Hair Damage in Toddlers: Perms, Braids & Recovery

Question
My daughter is 20 months old. She does not have a bad grade of hair, she is still natural. However, my mom took it upon herself to put a kiddie perm on her edges and back because she felt it was to course...her hair has since came out. She later (against my wishes again) put braiding hair in her hair and braided it. It stayed up for about a week and when I took the braids down, to me it was damaged even more. At this point I don't know what to do. I have googled and been all over youtube. She is just a baby so I don't want to experiment too much with chemicals but I desperate because my child's hair is just about bald on the sides and in the back, its so badly damaged that it looks as if she has a nappy fade in the back. What can I do to help it grow back and yet still look pretty?

Answer
Hi,

She's not even two yet, shampoo, condition, treat gently and leave it alone. Small pony tails or clips are fine and help with control. As she grows her hair will too. The less you do to it, the healthier if will be. There is absolutely no reason to use a chemical product on a baby's hair. Treat it  like fragile curly hair, treat her scalp and that's it. It'll grow much quicker and better if you leave it alone.