10 Guidelines: Pain Free Protective Hairstyle for your Toddler

In November last year we shaved all of my daughter’s hair. Seven months later and there’s been reasonable growth. We can fit in 4 rows of Benny and Betty!

Look, expecting a 2-year old to sit still while you do her hair is a pipe dream. So my approach was to let her be busy with something she enjoys (drawing and colouring) while I got busy on her head.

We had many intervals, and the last row was completed just before supper. All in all, it was a good experience – for both of us!

This was our second attempt, our first didn’t go too badly either. She was so fascinated and distracted by the wool. Going forward we’ll make it a weekly (or biweekly) thing – undo on Friday, install on Sunday.

Here are some tips for a stress-free Benny and Betty installation on a toddler, with tips on how to maintain the style:

1. Let her know in advance

I kept mentioning to her that we’ll be doing her hair on Sunday. This psyched her up, allowed her to mentally prepare. When the moment came, she was eager to get the tools! Going forward, this may not be necessary since it will be weekly.

2. Set aside a lot of time

I set aside Sunday afternoon. The main agenda was plaiting hair and other things were slotted in between. My aim was to make it as stress-free as possible. Allowing more time made it a low-pressure situation. She did well!Wash her hair.

3. Wash her hair

You want to install this protective hairstyle on freshly washed hair! Especially if you want to keep it in for a week or two.

4. Involve her in the process.

She’ll want to touch anyway, so allow her to take some products and apply them on her own hair.  Let em learn young! Let her know what each product is called and what it is used for. Soon she’ll be the one telling you about the LOC method. yup!

5. Moisturise and seal the moisture before installing.

Working with a section (or row) at a time, moisturise and seal before wrapping the wool around her hair.

6. Have a spray bottle nearby to remoisture as you go.

This helps with combing and parting of the hair. Trying to part hair on dry hair not only will break her hair but it is also so painful. We would like to make this experience as painless as possible, right?? None of what happened in our childhood.

8. Don’t put tension on her scalp! Periodtt.

I feel like I shouldn’t be explaining this one. But I need to. Repeated pulling and tension can lead to hair loss – traction alopecia is real thing. Also, you don’t want to cause your little one such discomfort. Think of the headache you get when your hair is pulled too tight! So no! And this goes for any protective style, don’t put tension on the scalp/edges.

9. Let her sleep with a satin/silk scarf/bonnet.

It preserves the style for longer and helps retain moisture.

10. Moisturise often

Spray her hair with a moisturiser every day or every other day. I mix water, bit of leave-in conditioner and bit of olive oil for her. 

This is a great protective hairstyle for both child and adult alike. And once I get my hair out of these old twists (pray for me), I’m definitely going to install Benny and Betty.

Doing my lil’ girl’s hair brought back memories of my mom doing my hair when I was a child. She did this until I was about 10 years old when I insisted on a relaxer…😐 Story for another day. For now, please share below how you care for your little ones’ hair?