Best Hair Care Products for Black Babies and Toddlers

Black and biracial babies’ hair comes in all different types of colors, textures and curl patterns. Whether your little one was born with a head full of hair or it grew in later, taking care of your baby’s hair is just as important as taking care of your own—and there are a few more things to consider beyond just choosing a tear-free shampoo. Here are our top tips and favorite haircare products for Black babies and toddlers.

How to Care for Curly and Textured Hair

Don’t overwash. Textured hair tends to naturally be on the drier side, so washing more than once or twice per week can strip their hair of natural oils making it dry and brittle. Overwashing can also lead to a dry scalp as well.

Only brush or comb hair when wet. Brushing thick, curly hair when dry is not only an unpleasant feeling (if you have curly hair yourself, you know what we mean) for your baby since it’s harder to work through knots when they’re dry, but it can also lead to breakage. You can try using your fingers to detangle!

Detangle. Be sure to use a good detangler on baby’s curls before you begin brushing or combing their hair. Depending on your baby’s curl type and pattern, you can use either a detangling spray or a cream.

Moisturize. Textured hair has different levels of porosity, so for some babies, a leave-in conditioner may work while babies with hair that is more coarse might need something thicker.

Protective Styling. If your baby or toddler’s hair is long enough, it can be helpful to put it in a protective style (like braids, buns or pigtails) to keep it from getting tangled. This also helps lock in that moisturizing product.

When you’re shopping for hair products, what your baby needs will depend on their specific hair type. Here are a few of our favorite products for babies with curly, textured hair: