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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Baby in hairdressers

73 replies

thefruitwhisperer · 01/03/2011 10:29

Im being unreasonable Im sure, but hes new Im only just learning where is and is not appropriate to take a baby!

Hes well behaved and I purposely booked a time when he has his nap. But when I asked they said I cant take him in with me

Is that normal or are they just being mean?! Ive seen babies in salons before!

OP posts:

worraliberty · 01/03/2011 10:50

It's all the hairspray and tiny particles of hair that would bother me to be honest.

upahill · 01/03/2011 10:53

I would never have dreamed of taking my children to the hairdressers when they were babies.

For a while I had no babysitter so I had a mobile one until I could get sorted.(turned out to be hell of a lot cheaper and no difference to the salon)

Hammy02 · 01/03/2011 10:55

For some people, a trip to the hairdresser is a break, a bit of a pamper. Perhaps the hairdresser manager doesn't want to risk spoiling the quiet atmosphere?

TattyDevine · 01/03/2011 10:56

Ooh no, haidresser is child-free time. I can imagine I'd groan out loud if I went in for a nice bit of pampering and there was a screecher. I'm sure your's isn't though OP but once you are there its hard for them to turf you out if he turns out to be Chucky's Nemesis.

Depends a bit on the salon really I suppose.

diddl · 01/03/2011 10:56

I´ve always loathed the hairdressers as it made me wheezy.

Wouldn´t have wanted to subject a baby to that.

I used a mobile one.

prettymuchapixiegirl · 01/03/2011 10:58

I have taken my kids to the hairdressers loads of times, both when I've had my hair cut and they've had theirs cut.

If a salon tried to dictate to me about taking my baby there I would take my custom elsewhere.

Eglu · 01/03/2011 11:00

I've always taken my DC to the hairdresser with me from being very small. I didn't have a choice, I had nobody else to look after them. It has never been a problem. It wouldn't have occurred to me to ask if it was okay.

DS2 is now 3 and still goes with me. He plays with his toy cars etc.

vmcd28 · 01/03/2011 11:01

I was shocked when I read your post - I took ds1 every month when he was a baby. There was always one of the staff begging to push the pram around!
Now we use a mobile hairdresser. Is much cheaper and quicker, and you have a glass of wine too :)

InPraiseOfBacchus · 01/03/2011 11:03

YABU, getting your hair cut is a nice, relaxing, adult thing to do, and I'd be gutted if I turned up all excited about my hair appointment and there was a baby there, like a timebomb waiting to scream! I'd be worried all the noise, chatter, and hairdryers would upset the baby, too.

This works both ways as well, since you probably deserve a treat like getting your hair done, and wouldn't it be nice to incorporate a bit of a break?

sungirltan · 01/03/2011 11:11

yanbu - i don't see the issue. BUT i had my hair done lately (dd was at home with dh) and a mum i know from various baby activities came in. she was having her nails done (those acrylic extensions which taqke a bit of time). her baby cried on and off throughout but she had her back to her but just offered her things to try and keep her quiet. after a while her dd got really upset but i suppose the mum was sort of trapped with half her nails done. i found this quite upsetting as i feel guilty about leaving my own dd to get hair etc done (i dunno why - she was only with dh but hormones etc!). i was on the brink of intervening because the dd was really crying but quick as a flash one of the beaty trainee girls swooped in and scooped up the baby, whisked off her snow suit (might have been why she was so fed up) and sat next to the mum with the baby on her lap and had a good coo/tickle with the baby. Obviously it was all ok in the end but based on this experience i can kind of understand about salons saying no.

SeeJaneKick · 01/03/2011 20:35

Some people don't like it...they see a hairdo as a time to relax etc and salons wont risk it...but usually you won't find that attitude in heaper salons.

It annoys me tbh. I hate this lack of sociability in the UK. In other cultures hairdressng salons are lively places...in Hackney where I used to live therewas one salon catering to Africans and it looked like a bloody party in there. Every night there'd be all these women and little kids...and they'd be eating, getting their hair done...laughing and hving a glass of wine...I used to walk past and wish I could join in!

I couldn't though...they specialised in afro hair and adding extensions.

vmcd28 · 02/03/2011 09:25

A hairdresser not allowing babies?! So new mums aren't allowed to have their hair cut?!

SeeJaneKick · 02/03/2011 09:35

No they're not vmcd! At least not in the snooty salons!

squeakytoy · 02/03/2011 09:39

They are hair salons, not mother and baby groups, or a creche. :)

PlasticLentilWeaver · 02/03/2011 09:44

It's never occurred to me that a hairdresser might be an inappropriate place to take a baby

Wheezing? Its not like the baby is in there all day.

I'd go elsewhere if a hairdresser reckoned they were too up themselves to allow babies in.

systemsaddict · 02/03/2011 09:54

I had my hair cut when I was v. pregnant and my hairdresser made me promise to bring the baby in to meet them!

solooovely · 02/03/2011 10:07

I wouldn't take my baby in there because of them inhaling the chemical smells anyway.

diddl · 02/03/2011 10:17

"Wheezing? Its not like the baby is in there all day."

Well it used to make me wheeze just in the time it took for a haircut, so for that reason it wouldn´t occur to me to take a baby there.

Hammy02 · 02/03/2011 10:20

"New mums aren't allowed to get their hair cut"? You aren't surgically attached to the baby FGS.

sparkle12mar08 · 02/03/2011 10:34

You are if there's no one else to help you. Not all of us have family you know, or friends available at the drop of a hat. Some of us have to do it by ourselves.

PuzzleRocks · 02/03/2011 10:38

My hairdressers is always full of children but then it is nappy valley round that way. The staff are fab with all ages and do their best to keep them fed, watered and entertained. It is a fairly expensive place though.

aPixieMomma · 02/03/2011 10:39

Just got mine done by a mobile hairdresser.

She was really nice when I explained about EBF 5month old and booked me in for the whole afternoon so I could feed him if needs be.

All worked well, and my hair looks lovely by the way

I would agree with other posters about the chemicals etc in salons though.

BootyMum · 02/03/2011 10:41

YANBU. I always take DS to my hairdresser - since he was a couple of weeks old and he is now nearly 2.

I just treat it as if it is my responsibility to keep him amused and peaceful so i take plenty of books, toys and snacks. And then when my highlights are cooking I take him on a walk through the salon and we watch the cars through the window, etc.

I also go on a Monday or Tuesday when salon is relatively quiet. And it isn't a high end salon, more middle of the road. The hair stylists are lovely and very down to earth. They seem very happy to have DS there and actually come over to talk to him or play with him. Perhaps this is easier for them to do as not such a busy time?

worraliberty · 02/03/2011 10:41

A baby doesn't have to be in there all day to have the chemicals, hairsprays and tiny fragments of hair get on their lungs.

midori1999 · 02/03/2011 12:08

YANBU.

I am a hairdresser although don't work as one now. I have worked in small, inexpensive village salons and very large high end and expensive salons. Not one would have refused to allow you to bring a baby in.

In the larger salons we had a seperate area for chemical treatments and the salons were so large (think 30 or so styling positions, huge product shop area at the front and also in one an organic food cafe to one side) and roomy they'd easily be room for a baby in a pram near the front of the salons, so well away from fumes, although even in the chemical section it wasn't 'fumey' like it would be a small salon, especially these days when perms are few and far between.

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