At a year and a half old, my daughter’s hair has been growing from the back of her cowlick at her crown all the way to her eyes, making it a little difficult to manage. For us so far, it’s been quite the battle to figure out how to style baby girl hair.
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What Is A Cowlick?
If you’re not familiar with a cowlick, it’s like a hurricane swirl that directs hair in different directions. It’s a chunk of hair that has a life of its own.
They are usually on the crown of one’s scalp, although sometimes on the forehead or back of the neck. They cannot be removed, only somewhat managed. Children’s cowlicks are said to mature on their own.
Baby Cowlicks Are Genetic
My husband and I both have them and our kids seem to have picked up on our genetics. For boys, frequent and short haircuts short seem to be the solution.
But for us ladies, it can be a bit more labor-intensive. I part my hair around it but for our daughter, who’s still got baby hair, it’s a little more difficult especially now that it’s in her eyes.
Battling the Baby Cowlick
While wet, a baby cowlick is easy to manage and brush to the sides. But the moment that short baby hair dries, it flops forward.
When my girl wakes up in the morning her hair is a mess. Not only is it completely covering her eyes but it’s full of static with flyaways at the top. It’s so funny! I have to pat her hair down with water every morning just to manage it a little.
Styling my girl’s short baby hair was is a challenge. Her hair refuses to grow backward or stay parted in the center so I part it to the side and have been using a hair clip at the front.
For some time, the best hair style solution for us was to do the side part. But as my girl’s short hair started to grow, styling became more difficult. So I’ve been trying to get creative and silly with the hair do’s.
How to Manage or Tame A Baby Cowlick
When trying to manage or tame baby cowlicks there are two options: frequent and short haircuts or growing it out to weigh it down.
For our son, our solution for taming his cowlick was much easier and successful: frequent short haircuts. In fact, when he has a few hairs sticking straight up at the cowlick we know it’s time for a haircut. But for our daughter, keeping her hair very short is not an option.
Hair experts advise managing wild baby hair by massaging the area. They also say that the best way to redirect the hair is to keep directing it by force with ponytails, pigtails, hair clips, whatever works! Cutting bangs will not help in redirecting the baby’s hair growth and there is no proof that shaving a baby’s head will allow thicker hair to grow.
Other suggested options for wild infant hair taming include the use of hairspray, pomades, and other hair products to “tease” the area.
How To Style Baby Girl Hair With Cowlick
Trying to figure out how to style baby girl hair with a wild double cowlick has proven itself to be tricky during the hair growth process.
For a few months, a simple hair clip or hair tie did the trick. But as her hair is trying to grow, and it’s growing toward her forehead, I have to be patient and find ways to style her short hair and redirect it.
Styles that have worked for us at this stage of hair growth have been a little unconventional and definitely asymmetrical. Wetting and combing the hair to style it is always helpful.
Our favorite baby hairstyles include pigtails, half-ponytails with a headband or multiple hair clips, segmented ponytails with hair clips, and the ever-popular ‘palm-tree’ pony.
It’s been a lot of fun getting creative with silly hairstyles for our little girl.
These are some of our favorite styling tools:
- Baby Comb & Brush (Minnie Mouse)
- Wet Brush or Tangle Teezer (for fuller/longer hair)
- Continuous Water Mister
- Tubby Todd Shampoo
- Detangling Spray
- Baby Alligator Hairclips
- Decorative Hand-Made Felt Hairclips
- Claw Clips with silicone grip
- Soft Mini Hair Scrunchies
- Elastic Hair Ties (for tiny sections)
- Baby Headbands
- Toddler/Girls Headbands (Target and Claire’s have great ones too)
- Hair Dryer with Retractable Cord (after her hair was longer, we blow dried to prevent ear infections)
Check out our Baby Girl Hair Styling Ideas
Update: A Few Years Later
A few years have passed and my daughter now has beautiful long silky hair that doesn’t grow directly toward her forehead. The double cowlick is still there (it always will be) and it’s still difficult to part her hair down the middle or hold the center section back unless it’s wet. Everyone’s hair speaks its own language, we just have to be patient and go with its flow.
Her hair still ends up all over her face unless we hold it back but styling her hair is a lot easier now. Headbands, braids, half-ponytails, ponytails, and a combination became easier and are our styling best solutions.
She’s even recognized around town for styling in her varied collection of headbands, dinosaur hair clip, and sunglasses these days.
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My name is Paula and I’m a mom of two scrumptious cuties. Thanks Mommy Blog became a project for me to help guide other new moms and current moms through any of my own personal experiences and struggles. My hobbies include singing, doing jigsaw puzzles, baking, designing and trying to stay creative.
Baby hair is hard to style. My son has a cowlick right in the crown of his head that I can never get to lay down. Cute article your little girl is adorable.
It may be difficult to manage, but it sure is cute!
This is totally fine, Laia is two, my daughter and she is just growing her baby hair. Just let it groooooow 🙂
I adore her baby hair! And that comparison to Boo is too cute!
She is so adorable. Neither of my daughters had any hair, and it grew very slowly when they were babies. So I would get all sort of weird advice from people on what to do. I simply had fun with it like you are doing with your daughters, some bows… Read more »