Micro Locks | I’m rooting for Toddlers and Kids with dreadlocks, Here’s Why

When I was in middle school the coolest most popular girl with the best grades was a girl named Elisheba, she was the fastest girl on, the track team and the teachers’ pet. I was obsessed with here endless hairstyles ponytails that swang, as she walked, swooped updos held in place with jewel incrusted pins and the holy grail a center part with her deep brown tresses effortlessly framing her face and cascading down her shoulders. She had enviable dimples, flawless mahogany-colored skin, and waist-length freeform locks. Parent-teacher conference I caught a glimpse of her mother and knew in an instant my ideal form of beauty was set. Elisheba’s mom had started her dreadlocks as a toddler, as she had with all of her kids.

With all the news in the media about school bans and athletic discrimination. I’ve come face to face with how lucky I was to have idolized my classmate two decades ago. While everyone is having to draw a hard line in the sand and pick a side when it comes to their opinion on kids with dreadlocks, my mind has long since been made up. I always knew I was going to have a dreadlocked family, every one of my ex-boyfriends and they parted ways with a broken heart and a new set of dreadlocks. My husband too started his locks when we got pregnant.

why I locked my toddler’s hair when I did

As I expected my daughter came out with a head full of hair as the months progressed she developed a really cute natural hairstyle as all the hair on the sides and the back lightened and her perfect coils began to engulf the top section. Growing in, in the most luscious tight coils. I spent hours dreaming up hairstyles for that tiny patch of hair. but then all her hair started growing in and I quickly got overwhelmed.

I was in Thailand with my two-year-old attempting to wash her hair alone in a hotel bathroom, the sounds of her shrieks of horror filled the establishment for what felt like hours, she screamed I cried and we both looked at each other with pain in our eyes. The experience bought up dormant memories from my childhood of weekly washes that went much like this on my forever tender-headed scalp. Looking at my daughter I couldn’t wrap my head around how she could truly love me if I was committed to regularly torturing her, for the sake of vanity. Better yet I couldn’t wrap my mind around being the reason she surmised that pain is love. A week later I was in Vietnam starting her micro lock journey.

How to maintain toddlers and kids dreadlocks

Interlocking dreadlocks is the best method for people with an active lifestyle, and no one is busier than kids and toddlers at play. We try to limit my daughters’ screen time so, I use television as an incentive for a long retightening. She watches TV

Interlocking | I maintain my own Micro Locks by interlocking for the same reasons you should maintain kids’ dreadlocks with this method. They stay neater longer and don’t require the stress, on hair caused by maintaining the intricate styles necessary to keep up with palm rolling.

Palm rolling | Rolling the locks in your hand and fastening with tension to maintain.

Products for kids dreadlocks

Micro lock tool | I’ve had every tool known to man and tried everything. this tool is an all-in-one tool but also the ultimate locking tool for any type of locks. They’re hard to find on the internet but you can find them here or here.

Bonnet | These bonnets are lovingly crafted by a WOC and a mom in her home and are the most aesthetically pleasing I’ve found. She can accommodate custom orders for sizes. I put my daughters on for long car rides, or under her hat in the winter. Bonnets are also great for kids with dreadlocks who like to roughhouse, my brother has full out pillow fights with my daughter and I always put on her bonnet when she is there so that her hair is protected as they drag each other across carpets and cats.

Leave in conditioner | conditioner is counterproductive to the actual locking process, however, because I chose to do micro locks on my toddler they behave a lot like free hair so they require detangling.

Oil Sheen | I don’t know where this has been all my life but the stuff in this little bottle is what shiny curl dreams are made of

What to avoid when installing toddlers and kids dreadlocks

Making dreadlocks too tiny | I’m guilty of this and my daughter has lost a few locks because of it. Smaller locks mean more volume however too tiny and they require more frequent retightening and are prone to breakage. full disclosure I’ve lost about 30 of my child’s locks this way.

Retightening dreadlocks too often/not often enough | every head of hair is different, but kids’ hair is going to get messy, let it. Don’t overstress the hair by manipulating dreadlocks on your toddler’s head too often

Locking too much too soon |If you are locking a toddler’s hair like I did be mindful of their edges. Kids’ baby hair is fine and normally has a looser texture than the rest of their hair and often won’t work well with the weight of dreadlocks. Try to refrain from retightening (or perhaps even locking as I did) as you can possibly do permanent damage to the hairline as well as above the ears and parallel to the temples)

“Wait until your kids choose dreadlocks”

I’ve never had a perm, with my loose natural hair, I grew up with “options.” looking back all those options emulated in earnest what came naturally to Elisheba. I had too much hair to manage on my own, so I was always at the mercy of more skilled hands. At 18 after nearly two decades of my mother paying for hair braiders, deep conditioners, and special occasion presses I went into the bathroom and chopped off all my mid-back length unprocessed uncolored virgin healthy hair. My mother wept.

One day my child might choose to cut all of her hair off, that’s ok. The year spent frequently barbershops was the most freeing, I felt the most feminine. All of her cousins in Benin have cropped coils, male and female alike. The length of her hair will not define her, if she decides to cut it off and start over, so be it. I’ll cry for the time I spent doing it, but I would have spent that time in her hair regardless of the style she wore. It’s my responsibility to choose

I think little brown girls with tight curls miss out on a heap of experiences in an effort to not mess up their hair. I remember pools I never jumped into and games I never joined in, just to prolong a hairstyle. I’m gifting my child dreadlocks as an opportunity to experience everything life has to offer.

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