My 21-month-old son, Mason, is absolutely terrified of hair cuts. He hates every bit of the process including a stranger wetting his hair, the scissors, and especially the clippers. We've taken him to children-only salons where they sit in cars, watch movies, and play with toys, and he screamed and writhed as I held him through the whole thing. The only saving grace here was that the stylist was experienced with wiggly kids, and did the cut in less than 5 minutes. We also took him to a regular barber and let him watch daddy get a haircut first. We brought a mini-DVD player with his favorite movie, and let daddy hold him, but again he screamed and cried so hard I thought his little heart would stop. I don't want a scraggly child with moppy hair, so not cutting it is not really an option (Ryder Hudson, anyone??). I'm thinking I should learn to do it at home, but the few times I've stealthily tried to do minor bang or sideburn cuts, he hears the faint "swish" of the scissors, pulls away, and gives me the evil eye "I know what you're up to, mommy" look. I'm not as experienced to feel safe with the scissors near his face when he's moving around and pulling away, and the clippers are seriously not an option.
Has anyone figured out a way to assuage haircut fears? What did you do? I absolutely hate putting him through it, and would dress up like a clown if I had to to make it easier on him. :) Any advice? Thank you!!
Hi K.,
M&M's were my saving grace for haircuts. It was still wiggly and tough, but we got a decent haircut out of it. I stood next to my kids and feed them one m&m at a time...
Good luck!
I give my girls lollipops and sit them in front of their favorite TV/movie. They only get the lollipop when they are at least trying to sit still. I made the mistake of forcing a haircut on my oldest when she was about 22 months, and it was a disaster. She cried. I cried. Not good. Thus the sugar bribe. It really works for them. Good luck.
I cut my boys hair myself just from watching the video that comes with the clippers. Pretty simple...
but how about letting him use the clippers himself on an old stuffed animal. Then he can let the "animal" cut his hair, and he gets candy AND a movie while it's done?! Lots of fears are from mis-understanding, so if he can see and touch it, maybe it would help.
My son isn't afraid of haircuts (he's actually brought me the clippers before!) but he doesn't sit still (at 20-odd months, what child would?). I've tried cutting his hair while he's asleep, but it always woke him up. Now, I just do it in bits and pieces, and make sure we're not going anywhere for a few days. I let him stand in the bathroom and play with a toy or some toilet paper, or sometimes the extra pieces to the haircutting set (but nothing dangerous), and do as much as I can, even if it's only a couple snips or swipes with the clippers. When he gets tired of it or starts fussing, we stop, and we'll go back to it later. Sometimes leaving the clippers/scissors on the bathroom counter helps, so he can see them and get used to them.
I've also done touch-up haircuts while my son is in the bath, and my mother-in-law said she used to cut all of her boys' hair while they were eating.
Hope this helps!
I'm sure he will outgrow this pretty soon, but in the meantime you could try to do it yourself. I've cut my and my family's hair their whole lives and I have no formal training (you might look at my hair and say, "I guess not.") It doesn't have to be perfect at that age. I used to cut my oldest son's hair while he was sleeping.
The other thing to try is bribery. He may need to be a little older. If there is a toy or something he wants tell him you'll get it for him after the haircut.
Hi K.,
I can understand what your going through. My son hates getting his haircut too. For a while I ended up cutting it myself when he was asleep-- I wrapped him in a blanket-- swaddled him and cut it when he was totally asleep. Also, recently I have had progress with getting a really soft sounding clipper and just giving him a haircut myself. I put him in his highchair in the bathroom and give him a toy he normally doesn't get to play with or something new. I put music on and sing to him while I cut his hair--- it makes things a lot easier-- good luck and I hope this helps.
Molly
M&Ms worked for us too! My older daughter was a nightmare getting haircuts at that age! So I would stand or kneel right in front of her and feed her one at a time continuously. She'd be on a huge sugar rush by the time her haircut was over (she has a lot of hair) but it was worth it since it mostly kept her from fussing.
The other thing you have on your side is time. Eventually they decide that haircuts aren't so bad and they stop with the screaming. This same child (now 5.5) loves to go for her "day of beauty" and will ask the stylist for an updo once the haircut is done and THEN wants me to get a manicure for her too! Who knew that this high-maintenance diva would arise from the writhing, screaming toddler of 3 years ago??
