Mixed Baby Boys Mixed Baby Girls With Curly Hair and Swag

I'm so excited to write this article all about curly hair babies! I've been crazy about baby curly hair since long before my mixed baby girl was born. I grew up hating my naturally curly hair and wanted better for my biracial daughter. I want my baby with curly hair to LOVE everything about her beautiful curls.

My Baby with Curly Hair

As my biracial baby started to grow from an infant to a toddler, her hair texture, hair type, and even skin color started to change. I had so many questions! I started this blog in 2010 when not many were writing about raising biracial babies, let alone sharing tips on how to care for mixed baby hair. Thankfully times have changed and, not only are moms sharing their routines and tips, we have WAY more baby hair products to choose from!

Quick Note on Baby Curly Hair

After giving birth to my newborn mixed baby girl, tending to her hair care for years then having our curly hair baby boy, this article now contains all our tips for how to care for baby curly hair. It's a long one! It contains tips on how to keep baby curls healthy and how often you should wash a mixed child's hair, a list of our favorite baby hair products for curly hair, and even a few ideas on baby hairdos.

Related: Biracial Hair Care for Toddlers

Introducing My Mixed Baby Girl

First, let me introduce myself : I'm Vanessa, a brown-skinned Latina woman with curly hair that has changed texture as I've aged. My husband is African American with black hair with a curly type in the 4s. He keeps his head bald, so who really knows anymore.

After months of browsing pictures of mixed babies in anticipation of what my biracial child will look like, imagine my shock to give birth to a biracial newborn baby with a full head of straight hair and light skin! I was so clueless. Back then, biracial newborn babies were a total mystery to me. I had no idea how mixed and black infants can change over their first few months of life, from their skin color to hair texture.

Luckily, over the next 18-24 months, my daughter's loose baby curls gave way to the true curl pattern. The adventures in curly hair really got started! Check out our this long list of FAQs on taking care of our mixed kids curly hair below.

Related: How to Manage Your Biracial Child's Curly Hair

How to Care for Infant Biracial Curly Hair

I get emails from moms with babies with curly hair asking if my tips can be applied to their non-ethnic babies. Yes, of course! Baby hair is actually pretty easy compared to toddlers with curly hair and the years beyond. I consider a "baby" is from birth to one year old, so these tips are for that age range. Conditioners for babies with curly hair should be gentle and nourishing, no matter the curl type or texture.

Within two years, my daughter's baby curly hair care went from managing straight hair to very thick, textured hair (with some areas more coarse than others). I've used the same principles and process as described below, though often changing the curly hair products for best moisture retention, and adding other techniques as she aged.

Related: Our Favorite Mixed Kids Hair Products

Our Baby Hair Routine

Let's start exploring how to take care of mixed baby hair! The process might be simple, but the nuances are still there. Set smart habits  now so that when they become toddlers with much more hair, you're already doing curly hair the right way.

Most baby hair products and advertisements are not aimed toward curly or textured hair. Curls need more moisture than straight hair does (the curlier, the more moisture required) in order to look its best. But the process of how to care for mixed-race baby hair is the same:

Shampoo/Co-Wash: Wash hair gently with baby shampoo for curly hair (best hair products for mixed babies listed below) once every three days to a week. Curly hair is less oily than straight and you don't want to dry out the curls with too much cleansing. Massage the shampoo on the scalp with your fingertips, then gently pull the product through the ends of the hair. Rinse out thoroughly.

Combing Conditioners: This is when the fun starts! Finding hair products for mixed babies used to be SO hard, especially when it came to a baby hair conditioner with slip that made finger combing and detangling easy for our sweet babies. This step is super important to our mixed hair care routine! Like in our Biracial Hair Care for Toddlers tutorial, you want to use a fine-toothed comb to detangle – not a baby brush! Some say to start at the end, but I start at the top and bring tangles down the shaft… then work at the ends to remove tangles.

Smooth down the cuticle of the hair and help define the natural curl pattern: gently glide your fingers down the hair shaft from the scalp to the ends of the curl. This shouldn't take a long time – mixed baby hair doesn't have a crazy length or thickness – but do keep this process in mind as your little one grows up. Also, using a combing conditioner to promote curl definition will also reduce the amount of frizzy baby hair.

Note: If you've read my toddler tutorial, you'll know I don't rinse out conditioners, but I do thoroughly rinse at the early baby stage. You'll start to figure out how "thirsty" the hair is and decide accordingly.

Baby Hair Moisturizer: After detangling, you want to seal the moisture into the curls. Since we're talking about babies, don't go overboard. One good quality baby hair cream that keeps curls soft with curl definition should be plenty at this stage. I've listed our favorite baby leave in conditioner for curly hair below. Apply to damp hair in a downward motion with fingertips along the flow of the curl to encourage definition. And that's it!

Refreshing Curls: Once your baby starts approaching the toddler years and their hair increases in length and thickness, you'll want to establish a night time curly hair routine. Having a sleep routine makes refreshing curls so much easier throughout the week. All I do is spray my girl's curls with a water bottle filled with warm water and finger comb the frizzy curls. This is enough to reactive the moisturizer and refresh the curls. For areas that have gotten matted throughout the night, apply a baby curl cream using fingers to redefine the curl to get rid of the frizz.

Related: How to Sleep with Curly Hair

Mixed Baby Hair Products

Want to see the difference between using the best curly hair products for babies and NOT using anything at all (and then dry brushing the curls)? The picture above (left) is of me tucked in my grandmother's bed with my brushed out afro, which is how my mom always did my curly hair, many years ago. I'm adorable, but my hair is not.

On the right is MY curly-haired baby at 16 months old in the same spot with beautifully defined curls. Crazy what a difference well-informed hair routines and curly hair products can make, right?

If I've learned anything over the years is that our kids' healthy hair identity starts with us – the moms. We teach, model and speak positive affirmations into their lives and are impacting their curly hair identity every single day. I'm so proud to be among the moms raising the next generation of curltastic kids!

Related: 100 Diverse Books with Curly Kids + 25 Little Girl Quotes on Curly Hair

Baby Hair Products for Curly Hair

I started my hunt for the best baby hair products for curly hair when I was still pregnant! The best hair products for babies will be natural and free of harsh ingredients. But please do keep it simple otherwise! Absolutely start with proper techniques, but you really don't need a million products at the baby stage.

After a decade of being a multiracial mom, I understand that low porosity hair impacts moisture retention and that curly hairstyles need to first focus on protective styling, but I had no clue when I was a new mom! So give yourself a hug and check out the best baby hair products below.

It's a Curl Peek-A-Boo Tearless Shampoo

Photo Credit: www.amazon.com

The Peek-a-Boo Tearless Shampoo smelled lovely and did a great job. The best shampoo for mixed babies. The shampoo for curly hair is tear-free, the conditioner is easy to comb through and the moisturizer gave the perfect amount of curl definition without being greasy.

It's a Curl Organic Baby Conditioner

Photo Credit: www.amazon.com

I LOVE these organic baby hair products by CURLS. I used every single one and loved them all from ages 6 months to almost two years of age. Formulated with organic ingredients, this is the best conditioner for baby curly hair.

It's a Curl Organic Baby Curl Cream

Photo Credit: www.amazon.com

This is awesome to hydrate and soften the curls. Great on damp and dry hair as a refresher. Best moisturizer for baby hair.

Shea Moisture Baby Head-to-Toe with Raw Shea Butter

Photo Credit: www.amazon.com

A head-to-toe product, these body wash and shampoo baby products are great for infants under 6 months. This one is sulfate-free and uses organic shea butter. I would still use a conditioner or curl cream for our brown and black babies with coarse curls.

Mixed Baby Boys Mixed Baby Girls With Curly Hair and Swag

Source: https://www.desumama.com/curly-mixed-hair-infant-natural-hair-care/