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If you’re wondering how to style baby girl hair — especially with cowlicks or super fine strands — you’re not alone. I went through this phase with my daughter and quickly learned that baby hair has a mind of its own.

In this post, I’m sharing the simple tools and styling tricks that actually helped tame her wild strands, plus a few affordable accessories that stayed in (and didn’t hurt her head). Whether you’re prepping for photos or just trying to keep hair out of her face, these tips should help.

As kids get older, hair care eventually becomes one more thing they can start learning to manage themselves. I recently shared some of the personal care skills kids can learn to do independently, including brushing and styling their own hair.

* This post includes Affiliate Links.

Shop My Favorite Baby Girl Hair Styling Tools & Accessories

I’ve gathered our favorite clips, tiny hair ties, brushes, headbands, and styling tools in one Baby & Little Girl Hair Essentials list on Amazon, including several of the exact products we used for her fine hair and cowlicks.

What Is A Cowlick?

If you’re not familiar with a cowlick, it’s like a tiny swirl of hair that grows in a different direction than the rest — kind of like a mini hair tornado. It creates a patch of hair that refuses to lay flat and often sticks up or to the side no matter what you do.

Cowlicks usually show up at the crown of the head, but they can also appear near the forehead or neck. They’re completely normal and can’t really be “fixed” — only managed. Thankfully, most children’s cowlicks settle down or become easier to style as their hair grows in and thickens.

Are Baby Cowlicks Genetic?

My husband and I both have cowlicks, so it’s no surprise our kids inherited them too. For our son, the fix is simple: frequent, short haircuts. When we see that swirl of hair sticking straight up, it’s our sign that it’s time for a trim.

But for us moms (and our daughters), it’s not always that easy. I usually part my hair around mine, but with my daughter’s soft baby hair, styling has been much trickier — especially now that it falls into her eyes.

Dealing With a Baby Cowlick Every Morning

When her hair is damp, I can brush it into place easily — but the second it dries, that cowlick takes over. Every morning, she wakes up with hair all over her face and static flyaways popping out in every direction. It’s kind of hilarious… but also chaotic!

I’ve found myself patting her hair down with water daily just to keep it manageable. Her short baby hair won’t part down the middle or grow backward, so I’ve been going with a side part and securing it with a small clip at the front.

That worked for a while, but as her hair grew, styling got harder — so I started experimenting with fun, creative little styles to keep it out of her eyes and keep us both sane.

How to Manage or Tame A Baby Girl’s Cowlick

When it comes to managing baby cowlicks, there are really two basic options: frequent short trims or letting the hair grow long enough to weigh it down naturally.

With our son, we stuck to the haircut route — easy and effective. As soon as a few strands start sticking straight up, we know it’s time for a trim. But for our daughter, short cuts weren’t our style of choice, so we had to get more creative.

What worked best for us was styling her hair while it was damp, then using clips, ties, or a headband to hold it in place as it dried.

Cutting bangs won’t redirect the hair growth, and contrary to popular belief, shaving a baby’s head doesn’t make their hair grow in thicker.

How To Style Baby Girl Hair With a Cowlick

Styling baby girl hair with a wild double cowlick can be tricky — especially during those in-between hair growth phases.

For a while, a simple hair clip or tiny ponytail did the trick. But as her hair started growing toward her forehead, I had to get creative with ways to style and redirect it — without causing discomfort.

Our solutions have been a little unconventional (and definitely asymmetrical), but we found what works. Wetting and combing the hair is always our first step. I love using a continuous mist spray bottle to gently dampen and tame flyaways.

Some of our go-to baby hairstyles include: side pigtails, half-ponytails with a headband, segmented ponies with clips, and of course, the ever-popular “palm-tree” ponytail right on top of her head.

It’s actually become one of our favorite bonding moments — trying out new silly (and surprisingly cute) hairstyles together.

What Worked Best for Us by Hair Stage

Very short/fine baby hair: water mister + tiny alligator clips
Long enough for a tiny ponytail: mini elastics + clips
Fine hair getting longer: Wet Brush/Tangle Teezer + detangling spray
Longer toddler/girl hair: headbands, scrunchies + larger clips

Our Favorite Baby Hair Styling Tools

These are the items we’ve used and loved for taming our daughter’s cowlick and creating quick, pain-free styles:

Combs & Brushes

• Baby Comb & Brush (Minnie Mouse)
• Wet Brush or Tangle Teezer (for fuller/longer hair)

Styling Essentials

• Continuous Water Mister — my easiest trick for morning cowlicks. A little water made her hair much easier to redirect before adding clips or elastics.
• Tubby Todd Shampoo
• Detangling Spray
• Hair Dryer with Retractable Cord (after her hair was longer, we blow dried to prevent ear infections)

Hair Accessories

• Baby Alligator Hair Clips — probably the item we used most during the fine-hair stage because they could grab tiny sections of hair without needing a full ponytail.
• Decorative Hand-Made Felt Hairclips
• Claw Clips with silicone grip
• Soft Mini Hair Scrunchies
• Mini Elastic Hair Ties — great for those tiny “palm tree” ponytails and segmented styles when there isn’t enough hair for a regular elastic.
• Baby Headbands
• Toddler/Girls Headbands (Target and Claire’s have great ones too)

Every baby’s hair journey is different, but with a little patience and the right tools, you can make even the wildest cowlicks manageable — and fun to style. Got your own baby hair hacks or go-to products? Let me know in the comments below!

What Happens As They Grow

A few years later, my daughter now has beautiful, silky hair that no longer grows straight toward her forehead. The double cowlick is still there (it always will be!), and it’s still tough to part her hair down the middle or keep the front section back unless it’s wet. But as I’ve learned, everyone’s hair speaks its own language — and with a little patience, you can work with it instead of against it.

These days, we still rely on headbands and clips, but styling her hair has become so much easier — and more fun. Braids, ponytails, half-up styles, and creative combinations are now our go-to. As she’s gotten older, hair care has also become one of the personal care skills she’s learning to handle more independently, from brushing and detangling to trying simple styles herself.

She’s even become a bit of a local style icon, rocking her signature headbands, dinosaur hair clip, and sunglasses everywhere she goes.

Learning to manage their own hair is really just one of those little responsibilities that slowly shifts from us to them. It’s something I’ve been thinking about more lately—how independence starts much earlier than we realize, with all those tiny things kids insist on trying for themselves.

Need the Hair Tools in One Place?
You can find all of our favorite clips, hair ties, brushes, headbands, and styling essentials in my Baby & Little Girl Hair Essentials list on Amazon.

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