Mixed race hair care for tiny babies

[Sls668]

My baby girl is 12 weeks old and is mixed black African/white British. To my surprise she was born with a LOT of curly hair. It’s absolutely amazing!
I feel like I have an ok knowledge of hair care for older babies/toddlers upwards as I do have friends with mixed kids that I have been with along their hair journey BUT none of their babies have had so much hair so early! At present we wash just with Johnson’s shampoo twice a week (she’s sick a lot so it gets in her hair) then usually add coconut oil when still wet. Do I need to do anymore? When do I start to condition? Should I stick with Johnson’s for now or move onto a shampoo more specific to curly hair? I’ve attached a photo of her hair FYI ☺️

My advice would be not to use shampoo! I know it sounds crazy but at this age they really don't need it and it just dries it out. I wash my girls hair with conditioner every time she has a bath, run a tiny bit of leave in through it and then comb with a wide tooth comb.
Also as a side note I recommend that you get her used to having her hair done from a young age or you'll struggle as she gets older. I never did with my son and I can never get him to sit still to have it combed/braided/styled whereas my daughter who's ten months is great as I've done it from her being tiny. Not necessarily styling it but combing and such to get her used to the process.
Have a look at the curly girl kids groups on fb too!
Good luck!

Meant to attach the photo, it's from a few months ago but their curl patterns seem similar!

Look in to the Curly Girl routine. It's based on washing only with conditioner. I've done it for 4 years now and would never go back to shampoo. There is loads of advice on the Facebook group I am on (Curly Girls!) for kids hair.

@winnieee @Notgoingonholiday that’s fab, thanks guys. I was starting to think about going to conditioner only but wasn’t sure if I was overthinking it, you’ve reassured me! Most baby questions I ask family but my family is only used to white hair and my OH’s family are used to black hair so nobody can answer 100%

Just water for a young baby.
Then move to water and silicone free conditioner. If do shampoo, keep if silicone, sulfates, etc free and wash it far, far less frequently than you are. Shampooing black-white mixed race hair twice a week will generally wreck it.

Johnson's shampoo is gentle and a lot of Africans use it. Some even use it everyday, so twice a week seems fine.

Conditioner isn't necessary because there's nothing to 'condition' and it can cause scalp issues especially if your child happens to have sensitive skin.

What you're doing is really all I've ever known African people do to their babies' hair (including mine) and yes, it's rare to see a bald African baby (atleast from the gazillions I've seen and know). They usually have hair from day 1 ranging from a few strands to head full of hair.

Also meant to say it's best to use the shampoo that works for your baby - for some, Johnson's doesn't work and for others, it does. So if it's working for yours, then continue with it. If not, try different gentle ones to see what works. Every curly hair is different still so no one product will work for everyone.

Haven't you asked the other side of the family?

Thanks everyone! @Afromeg it seems to be ok at the moment, we’re just nearly at the end of the bottles people gave as gifts so I was starting to think about if I should try something different. And yes, the head full of hair even surprised the surgeons as they pulled her out!
@hoven yes I do talk to his family about it but, they have no other mixed babies in the family so what they used on their own children’s hair isn’t a compete match for my baby’s hair. I was just looking for other people’s experiences who have mixed babies