Hubby enrolled Baby in swim lessons recently, an activity that will build her confidence and competence in the water. Who knew that this development would also build my confidence and competence about braiding her hair in protective styles? Here are a few shots of the several cute and functional styles I did for her.

Baby’s swim class is in the morning, and because Hubby has more flexibility with his work schedule, he takes her. They needed to stand up to her playtime, shave time getting ready in the morning and be simple enough for Hubby, to deal with before dressing her and bringing her to nursery school.

As you know, Baby is biracial. Here are a few notes on keeping up her protective style:

• Before canerowing, I moisturized each section with shea butter, and dabbed it with a tiny amount of EcoStyler gel with olive oil for hold.

• each canerow is about as thick as my index finger, and no thinner than my pinky.

• braids can dry the scalp. Combined with swimming in a chlorine pool and winter’s tendency to leave hair  dry and brittle, and scalps become maddeningly itchy and flaky. I frequently moisturize, especially with an anti-itch scalp oil. I also keep Baby’s fingernails trimmed and filed smooth, so she can’t cause abrasions on her scalp if she scratches too hard.

• She won’t let me put a bonnet on her head at night, so she only sleeps on satin pillowcases.

• After four days max, I take down the braids and co-wash with a herbal formula.

For more pictures, check out the post, “Our First Business Trip”.

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