Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Style and beauty

Looking for style advice? Chat all about it here. For the latest discounts on fashion and beauty, sign up for Mumsnet Moneysaver emails.

Original poster

Those of you who are mums to boys - do you cut their hair?

30 replies

EarlyInTheMorning · 03/02/2013 09:57

I find my 9YO DS needs a haircut every 5 weeks or so. It's £15 every time and it's such a hassle to find the time to even go to the hairdressers, he looks messy most of the time because his hair grows extremely quickly. I'm thinking about learning to use clippers and scissors myself. Do any of you know of a good tutorial to follow or have any tips for me?

OP posts:
Sirzy · 03/02/2013 10:00

£15 for a boys cut? i think you being ripped off, I only pay £5 for DS

DancingInTheMoonlight · 03/02/2013 10:01

No.my hairdresser cuts pre school childrens hair for free for his customers. After i will take the financial hit as I've seen too many home disasters (unless you plan to shave it all over)

TomArchersSausage · 03/02/2013 10:04

Agree with Dancing. Ds would look a fright if I did it.

We pay £10 usually, but it can be a job persauding him he needs a haircut though so he quite often goes quite a while between cutsHmm

NeverBeenToMe · 03/02/2013 10:04

I think barber shops do a better and cheaper job on boys hair. I got ripped off last time at my usual salon but have recently had a flyer through the door for a new barbers. I don't intend to pay much more than a fiver in future!

dizzy77 · 03/02/2013 10:07

DH takes DS to the barbers. Costs about £5 and I consider it useful "lad & dad" bonding time. I used to give DH a going over with the clippers
For a number 1 or 2 but he's discovered the delights of a professional recently too.

Mockingcurl · 03/02/2013 10:08

I have three boys and I cut their hair for years. I have no skills whatsoever in this area. However, if you buy some clippers they come with instructions and sometimes a DVD. Trust me, it's dead easy. It must have saved us a fortune over the years.

ihearsounds · 03/02/2013 10:16

£10 - £15 sounds about right depending where you live. This is what I am charged locally because of very high overheads. But if I travel at least 30 minutes on the bus, then this is drops to under £10. Youngest hates having his hair cut, so its a case of getting it done when he's calm enough.. In the meantime I use a bit of hair balm to tame his hair, so he doesn't have the no-one cares about me look.

seeker · 03/02/2013 10:18

I think boys have as much right to a good haircut as girls, to be honest. Find somebody who deals a good job- not just a run over with the clippers!

GreenLeafTea · 03/02/2013 10:30

I tried to cut DS's hair once when he was three. He seemed utterly convinced I was going to stab his eyes out with the scissors and ended up running off screaming. He was left with an extremely short and wonky fringe. I have never attempted it again since.

I used to take him to a salon with a special car seat but it was v. expensive so now just go to the barbers who do a really great cut and are nice and cheap.

I've tried to convince dh to go with him but he isn't keen for some reason. Maybe when he is a bit older.

I have heard clippers are really easy to do but I guess you are limited to the style you can get.

bigTillyMint · 03/02/2013 10:42

I did when he was under 5 - using the clippers. But then he insisted on the barbers until he realised that when he went with DH he just came back with a no.2 and looked like a right little bruiserGrin

He has been going to my hairdressers since he was about 8 - it is £10 a cut (and worth every penny!), but it may go up when he turns 12.

OscarPistoriusBitontheside · 03/02/2013 10:44

I trim their fringe but take them to the barbers for proper cuts. Both of mine have reasonably long hair and it costs me £12 for the two of them.

ilovepowerhoop · 03/02/2013 10:45

ds goes to the barbers - £4.50. I used to cut it with clippers when he was younger but can only do one length all over so he looked like a mini thug! The barbers does mens cuts for about £5-£6 so wont get much more expensive as he gets older. They also do dd's hair for £7.50.

