Re: Haircuts. Help.

[Guest guest]

You are not alone, I know exactly what you are going through. Both my sons have gone through the same thing. We've done a few things for the dreaded haircut issue. We have a beauty school here in town, so I just walked in one day and asked the receptionist if she could help me find a couple of students who wouldn't mind making "house calls" for my special-needs children. We ended up with three young ladies who ended up doubling as babysitters for us. Whenever the boys needed haircuts we would call one of them to babysit, she'd come over and play with the boys for awhile, get them interested in watching TV or a movie, and cut their hair. Worked out great! You might consider calling around to a local cosmetology school or some of the bigger salons and

see if you can find someone interested in the house call idea. We have now graduated to going out to the salon, but I always take a portable DVD player with me. The stylist gives me a few minutes to get it set up and get my son engrossed and he knows he has to sit quietly while he's getting his haircut or we have to turn the movie off. Hope these ideas help you!PattiFrom: jojubemom <karlakahler@...> Sent: Wed,

December 22, 2010 5:29:02 PMSubject: ( ) Haircuts. Help.

This is a huge trigger for ds. He is 4 and every single haircut is awful. We went today and I gave in and didn't make him get his hair cut. Bur eventually we gave to cut his hair.

How do you do haircuts with a child who is terrified?!

[Guest guest]

For years I had to cut my son hair myself. He wasn't so much terrified, it was the hair tickling him and making him itch. I use to have to sit in the bathtub with him and as I was cutting his hair I would have to rinse him off constantly. He would squirm and wiggle and wipe his face. It would take me forever to cut his hair. By the time we were done he was crying or having a meltdown and I was exhausted. But it beat taking him somewhere where he would do this and the lady would look so angry and frustrated.

He is 13 now and I've been able to take him to get his haircut by someone since he was about 7 or 8. Now I just have to worry that he will say "I have to fart" or actually pass gas which he does often. I've never know a child to have so much gas as him. But that is a whole other subject.

So hopefully your son will transition out of this phase. Maybe if he knew the person cutting his hair he might not be so terrified.

ne

From: jojubemom <karlakahler@...>Subject: ( ) Haircuts. Help. Date: Wednesday, December 22, 2010, 6:29 PM

This is a huge trigger for ds. He is 4 and every single haircut is awful. We went today and I gave in and didn't make him get his hair cut. Bur eventually we gave to cut his hair. How do you do haircuts with a child who is terrified?!

[Guest guest]

The dreaded hair cut~! My son would never sit still and thought it was hilarious to "disappear" in the mirror as he slid down in the chair. He HATED the buzzing sound of the clippers, a stranger touching him. I always put it off until I decided that enough was enough. I went to the library and got a book on hair cutting. It was usually a 2 or 3 day process because he didn't enjoy it, of course neither did I. When he became a teenager he was able to go and get his hair cut a few times but he ended up liking the way I did it better. He is now 20 and I still cut his hair and he just told me his friend wants me to do his hair. LOL!

[Guest guest]

He he. All my kids have long hair. he he.

I DO cut bangs from time to time.

But.....yep.....long hair, here.

Robin

PEOPLE MAY NOT REMEMBER EXACTLY

WHAT YOU DID OR WHAT YOU SAID,

BUT THEY WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER

HOW YOU MADE THEM FEEL

From: PattiAnnB <pabernius@...>Subject: Re: ( ) Haircuts. Help. Date: Wednesday, December 22, 2010, 6:20 PM

You are not alone, I know exactly what you are going through. Both my sons have gone through the same thing. We've done a few things for the dreaded haircut issue. We have a beauty school here in town, so I just walked in one day and asked the receptionist if she could help me find a couple of students who wouldn't mind making "house calls" for my special-needs children. We ended up with three young ladies who ended up doubling as babysitters for us. Whenever the boys needed haircuts we would call one of them to babysit, she'd come over and play with the boys for awhile, get them interested in watching TV or a movie, and cut their hair. Worked out great! You might consider calling around to a local cosmetology school or some of the bigger salons and see if you can find someone interested in the house call idea.

We have now graduated to going out to the salon, but I always take a portable DVD player with me. The stylist gives me a few minutes to get it set up and get my son engrossed and he knows he has to sit quietly while he's getting his haircut or we have to turn the movie off. