How to Care for Your Biracial Child’s Curly Hair
Note: For the purpose of this article I am talking about half black biracial children with curly hair. Biracial children’s hair can also range in texture even among siblings, just as with any other children.
I am lucky in that although I am white, my hair is very thick, coarse and curly so I have a lot of personal experience that got me on my way to learning to care properly for my children’s hair. My oldest has very coarse, coily curls that are only slightly softer than her dad’s hair. My youngest has very soft, slightly looser curls. All the tips I share below work well for both of them.
Do you have a biracial child and don’t know what to do with those curls? Taking care of your biracial child’s curly hair can be a challenge, especially if you don’t have the same type of hair. Fortunately, it’s not impossible.
If you have the right tools and products, you can easily take care of your child’s curly hair so they always look their best and grow up loving their gorgeous curls!
How to Care for Your Biracial Child’s Curly Hair
Develop a Washing Routine
In order to care for your biracial child’s curly hair, you’ll need to develop a washing routine that works for your child’s hair! Every person has different hair and skin needs, and your child is no different. If you’re not sure how often to wash your child’s hair, you can start by washing it once or twice a week. You can always adjust this number based on how your child’s hair responds to this. Once you find a washing routine that works for your child’s hair, then stick to it! Just keep in mind that curly hair dries easily if it is over-washed and you may end up giving them frizzy, dry, damaged looking hair and dry flaky scalp by washing too often.
Keep It Soft
You’ll also want to focus on keeping your biracial child’s hair soft. You can do this by keeping it moisturized with a good conditioner every time you wash your child’s hair. Not only will this help keep your child’s hair soft, it will also help transform frizzy curls into smooth ones. I’ve found that working in a little argan oil while their hair is still damp works wonders!
Control It
Curly hair tends to tangle so don’t forget to brush your biracial child’s hair on a regular basis (daily). You can control those curls and tangles by gently pulling a comb through their hair while holding the roots with your other hand. Be sure to do this when their hair is damp or with detangler or you will cause massive damage to their hair. Be gentle when doing this because you don’t want to cause breakage or damage. If you’re having trouble pulling a comb through your child’s hair, try using a wide-tooth comb first. After successfully pulling this style of comb through your child’s curly hair, you can then switch to a closer tooth comb to get even the smallest of tangles out.
Find the Right Products
Finding the right hair products can also help you care for your biracial child’s curly hair. Products that straighten their hair can do damage so just don’t go there on a child. There are many different products available that help you detangle, smooth out, and defrizz any hair and will keep your child’s hair looking it’s best. In order to find the right products for your child, ask friends and family for recommendations. Test these recommendations out until you find a product that works for your child’s hair.
Caring for your biracial child’s curly hair can be easy when you have the right tools and products. What are your best tips for caring for curly hair?
Elizabeth Lampman is a coffee-fuelled Mom of 2 girls and lives in Hamilton, Ontario. She enjoys travelling, developing easy recipes, crafting, taking on diy projects, travelling and saving money!
Awesome tips! My daughter is not biracial but she has ringlets.. 2/4 of my girls do… there are a lot too making it difficult. Emily is old enough now she straightens it and has a set routine, Miss K’s has started going like ringlets about 2 years ago… the underlayer is a sea of swirls and pretty curls! Over the course of the 2 years… the curls are moving up higher to her head…and progressing to her top layers of hair… i love’m.. for now she does too. Em doesn’t like her hair at all lol
Both of my children are biracial, but they are boys so it was easy to care for their hair by keeping it short. My granddaughter; although having only 1/4 black, has hair like your older daughter. I swear it gets thicker by the minute. Her mother is having a great time trying to tame her wild mane. I will send her this link so she can get some of these great tips.
My niece is not biracial but she has tight curls and on rainy days its just a frizz,I shared on fb for her,thanks
My children aren’t biracial and of the 7 only one has problem hair. One daughter has extremely curly hair, as in tight curls. When she was small it was ringlets and as she got older the curls got tighter. She manages it well and I love it but she doesn’t of course.
@Elizabeth Matthiesen, what is”problem hair”?
All 6 of our children are biracial, with varying textures and thicknesses. Each child’s hair care is very individualized. 3 boys , 3 girls . One boy work super soft, fat curls needs hair washing at least 2x week and no product, another son has super thick straight hair but needs oil (argon, tea tree, or coconut) daily. Our others are a true hodgepodge of hair, some needing oil everyday, but so fine and brittle , her hair must be in a protective style most times . Others can have a spritz or quick dose of cream or hair milk, followed by a comb through to set her hair for the day, think long ND strong with semi-tight curls. Good article , good advice
Products are absolutely everything. I’m not biracial but my hair was exactly like that as a child. We shopped at a Jamaican salon.
It has taken me quite a bit of time to get my daughter’s hair. I have finally gotten into a good routine and found some great products. I love any of the shea moisture lines, they are my favorite. The smells, the way her hair soaks it up, I love. Good post!
Hi Elizabeth,
I am a biracial woman and a biracial hairstylist. I do like your blog, however I would suggest ONLY combing the hair on WET hair. Hair is composed of hydrogen bonds that change shape when introduced to water or heat. This makes it easier to style, i.e. when the hair is wet. By reading your blog I’m not certain if you are wetting your child’s hair or not when you comb, but it would be worlds different if you utilize this little tip. Kudos on using a comb though, finger detangling will NOT get the knots out, idk why people think this. Also it seems like your daughter has low porosity hair making moisture absorption difficult to penetrate the epicuticle layer of the hair. So try some plant based oils such as Aloe vera juice (for the scalp to balance pH levels), jojoba oil, or coconut oil to seal in moisture after a wash day.
Thank you for your blog!! All love from this biracial lady.