you experience growth all over, even with your hair, no matter what you do to it. I look at it like your metabolism- a person can eat and eat and eat all day long in their youth and not gain a pound, but as an adult, the metabolism slows and the fat shows Now, this is not to say you can't regain that youthful appearance at an older age, but it will take much more dedication and willpower to get there. What do you ladies think? Am I on to something?

 

[Vshanell]

For me I think it was the low manipulation. My hair was always kept in braids.....I mean always! My mom washed it maybe once every month and a half and she never trimmed it. Any kind of grease was used, nothing special so I definitely think it's the low manipulation that kept it long and thick.

I do understand your theory but there are some fat kids now a-days (I be watching Maury ) so they can't eat all they want either, lol. I just had to say that, don't mind me but it's true though.

 

[Bublnbrnsuga]

For me I think it was the low manipulation. My hair was always kept in braids.....I mean always! My mom washed it maybe once every month and a half and she never trimmed it. Any kind of grease was used, nothing special so I definitely think it's the low manipulation that kept it long and thick.

I do understand your theory but there are some fat kids now a-days (I be watching Maury ) so they can't eat all they want either, lol. I just had to say that, don't mind me but it's true though.

Yeah, but in the general sense, your metabolism is much higher the younger you are. Same as your energy level.

 

[JLove74]

less manipulation, no heat and no chemicals (color or relaxers)

 

[shunta]

For me, my hair was much thicker when I was smaller because I didnt have a relaxer. And of course my body was much smaller and shorter so maybe it just appeared to be super long. I dunno...

 

[Vshanell]

Yeah, but in the general sense, your metabolism is much higher the younger you are. Same as your energy level.

I know what you mean, I'm just clownin' around *puts on serious face*. I've had a loooong night.

 

[carameldiva]

Cosigning with everyone else. My hair was always kept in braids. No trimming, Rarely if ever was heat used. Better diet and much more physical activity.

 

[Bublnbrnsuga]

I wish my mom did keep my hair in braids- she combed my hair DAILY!!! Sometimes twice daily- for school and then for bed.

 

[Proudpiscean]

Yeah, I think it is a combination of all the things mentioned so far: being younger= healthier, higher metabolism;and low manipulation and very few chemicals. I know when I was little my mom would wash my hair every two weeks (she didn't even condition it) and then she would grease my scalp with the green or blue bergamont, press it (sometimes) and braid it up and that would last me a few days before she would have to handle it again. My hair was long and healthy too....

 

[Vshanell]

I wish my mom did keep my hair in braids- she combed my hair DAILY!!! Sometimes twice daily- for school and then for bed.

My hair was combed and re-braided daily as well. My mom used rubber bands a lot which is probably a big no no, and those knockers even when they got old and barely had any elastic left.

 

[B_Phlyy]

Cosigning with everyone else. My hair was always kept in braids. No trimming, Rarely if ever was heat used. Better diet and much more physical activity.

I agree. The only time I ever used heat was on holidays and for school pictures. Mom made sure we had breakfast and dinner and I always played some type of sport or danced.

 

[Blaque*Angel]

Diet
Exercise
Low Manipulation

Miss y'all

 

[LocksOfLuV]

That wasn't the case for me, I was always a bald-headedscallywag as a child. Good grief I am glad my mom stop doing my hair.

 

[Starian]

My Mama did it. It stayed in braids.

I started doing my hair at 12, and while it retained its thickness, it quickly snapped off from waist, to BSL, to a bit below my shoulders in length within a few years.

 

[KiniKakes]

No chemicals, no heat, and many of us wore braids, which is very protective. Those are my theories.

 

[tnorenberg]

Yeah...sigh . Those were wonderful days. My mom really babied my hair. She just kept of washed and conditioned and deep conditioned every so often. Like most others, as soon as I was old enough to take care of it it began to have problems. There's nothing like a mom's TLC.

 

[Gryphyn]

For me it's the opposite, at least since I went natural. My hair is longer and thicker now than it was as a child. My mom tells me all the time. I think it's because my mom never had the time to devote to my hair when I was young, and wasn't as concerned with its care as much as she was about just getting it done. She's a nurse so she was working those 12 hour shifts. She ended up relaxing my hair when I was 7 or 8 so I could do it myself before school (bad idea!! )

Now I can manage my own hair and devote the time to keeping it healthy.

Great topic btw!!

 

[Tee]

less manipulation, no heat and no chemicals (color or relaxers)

I know this is what kept me with long hair as a child. (also braids) Yes, she used grease and the works!

The questoin of the day, "How many ponytails do you want?"

 

[kimmy132]

As a child I had thick hair down my back. My mother washed and conditioned it every two weeks, greased it, and braided it. I would wear the braided style for a few days and then she would do it over. I got relaxers, but it was seldomly, because I really didn't need them ( I used kiddie perms all throughout highschool until my beautician recommended Isoplus). I was not allowed to play with my hair whatsoever....but as soon as I got in the 7th grade things started to change....

