Friday, July 8, 2011

"My Daughter's Hair Is Not Growing, Why?"

Many of us who are currently on a hair journey went through the phase where you think your hair is not growing.  And many of us learned that your hair will always grow, it's just that you need to maintain and retain what you grew out of your scalp.  That means if you don't care for your hair ends, which is the oldest section of hair on your head, it will slowly break off.  As a result, you think your hair is not growing.  Those ends must stay moisturized being that it tends to be vulnerable to dryness, brittleness and split-ends.  Protective styles tend to be a great way to protect those hair ends and also help keep it moisturized as long as it is being moisturized.

But what about our/your young Curly Gurlz who we are diligently caring for their hairs to acquire a successful hair journey?  We received a few questions about why does it seem like a child's hair doesn't grow when the ends are moisturized and taken care of... And we had also pondered on the same thing at one point during or daughters' hair journies. 

You're doing all of the right things:

*Washing/Conditioning
*Combing from ends to roots
*Moisturizing and moisturizing the hair ends often
*Cowashing
*Using Oils
*Using less tension when braiding/styling
*Staying away from those hair candies that have metal prongs in them
*Tying a satin scarf around their heads or have them sleep on a satin pillow case

But the hair still falls at the same point on the back as it did a few months ago.

The hair is going to grow regardless.  Us being adults, we stop growing at around a certain age...so during our hair journey, as long as we retain the hair we grew, we will see the length as it comes.  But for our little ones, it's a different story.  Some children go through growth spurts and despite that, the hair will seem like it's "not growing" because of the physical growth.  Sometimes the physical growth will "take away" the length of the hair because the child has gotten a bit taller.  If you really want to keep track of your Curly Gurlz' hair progress, you may want to use a ruler/measuring tape/paper clips (lol) to measure the hair, rather to go by where it falls on the back.

One day you can claim that your 6 year old is APL. Then next year, despite all the tedious care you put into the hair, you say that same child who turned 7 is a little past APL...you would think that the hair will fall somewhere a bit further than last year's.

This may be relevant information to some and not to all.  Each child is also different and unique because of the way they were designed by God. 

But do keep this in mind...

*Your child's hair is growing,
*Keep moisturizing and using protective styles to protect the hair ends and retain length
*Measure the hair instead of relying on where it falls on the back to protect yourself from discouragement & disappointment.
*Try focusing on the health of your child's hair and the growth with be an added bonus :)

Hope this helps

Written by Sdestra
(Mom to MadiMelzKurlz

(Disclaimer:  We are not experts, but merely sharing information that has helped us during our Curly Gurlz' hair journies)

7 comments:

  1. Great Post! I was thinking to myself a few days ago "Why isnt my daughters hair growing?" This post reassures me that I need to be patient and begin measuring. Thanks BCG :)

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  2. *Smacks forehead* Oh wow, I completely forgot that children grow and that's why youngsters hair seems to grow a little slower lol. Amazing post and thank you!

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  3. @ Kandy...thanks so much and you're welcome! We tend to forget that with us, we already reached that point where we will not grow anymore, but our children are :-)

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  4. @ Dominique...
    Don't feel bad, many of us forget to realize that our children do grow...so that takes away from the hair growth.

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  5. Great post! I was wondering the same thing around Mothers day. I did the ultimate NO NO I ironed her hair out to check to see her length. I take it back now, but its a journey lesson learned.

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  6. Great post! I think this is the theme for the day on the blogs! My post today is about growth, and in addition to your post on growth I just read another post on growth! Just like Dominique-Alexis I'm having the smack forehead moment... kids grow! What a novel idea! Sometimes we over-evaluate things and forget the simple answers.

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  7. Thanks for reading and commenting.
    @ A Mother's Love, we've all been there before with no-no's throughout our daughters' journey. We live & learn and share our experiences in the process :)
    @ Goldilocks n Me, we sometimes forget about how physical growth impacts hair length. We often need those simple reminders to encourage us and let us know that we're on the right track with their hair journeys. Heading over to your blog now to read your latest post :)

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