taking a toddler to the hairdresser for the first time (gulp ...)

[mummylonglegs]

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Dd has been having her fringe cut regularly since about 15 months. She is fine because we go when ds has his done & she doesn't like to miss out! They make a fuss of her, bring out the special chair & always give her a biscuit!

Hi mummylonglegs, I did the same thing last week with dd (21 months). She had a real mullet going on and I was frankly too nervous to start hacking at it myself. It took my hairdresser all of about 1 minute and I entertained dd by shaking beads in her face while the deed was done. I dont think she really realised what was going on and kept trying to pull her gown off but was basically fine. One day I am sure she will look forward to languishing in the hairdressers for hours having her hair done! Good luck!

My mum's mobile hairdresser does dd's and we sit her in the high chair. The hairdresser gives her two big clips to play with while she's doing it and dd doesn't seem to mind at all.

I used to take a couple of books and read to them, let them look at the picture, touch and feel books etc.

You just need to keep them amused and not let them focus on what's happening - my ds2 used to try to turn round to see what was happening if I didn't distract him.

my friend has had success with letting her ds eat a packet of crisps whilst being done.

Let the fringe grow out!
I can remember the grisly sensation of little snippets of hair falling on my eyelashes and cheeks even now. It makes my eyes water. Mrs Clinger at Selfridges used to cut it. I hated it and her very much indeed.
A nice sidey and hairclips look just as sweet.

The first time I took dd she was about 22 months and she sat on my lap- wouldn't put the apron on but otherwise was fine. Have recently taken her again and the hairdresser was really good. She kept talking to her and explaining what she was going to do. DD loved the attention. It probably will not be half as bad as you think

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The first time I took DD, at around 2.3 I was too scared to go to a normal hairderssers so ploughed up to the only kids one I could find in west London. It was brilliant! DD sat like a star in the special chair, watched DVDs, had a photo taken with a lock of hair put in and even let them blowdry her hair. I was completely gobsmacked.

Feeling very confident I took her for her next trim down to the local salon. She took one look at the male hairdressr, hurled herself onto the floor in classic starshape and started to scream. Lets just say that we won't be going back (not least because we scarred the hairdresser for life, and it took me ages to get the hurled lollipop out of my hair). .

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I wish I could find a list of properly child friendly hairdressers where I live (near Chichester in West Sussex). None of the mums I know have found anywhere that really understands toddlers. Is there a website that lists them, does anyone know?

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Maybe Mumsnet could keep a list of recommended ones. If I ever find one I'll put it on the list!!

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MLL - We went to the Daisy & Tom on the Kings Road. It was absolutely brilliant.

There's a new specialist childrens salon opened up in my own town (Kingston), so I'm going to try there next time. Looks a bit pricey though (nicely stocked with designer kids clothes).

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I took ds to a local barber's from 11 months and they were great with him. THe barber was really patient and named everything he was picking up and let ds hold the clippers and play with that fluffy brush thing for dusting off hair. The jey is constant distraction - don't let their mind wander for a second. The barber had a big tub of plastic animals and he brought out a different one every minute for ds to hold. As for bribery at the end of the haircut - most definitely The other thing was because it was a tiny local barber - it was absolutely empty. i imagine if it had been a specialist kiddy place it would have been packed with other noisy and possibly distressed kids which would just have freaked ds out.

There's a lot to be said for tracking down a biddy blue rinse salon if it's just for a trim IMO.

jey = key!

DD adores going to the hairdressers, right from the very first cut. She generally goes with MIL to a little 'old fashioned' type salon - lots of old ladies having blue rinses! DD is fascinated and loves all the attewntion she gets too. She just sits on a normal chair and they snip away.

DH and I took her to hairdressers ourself the other evening, as PILs away, and she was so good. She's just 3 now, but the girls made such a fuss of her there that she couldn't help but have a great time. DD was very impressed as the hairdresser even blow dried her hair and flicked it all out at the bottom for her.

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DD is ok about having her hair cut but is very scared of the noise of all the hairdryers - she sat there shaking the first time, we had to keep promising that no one was going to turn a hairdryer on her! Next time we went it happened to be really quiet and she had a lovely time.

I definitely recommend chocolate buttons though.

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See! It didn't hurt did it?!

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