Four Months

We have been loc'ing for four months now and things are still progressing well. I had intended to take a couple pictures at mid-month to show you what his hair looked like between latchings and to show the amount of new growth. I'll try to remember to do this next month.

I noticed a few more buds this time and the ends of each plait are more or less sealed. Our routine is the same: shampoo without conditioner every two week. Daily moisturizing with the vegan oil. I am so in love with how soft and cushy his hair is; I play in his hair every chance I get; it's a wonder one or more of those plaits haven't fallen off!

I'm the only one of us who is impressed though. His goal is for these plaits to get long enough and heavy enough to shake. Until then, it's just mommy playing around.

Three months

Today was wash and latch day. Our little babies are growing nicely. I noticed a couple more buds, so I know the loc process is well underway.

My biggest challenge now is keeping lint and dog hair out of his locs. My child is all boy and I guess somewhere in his mind, why sit in a chair, when I can roll all over the floor? There are times when he has more red hair in his head (we have a red dachsund, weenie dog) that his own black locs.

Some is inevitable, I know, but I'm trying to minimize. He has been sleeping in a stocking cap at night, but I think this is drying his hair, and it doesn't really protect well against lint. I think I will pick up a satin sleeping cap and see if that works better. If anyone has any other suggestions, feel free to leave it in the comments.

Have a great weekend.

Budding

I am so excited. I washed my son's hair this past weekend, and latched a few of the more loose ones, admiring how quickly his hair grows. So, as I petted and loved on each loc, I realized that the first budding had taken place!

I believe I mentioned in the previous post that his ends had stopped unraveling; I was already excited to reach that milestone, but this past weekend, I noticed that there are 5 or 6 of his little babies that had clearly entered the loc'ing process!

So, while I was oohing and ahhing over the buds, my son's only question was and still is,

"Can I shake them yet?"

"Nah, not yet, babe. But we're getting there!"

Two months

Not much of an update. I am following the routine of washing every two weeks with diluted Bronner's Castile shampoo and latching once a month. My skills with the latch hook are improving and it only took probably an hour to complete his whole head.

I rub his hair daily with our vegan oil mentioned in the previous post, and wrap it in a stocking cap at night to minimize collecting lint and to keep the plaits laying flat. That's pretty much our routine.


The hair is not yet loc'd, but the ends have stopped unravelling, so hopefully we'll start to see buds soon.

One Month

We are one month of the loc'ing process and we are still both pretty excited about the process. I had thought that given my 7 year old's tendency to change his mind the way he changes channels on the tv that this journey would've ended about 3 weeks ago. But I've come to understand that this decision was not a whim for him. He has two people in mind that we have known awhile, both with locs. I had not realized the impression that was made on my son. He is looking forward to his hair growing as long as Mr. ____ and our teen friend, I'll call him Isaiah.

So, today, I washed his hair again. I diluted Bronner's Hemp Almond Castille soap with equal parts of water. It is all natural, no detergents, and provides a very gentle but thorough cleanse. I also covered his hair with a stocking cap and washed through the cap in order to avoid disturbing the little baby plaits.

Once the hair was clean, I lightly rubbed it with an oil that I found at Whole Foods Market. It's called Sensuous by Hugo Naturals. It is a vegan blend of sweet almond oil, jojoba oil, vitamin E, glycerin and essential oils of Patchouli and Sandlewood. His hair really loves this oil and it softens as well as provides a nice sheen.

Then, I latched his hair for the first time. He had a little more than 1/4 inch of new growth, but it was enough to allow the latching tool easy entry. I stumbled through the first couple and he complained that I was pulling "too hard", but I eventually figured it out and his whole head took less than an hour to do.

I'm proud of the results of the results of my research and of my first attempts at latching. And I'm really proud that it looks like I'll be able to maintain his hair myself without going to a salon. The prices that some shops charge should be criminal!!

Updates

We are approaching one month into this loc process. His hair is growing on and strong. I have washed it using a stocking cap so as to avoid messing up the little plaits. I re-plaited a couple of them; I think what I will let his hair grow a little more because I'm having trouble latching, both with the finger latching or with the hook. It's growing but because of it's length, hair is coming out of the plaits. I know a certain amount of fuzziness is to be expected especially in the beginning of the loc'ing process, but he was pulling the hair out of the plaits.

I am planning to re-do at least once more and then let nature take it course. Will be back with pictures.

Finger latching and palm rolling

Both of these videos demonstrate maintanence strategies for mature locs. We, of course are not here yet, but aren't these kids the cutest!!