With everything to consider when adopting, hair care might not be at the top of your list. You have a new baby, and you are so excited! You and your baby have clear differences and one of those happens to be different hair. What do you do when it comes to bath time or styling your child’s hair? You can find the different hair types here to see which one you have versus which your baby has.

Don’t worry! Adoption Choices of Nevada is here to help you with this task. No matter if you are Caucasian parents adopting an African American baby with naturally curly hair or an African American family tackling the difference of straight hair. We have some tips, tricks and products for you to look into for proper transracial hair care.

The Natural Hair Challenge 

The simple truth is African American hair is vastly different than Caucasian, Asian, Latino, and other less coarse, kinky hair types. African American hair in its natural state is often curly, kinky and thick. It also doesn’t need to be washed as often as your hair does. The typical wash routine is just once a week, and that fine-tooth comb that you use on your hair is not going to work for your baby. At all. In fact, it might get stuck, and that is not a fun time for either party. So, what do you do?

Well, first you have to be willing to learn. Black hair is a big part of the community’s culture from hair salons to barbershops. Have a student’s heart and be willing to learn from professionals and other mothers.

Here are some tools that you should have in your arsenal!

• Eco Gel: This styling gel can be found in local stores like Walmart and Walgreens. If you don’t live near one, Amazon has you covered! This is a staple for ethnic hair. You don’t need a ton. A dime-size amount will go a long way. You use your fingertips to gather the amount and then glide it through the hair to style it.
• Crave Hair Glider Brush: This brush is a game-changer. While your child’s curls do not need to be brushed daily like your hair, his or her hair will need detangling. This brush has you covered and it comes in different colors. It is easy enough to use, and it will make a fuss of detangling less than it would be otherwise.
• Wide Tooth Comb: This comb is a great alternative if you do not have the Crave Hair Glider Brush. Plus, with various combs, you can take one into the bath to detangle your child’s hair with conditioner.
• Shampoo, Conditioner, and Detangler:  This trio is a suggested starter shampoo for your little one. Janine, a transracial adoptive mother just like you, from shellyskuster.com, recommends this as a must-have for your child’s hair!

If you aren’t sure about buying it all separately, there are hair care kits! This kit from Tutus & Tennis shoes is not only a great starter kit, but it also has helpful resources inside! Like video tutorials that show you different techniques for hair. These kits are created by people with natural hair like your little one. So, you know they’ll have what you need.

Kits aren’t the only thing to have, though! There are hundreds of natural hair YouTubers out there that demonstrate start to finish routines. Remember this: Youtube is your friend, and practice makes perfect! Here is a list of two amazing channels dedicated to hair care:

• Cute Girls Hairstyles: This wonderful channel follows a white mother with adoptive children, two of them being a different race than her and her husband. She shows how to take care of girls’ hair and uses her daughter to show different styles.
• Kids Curly Hair Wash Day Routine for Easy Detangling! This video goes over a curly hair wash day with a toddler. The mother explains everything in her video, and even gives some tips and tricks on how she does it!

Hair is important to culture and confidence. As your child grows up, remember to incorporate trips to the barbershop or salon. Learn from the community your child is a part of. Follow the pros on how to best take care of your little one’s hair.

The Straight, Smooth and Fine Hair Challenge 

Now, for the finer, lighter hair.

Fine hair needs to be washed more often than African American hair. Depending on the oil production of your child, you may need to wash his or her hair every other day. Washing hair every day can actually produce more oils that will sit on the hair. Your child may have more oil buildup, making your child’s hair look more greasy than shine-free. As stated above, Cute Girls Hairstyles is a great place to go for hairstyles for your little one. It isn’t just for curly-hair kids. The YouTuber demonstrates different hairstyles on her and her kids.

It is important to remember not to use oil products on fine hair. The more oil in the product the more likely it is to just sit onto fine hair making it look greasy. Using heavy silicone-based products will weigh fine hair down, too. By avoiding products that have high oil content, silicones, and serums, fine hair will look move lively and hold more volume. To keep fine hair from falling flat, it’s key to only wash the roots and condition the ends.

Having to style and find the right products may be trial and error but a good person to ask is your stylist! Going to professionals for help is a good way to get the right products for your child’s hair.

Transracial Hair Care for New Parents 

The world of hair can seem a little daunting at first. Don’t worry, it takes some practice and some reading to figure it all out. But you can do it. From YouTube to going out and finding classes in the community, you can tackle your little one’s hair. Hair is a large part of identity, and now you have the tools to help your child figure that out. With some practice, you can get down the various hairstyles for each different type of hair. No matter what, the saying “practice makes perfect” really does come in and ring loud and true. You’ve got this hair thing!

Adoption Choices of Nevada

If you are currently in the process of adopting a baby and have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact, Adoption Choices of Nevada. You may visit the website here or contact us by 775-825-4673 (Reno Office) or 702-474-4673 (Las Vegas Office). Our hours are Monday through Friday, 9am-5pm PST.

Support Adoption Choices

Adoption Choices, Inc. is partnering with Crowdrise, a fundraising website for nonprofits, to help our adoptive parents and birth parents with much needed financial assistance. We understand that expenses keep clients from fulfilling their dreams. Both with birth parents making a plan for adoption, and with adoptive parents growing their family. It is our mission to provide financial assistance through grants and scholarships, awarded annually in November, in honor of National Adoption Month. Funds assist adoptive parents with matching and placements, adoption finalization and helping birth mothers improve their lives through higher education — and much more.

However, we can’t do it alone. Please read up on our programs and donate money where you are able. Your donation will make a huge impact.

About the Author

Tia Kitchens is a college graduate with a B.S in Psychology from Capella University who has always had a passion for three things: animals, writing, and mac ‘n cheese. Two of these three are things she has based her work around. Animals are a big impact on her life due to her love for helping others through difficult situations. Through her studies, she has found the human-animal bond is strong enough to help others. This, paired with her writing, helps her record her findings and teach others through her words.

She is excited to join Adoption Choices as an Editorial Intern because she’s wanted to adopt since she was little, and is excited to learn about the industry and the adoption journey.

Her goal is to make a change in the world with her words and end up on someone’s inspiration Pinterest board! Being a key quote on someone’s Pinterest board it shows her words have a huge impact on people. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but if that picture is just words it surely means more that way! To learn more about her, follow her on Twitter and Instagram!

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Sources:

Stanborough,, Rebecca Joy. “How to Identify and Style Your Hair Type.” Healthline, 30 Aug. 2019, www.amazon.com/Roku-Express-Streaming-Media-Player/dp/B07WVFCVJN/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=roku&qid=1579645300&sr=8-1.