How I Take Care of My Kids’ Hair

Listen ladies, let’s talk about kid’s hair care!  I absolutely love taking good care of my littles’ hair. Now that I have a boy and a girl, I get to try all the fun styles and let me tell you, some days it is a real labor of love to keep their hair looking cute.  Phew! I get overwhelmed just thinking about it.

 How To Take Care of Kid’s Hair

When taking care of kid’s hair, I think it all starts with good, clean hair.  We live for a good bedtime routine and of course that includes a nice warm bath and hair wash most nights.  While they’re in the tub, I use lukewarm water to wet their entire head of hair, I then go through and massage children’s shampoo and conditioner starting at the scalp and move into the ends of their hair.  Some nights they love it, some nights they don’t have the patience for it so we either skip the hair washing or we make it super quick.

After getting out of the tub, I towel dry their hair and then move into the detangling and combing phase.  Now that Tatum has longer hair, this process is key because nobody likes tangled locks. I use a wet brush on both of the kid’s hair to prevent tugging and breakage if they have any tangles. A lot of detangling products have conditioners in them that keep the kiddos hair feeling soft and silky even after it’s dry.

When my kids wake up in the morning, sometimes the bed head can be cray. Anyone else?! If this is the case, I will use a little bit more of the detangling spray and brush through the bed head parts to get it back to looking clean and sleek.

Now comes the fun part!  Styling.

Boys hair is fun to style in that it is so quick and easy.  We like the clean but beachy swept over look for Tru and I like a good hold but nothing that will make it look sticky or crunchy. Once Tru is taken care of, I move on to Tatum’s hair and we experiment with a lot of different styles. One of her go-to looks is just combed hair and a cute headband. Or the front crown area pulled into an elastic with a bow placed on top.  I love this look because it’s so cute and fun to find a cute headband or bow to match her outfit. Other days we will make two tiny little pigtails using very small clear hair rubber bands.

Like I said, I love to use hair accessories so the hair bows and headbands and clips always add to her outfits.  In order to keep her style in place, sometimes I do a very light layer of hairspray if I think she needs it (which, let’s be honest, it’s necessary with girls on the go like Tate!)

We like to take Truman to a barber shop to have his hair cut about every 4-6 weeks and he loves it! Sometimes we try different styles, but typically he has a faded cut with it kept long and a side part on the top.  Tate is growing her cute locks out so we don’t have cut it just yet!

 KIDS HAIR CARE PRODUCTS

We’ve tried a lot of different children’s hair care products and always come back to a few amazing ones over and over again.  I prefer to use products on my kids that are free of any harsh chemicals, unscented or naturally scented, and come from ethical companies.  All of our faves listed below hit the mark on all of my criteria and they perform perfectly.

When it comes to clean kid’s hair, we love to use the Tubby Todd Co. Hair and Body Wash.  It doesn’t leave any residue, requires a small amount so that one bottle lasts a long time, is safe for sensitive skin and scalps, and smells so fresh and delicious.  The lavender and rosemary scent is perfect for our bedtime routine.

 BEST MOISTURIZER FOR KID’S HAIR

After bath time and towel drying their hair, I spray a light layer of the Honest Company Conditioning Detangler from root to ends.  I love this spray because it is not too heavy on their fine hair, works great on Truman’s cowlicks as well as Tatum’s curly ends, and smells SO yummy. If you’ve tried the Honest Sweet Orange Vanilla Shampoo and Body Wash, it’s the same scent and I can’t get enough!  I like to use a travel size Wet Brush to brush their hard after applying the detangling spray.

HOW I STYLE MY KIDS’ HAIR

Moving on to styling products! Let’s be honest, this is the best part.  For Truman’s hair, we like to style his side part and fade using a matte pomade.  I think that using a product with good hold is key but it’s also important to me that it doesn’t look too hard or crusty so I love that a pomade is workable and can be remolded if it needs to be.  If you’re looking for a high quality hair product that can be used on your sons AND your husband, we love the Hanz de Fuko Quicksand.  It has a matte finish with a high hold and a little bit goes a long way.  Another great option that is more budget friendly is the GOT 2B Glued Spiking Glue, which we use almost daily on Truman.

For Queen Tate, I don’t use very much product other than a light spray of hairspray if she needs it.  I do love to put cute hair accessories in her hair to match her outfits when she’ll let me. A few of my favorites are this 40 piece bow set from Amazon (seriously, you can’t beat that) and pretty much anything from Willow Crowns.

 A FEW FINAL TIPS

1. Wash it when it’s dirty, but don’t wash it too often.  A bedtime bath is part of our nighttime routine around here but we won’t wash their hair unnecessarily because we want to avoid dry or sensitive scalps if possible.
2. Detangle from tips to root.  It seems like common sense to brush their hair from root to tip but this can cause unnecessary breakage and pain so I work from the bottom up in small portions to prevent those things.
3. Have fun with it!  I try to give them a little say in how their hair looks say so that it doesn’t become a task they hate every morning.  Letting Tatum choose a bow or asking Truman to help me style his hair are easy ways to help them feel more a part of the daily process.

What are your tips for taking care of kid’s hair?  Let me know in the comments on my latest IG photo so that we can all share!

xo