Archived Forums

I do not know anything about thinning the hair, but managed to aviod my dds getting headlice by always sending them to school with either canerow or plaits and plenty of 'grease' (hair moisturising oil) the lice cannot get a grip so if they do venture on they slide right off

i do this already lol but the problem is the head lice problem is getting worse same children not getting there hair cleaned.this moring she has gone in slicked up in baby love lol with also tea tree spray on . it was a black friend who said about the thinning to be honest.we have six kids and hobbits hair is the thickest ive ever seen unless i tame in into twists/cornrow.thank you

If you do want to get this done see if you can find a hairdresser trained in Afro-Carribean hairdressing, as according to a visit I made many years ago, to a hairdressing college, there are a number of different techniquesat the time there was only one hairdresser specializing in this in our area, but I've noticed there are more nowadays, especially in towns/cities with BME populations.l

Have never heard of getting afro hair thinned before.As regards nits my younger DD who has afro hair has never had them at all, whereas elder DD who has wavy caucasian type hair has had them about 5 times (yeuck hate them!). They don't like an hair oil and like you I am so glad YDD has never had them as I don't know how I'd ever be able to comb them out.Hope you get an answer from someone more knowledgable than me.

i dont know about thinning either may be they meant relaxing it which has a thinning effectyou would need a good hairdresser who knew what could be used for childrenI had to do this with one of mine - I remember watching a whole film on tv while combing her hair becuase of nits onceas an adult she has lovely thick long hair which is still relaxed and people often think she has a weave and are impressed that it is her own hair Jet

thanks guys she is again slicked up and i have plaited all her hair compleately today.i am in a very bme area indeed in fact im in the inner city and we have lots and lots of afro hair stylists.have spoken to one today who did not recomend getting hair thinned at this age.but she is going to trim it for me and teach me a tighter corn row as im not brilliant at it.

Yeuch nits, b***** bliters.I drench my lot in a concoction of tea tree, neem, eucalyptus, lavender and rosemary oil. Found a recipe online. I agree though, my boys have more wavy hair and they still get them occasionally if I haven't had forewarning and oiled them up. Little Bogey has much tighter afro hair and so far so good, none seen, but fingers well and truly crossed!Hadn't heard of thinning, but I know from plaiting that the hair can become less tight and I suppose it stretches if it's in plaits for a while, making it easier to comb etc.

Moonstar could you post the hair recepie on here for us - Sounds really nice.

Sounds like you did get some good advice on the hair thinning. I have also found than lots of oil and keeping it plaited has worked for my daughter. She had head lice once in reception and in the end I just put the stuff on and combed through with normal afro comb as her hair wouldn't withstand those tiny toothed nitcombs. I just hoped that any dead ones would come out in the wash! Anyway, has never had them since ( touch wood! ). Parsnip my son used to get them all the time when he had short hair but now he is growing locks ( because he won't let me cut or comb his hair! ) and he doesn't seem to get them anymore. Mind you if he did I wouldn't be able to find them! If any have climbed on I expect they jumped straight off again at the first opportunity - surely it would feel like trekking through the rainforest for a head lice! Not worth the effort!

leekandpotato, your last sentence made me LOL!gimli, having natural thick hair (and now dreadlocks), i cdertainly would advise against getting your daughters hair relaxed at such a young age because of all the chemicals BUT, you can straight comb (also called hot comb) it to make it more manageable. Not on a daily basis mind! But perhaps once a fortnight or less often. Does go thick again after a while (week) or after you've washed it but certainly it'll help when you get a nit letter from school. We get that letter almost weekly but luckily my two have very european hair so easy to use with nit comb.I did hope and pray I didn't get nits but as none were found in their or their pa's hair, i didn't worry.A very late reply, I appreciate but i've only just come back to these boards :-(

Please don't try and thin afro hair or use any chemicals on it. Try and keep it natural as long as possible. There are plenty of black women who have gone bald from relaxing their hair to much and plenty of women who have painful childhood memories and many tears of their mums brushing the knots out of their hair and platting before bedtime. If in doubt take an outing to a good black hairdresser one weekend