Natural Braided Ethnic / Black Child Hairstyles for Little and Big Girls Using Beads

As I stated in a previous hub article, I have kept my hair natural for decades now. And my ten year old daughter also has natural hair. At times, it is a challenge because there are kids in her school who tell her she should have her hair straightened or relaxed.

I try to do special hairstyles so my daughter can wear her natural hair with confidence. My oldest daughter is 26. I wish I had taken more time to find attractive hairstyles for her. She could not wait to get her hair chemically relaxed. I allowed her to get her hair relaxed when she was 14. A friend of mine offered to pay for her to have it done and I reluctantly agreed. After a while I helped her grow the relaxer out because it was too expensive for me to maintain. But once she started working, her number one priority was her hair.

When she was about 24, she noticed her hair was thinning. She let more time pass between each chemical treatment. She started wearing braids and wigs. Thin hair runs in our family. I tried explaining this before her hair thinned but of course, (as my mom says) a hard head makes a soft behind. So now at 26, she has gone completely natural.

The good thing is my youngest daughter, now 10, has seen what happened to her big sister and is determined to wear her hair natural. It is a lot of work but well worth it. Occasionally, I do put in braid extensions but at this point I don't want her to rely on them.

My daughter tends to have a dry, itchy scalp so I often use Sulfur 8 on her scalp. For washing and conditioning, I like the Tresemme products. After washing, I use African oil and a Lavender & Jojoba hair butter a friend of mine makes. I also use coconut oil and all natural shea butter. I don't use all of these oils and butters at the same time. I choose what I will use based on the weather, the style and what her activities may be for the week. In winter, I tend to use the heavier oil products. If it is summer, I just use a light oil in her hair.

The pictures shown here are of different styles on my daughter and my granddaughter. I like putting the beads in not only as a fashion statement but also it tends to help protect the ends from breakage and drying out.

My granddaughter was only 4 when the picture below was taken. Because she was so young, I chose a style using large braids so she would not have to sit too long. She tends to have thin edges, another family trait, so I left her edges out. Also, using the larger braids causes less stress and pulling on the hair. When braiding, I always resist the urge to catch up the tiny hairline strands. It does look neater but in the long run, this can cause the hairline to recede.

The style below shown on my daughter was a more elegant look because she was going to be in a fashion show. It looked great with her elegant wear but also playful when she modeled casual clothing with some sparkles.

That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9