Twinklestarstwinklestars · 03/02/2013 10:56

Our mobile hairdresser does our ds' but its only £5.

SissySpacekAteMyHamster · 03/02/2013 10:57

Good God NO! Tried it once and left DS2 looking like a startled bunny! Never again.

LynetteScavo · 03/02/2013 11:00

No. Find a good barber.

TepidCoffee · 03/02/2013 11:01

I give my 2yo a very fetching pudding bowl, but I can't imagine I'll get away with it past about four or five...

Original poster
EarlyInTheMorning · 03/02/2013 11:29

Okay, I see that doing it myself would be a bad idea. DS has a funny shaped head (egg-like) and very flat hair. This means that he can not pull off long hair like some really cool dudes can, but also, he can not get away with an all over clipper run either. It needs to be cut with scissors at the top and have enough left to style, but the sides need clipping very very short. Kind of like a preppy 50's haircut. It looks nice when done properly and to be honest with you, a barber has never achieved this. Hairdressers have though, but hence the cost...

OP posts:
piprabbit · 03/02/2013 11:33

I do both my DCs hair. DD is 9yo and just needs the ends trimming once in a while. DS is 4yo with very strong ideas about what is acceptable. I do have clippers which I trim the back with and then cut the fringe with scissors.

I don't think I do a fabulous job, but DS is happy and moderately tidy which is a bonus. It is worth buying proper hairdressers' scissors though.

shoesforever · 03/02/2013 12:02

Both my DS's go to my hairdresser. My 3yr old costs £5.00 but my eldest DS who is 5 now costs £12.50. My eldest has reasonably curly hair so it would be a disaster if i tried to do it. Like you its not so much the cost, although i would like it to be less, but finding the time to get there to have it done, my hairdresser (the owner) only works Wed-Fri and my little boy has activities on Thurs & Fri, so its not easy. I once took him to a barber when he was 3 and they virtually scalped him and he looked awful, never again, and we had to just sit and wait for an appointment . Now he gets to watch a dvd, drink of juice for him, tea/coffee/glass of wine for me and most importantly for him a lolly at the end!

BrandyAlexander · 03/02/2013 12:33

No way! Dh takes our wriggly 1 year old to his barber. No stress.

MrsDmitriTippensKrushnic · 03/02/2013 12:41

I do, but then again I also cut DDs and DHs and I've been doing it a long time so I kind of know what I'm doing by now. I wouldn't suddenly jump into it tbh. I watched SIL (who was a hairdresser) cut DHs hair for years before I took over (she always cut it too short so he asked me to do it instead, and it seemed simple enough... Grin)

PuffPants · 03/02/2013 12:47

DS is 3 and has never been to a proper hairdresser. We trim it ourselves because I like it longish. Also I don't think he would be very cooperative in a salon setting!

Viviennemary · 03/02/2013 12:51

I did cut my sons hair sometimes between visits to the hairdressers. But £15 sounds expensive. Why not try a mobile hairdresser. They are usually very reasonable indeed.

sparkle12mar08 · 03/02/2013 12:56

I do both of our boys with clippers and scissors. Ds1 has a sort of 1950's short back & sides, which looks fine once it's settled for a week, as he has fine poker straight hair. Ds 2 has thicker hair with a slight kink to it which looks great from the day I cut it, it just sits better. They have a proper barber cut about once a year which in our town costs £7.50 each. They need haircuts about every 6 weeks so over the course of a year I save approx £135 by doing it myself. That's a hell of a lot of money and pays for a good chunk of a family holiday every year! They don't look bad, they don't look like urchins, and I've had other mums at school ask me to do their children. I would never do so because that's a whole different ball game, but I'm confident cutting my own children's hair.

JumpHerWho · 03/02/2013 13:01

I take 1yo DS to barber for a good short cut, then when it gets long at the back and sides DH uses clippers to shorten it. Best of both worlds. I think the top looks nicer longer and is harder to do well so we leave that to the professionals.