tips for the first trip to the hairdressers

[TLV]

dd is 19mths and is in need of her fringe cutting and until recently I been doing a very wonky job of it I'm having visions of a writhing screaming child and a frightening stylist with scissors, any advice would be welcome to make the visit fun enjoyable etc

Chocolate. Nothing else for it .

And find a stylist who is accustomed to cutting children's hair - ask other parents in your area where they take their children. Some stylists can do pram cuts if necessary

lollipop. lasts longer than chocolate.

Find someone who has their own children (they are much more understanding if it goes tits-up!)

Also let your DD sit on your lap and feed her raisins (or whatever she loves that will last a sufficient amount of time).

It might not be as bad as you think -DS surprised me. He used to go crazy when he had his feet measured (so much so that I ended up getting him measured in shops miles away as I always felt I could never go back to the same one twice ) but sat in the hairdressers chair as good as gold.

I used to take grapes and just keep popping them in before the tears came!!
That was with the little boy I look after. Ds used to watch him having his cut. By the time it was his turn, he was used to the place and knew what was going to happen.
If you think its going to be bad, could you go in and let him watch, and then leave and then go back and get it done the next day?

We read a book called something like "Freddie goes to the hairdresser" which we got from the library.

We read it several times before we went, and then kept looking at it all the time dd was having her hair cut.

It meant that she knew exactly what was going to happen before we got there.

ds loves having hie hair cut. Find kids-experienced place, take new books (or other exciting new toy that is quiet play orientated, and snack. And if poss, go on a not busy day, so everyone's less hassled...

DS1 has to get his cut every 8 weeks so am a bit of an old hand at this!
Bribes bribe bribes - raisins, blueberries, grapes, bananas - lots of different things, plus most places have lollipops or something for when LO has finished.
The first time we took him he sat on my knee while he got his hair cut, and after a few visits started sitting on the booster seat thing on his own.
Make it an adventure, don't panic or stress. She may find it easier if she sees you getting yours done first, to show it isn't scary.

Turn it into a game at home 1st. Let her brush your hair and 'play' at being the hairdresser. Worked for DS who now tells the barber he wants a 'short back and side'

Minikin in Crouch end, North London - bloody brilliant! Just for kids - they get to sit on a swan or a tiger and get a little tray of tiny toys to play with.
Pay for it though...

Your dd may to be young to benefit from this tip but it certainly works for older toddlers: give them a cheap, plastic hand mirror to hold so that they can look at themselves whilst sitting in the hot seat. Works every time!

The hairdresser who recently cut ds3's hair told me that in his experience if a small child goes with dad rather than mum, there's often a lot less stress. Ds3 (3) is actually quite good about his hair and sitting still etc., but there are other issues eg bedtime over which he plays me up but behaves well for dh, so maybe it's worth bearing in mind whatthe hairdresser said.

I just wanted to respond on Minikin in Crouch End. We were really disappointed by the Hair salon there. We've been twice and both times were kept waiting 30 minutes after our appointment time. When I pointed this out to the hairdresser (who had clearly let a friend jump the queue in our place) she told me that she might not even be able to fit us in (in a passive aggressive kind of way) which really upset my 4 year old daughter. We did get a haircut, but I left feeling really truly disappointed by the service and the nature of the staff. This is a children's hair salon after all. Expensive, unreliable, unprofessional and unapologetic. Don't bother.

The salon I take my daughters to has a portable dvd player on which Peppa Pig runs constantly. The player is placed on the little shelf below the mirror. This works a treat. If there aren't any salons near you that do the same beg or borrow a portable dvd player and take it with you.

I would recommend getting a mobile hairdresser to come to your home and do it, I've never successfully managed to get my 2 year old to sit for any length of time in a salon but she sits like an angel in her own little chair in front of cbeebies.