Hi everyone, I hope you are all keeping well. Ever since the arrival of our little boy I have been wanting to share with you a blog on how to care for your curls after the arrival of your baby. I know for me the postpartum period was quite a shock. I always assumed that once baby arrived, they would nap in their cot giving me time to wash my curls, pack orders, write newsletters and sit down and have a cup of tea. Well, I was certainly in for a wake-up call – haha. Our little bundle did not want to be put down, he only wanted to be on his mama and it wasn’t until he was nearly 4 weeks old that I read about the fourth trimester and I realised that actually, it is quite normal for babies not to want to be put down, to always want to be held and it can be absolutely normal for some babies to only want to nap on their mama and not in the cot. Although reading about this helped normalised the behaviour for me, it still didn’t really help me how to fit in time for me.
Our labour
The birth of my little boy was not an easy one- 2 weeks late, induction, another 2/3 days waiting around the hospital (I wasn’t allowed home due to reduced movements), followed by another 2 days of waiting for our little boy on the labour ward, which finally ended in an emergency caesarean due to his little heart rate dropping so much. It is safe to say, after that I was absolutely exhausted and once I got home, another 2 days later due to my platelets levels being so low I was so ready to get in to the shower and get my self and my curls washed! However, one thing I learnt very quickly was that, when detangling our curls, we use our stomach muscles a lot! This meant I had to some how be super gentle, but super quick in the shower! So to help speed up my routine I used the following tips.
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Tips for a quick wash day
- If you have a lot of curls that are hard to detangle, especially after shampoo-ing, co- wash your curls before the shampoo stage. This really helps to cut down on how dry your curls can feel after the shampoo. I used the BY SELINA Curl Cleanser & Conditioner, followed by the Scalp & Curl Cleansing Shampoo.
- I then used the Conditioning Curl Detangler to condition and detangle. This conditioner is super thick and has lots of detangling ingredients so it makes the process quick and easy – you don’t have to use your stomach muscles as much!
- In the first week or two I would often just leave a small amount of the detangler in my curls and leave my curls to air dry or diffuse them slightly. Some days I would scrunch just a small amount of the Defining Curl Gel into my curls and go sit on the sofa and feed – (I didn’t leave the house for the first 6 weeks).
- I have also put together my favorite products that I use in this New Mama Bundle here New Mama Bundle – By Selina
One thing I did find useful which in my haze took a couple weeks for me to figure out, was once the little man had fed and I could see he was sleepy, I would bring the Moses basket into the bathroom with me, leave the door open so it didn’t get too hot for the little man, lay him in the Moses basket and he would often drift off to sleep at the sound of the shower (sometimes this worked, other times not so well). The sleep would usually only last about 20 minutes but it was enough time for me to wash my curls. I just didn’t worry to much about styling in the early days.
Fast forward to around 6/8 weeks and I would often style my curls. This would mean getting in the shower straight after a feed or waking up at 5am – before the little guy woke up so that I had sometime to get in the shower and style my curls. I would keep the routine super quick, after showering, wrap my curls in a t-shirt to soak up most of the water, then just a quick brush, scrunch in the Defining Curl Gel and then diffuse or air dry. I would then often put the little man in the sling and do my make-up. The sling was honestly a lifesaver once I got to grips with how to use it! We used the Ergobaby Omni Breeze Baby Carrier: Olive Green | Ergobaby, honestly one of the most used baby items when you need some free hands.
Products to help increase hair volume
One thing I have noticed with my curls post pregnancy is that I have a lot more volume and more curls than pre-pregnancy. At first I thought it was just my hormones but it wasn’t until my curly cut with Claire, that Claire said maybe it is the Restorative Protein Drops – and you know, I think she is right! The Restorative Protein Drops are formulated with ingredients that are specific for curly hair – proteins such as Hydrolysed Baobab, rice, wheat and quinoa all help to increase volume, increase shine and help reduced split ends. Pair this with the Strengthening Curl Cream and you are on to a winner. The Strengthening Curl Cream contains Hydrolysed Lupine extract which is amazing for volume and also helps to strengthen the curls and aid in curl definition. You can even see in Marisa video here how much volume her curls after a BY SELINA wash day Plastic Free, Vegan, Sustainable Curly Hair Products?? By Selina full review and tutorial – YouTube
Final thoughts
I really hope the above tips help out but above all, I would say don’t worry about your curls, but I think it is so important as mums to find what makes us feel happy and confident. If that is putting on some make-up and doing your curls, then do it! We deserve to feel happy and confident even if we are just sat down feeding all day, treat yourself to some curl care, we deserve it 😊