I got to do my own hair so I was ponytailing it for days. One of my good friends was mixed w/ puerto rican and she would put lotion on her hair and twist is around a comb ....so the rest of us did too. My other friends used peroxide for color, gel for slickness (the BLACK gel!!), ironing for straightening (yea I was a fool) and kool-aid...I did too.
And yet you would think I would be absolutly bald headed by now, but I still had shoulder length hair but the thinning started to appear. In fact my hair didn't official all fall out until sophmore year in highschool when I put a permanent color on it (didn't know my hair was too fragile) and curled it everyday. Seriously, my hair looked like Halle Berry (short hair) w/o even getting it cut, it just kept falling out. Everytime I styled it I had a sink full of hair. But hey I was young, silly..

Moms finally started taking me to the beautician at the end of junior year and my hair began growning long and silky. My bi-weekly roller wraps really helped. Anyhoo, stress eventually made all that fall out in college...so bald again .

So yes, I would say low manipulation and conditioning is the key!

 

[CAPlush]

That wasn't the case for me, I was always a bald-headedscallywag as a child. Good grief I am glad my mom stop doing my hair.

I'm with you on that one. My mom to this day tells everyone she knows not to use relaxers on their little girls because we never grew hair past our shoulders growing up. She actually gets angry with her sisters, saying she already walked that path

I volunteer with a group of 5th graders, and there is one lil sweetheart who wore kinky twists, but last week this poor baby looked like some one took a weedwacker to her head, hair from 1/2 inch to 3 inches, but you could tell from her roots that she had the potential to grow a head full thick glossy hair. I would have sent her home with a note to her mother about deep conditioning and transitioning to natural if I was more bold.

 

[Isis]

My hair is longer now and just as thick as it was when I was a child.

As a child, my hair was washed once a week or so, Ultrasheen was applied and my hair was braided/plaited up for the week, with a braidout for church. No heat (that came a little later), no conditioners, no manipulation, and lots of active play outside. I remember those days clearly and incorporate some of that - the plaits, braidouts, no heat, daily exercise - into my current regimen.

 

[shawniegee]

Two words NO HEAT!

 

[kimmy132]

I volunteer with a group of 5th graders, and there is one lil sweetheart who wore kinky twists, but last week this poor baby looked like some one took a weedwacker to her head, hair from 1/2 inch to 3 inches, but you could tell from her roots that she had the potential to grow a head full thick glossy hair. I would have sent her home with a note to her mother about deep conditioning and transitioning to natural if I was more bold.

Ha ha ...I know It's wrong but I'm lmao with this one!! ....She said a weedwacker...

 

[rdm]

I got my hair washed washed, NOT conditioned once a week. Then my mother would press it to death. Then, the pony tails. Mostly with rubberbands and barrettes. I had the knocker pony tail holders too.
The only time I got my hair cut was for bangs.

Then, in 7th grade, I started combing my own hair. The style of choice? A ponytail with a part in the middle.

 

[GoGoChik]

1. Diet- I only ate what my mom cooked at home and she made wholesome meals everyday. I had McDonald's once a year.

2. Greasy, Greasy Hair- mom put coconut grease, bergamont grease, and pink oil moisturizer on my hair everyday. Yes, I had a grease stains everywhere I sat.

3. Braids, Braids, Braids- even on Easter/Christmas my hair was braided up, I just had prettier hair accessories.

4. Mild Relaxers- I used kiddie relaxers until I turned 17. Now I just use mild relaxers.

 

[tffy2004]

I think my hair was healthier, longer and thicker back then because of low manipulation and I would get it washed maybe once or twice a month and my mom used Blue Magic grease on my scalp and Lusters Pink Oil Moisturizer. She kept it nice and simple. Now a days I try every product under the sun instead of sticking to things that work. I know its PJism and I am working on it.

 

[adw425]

grease, petroleum with another name on it...
braids
low manipulation
no chemicals
very little heat
plenty of exercise
much better diet because my parents did not let us eat alot of junk and all meals had the four basic food groups -- always...; I too only had McDonalds once a year.
I was anemic so I was also stuffed with iron-laden foods
No adult stress

 

[angelita842002]

I def. think its the low manipulation and no/low chemicals/heat. My mom would wash my hair once a week(I had 4 other sisters so she would do all our hair on sunday.) Grease it and put it in a couple of braids. She would rebraid it once again during the week and thats it until wash day again.

 

[glamazon386]

Because I wasn't taking care of it. My mother made sure it was well taken care of. When I took over, she had no clue what I was doing to it. By the time my hair was damaged beyond repair, I was left to play catch up after years of abuse.

 

[DDTexlaxed]

I used to be able to relax my hair strait. I basically greased my scalp w. sulfur 8, used ORS mayo, and threw my hair in a ponytail. My problem is I keep cutting my hair.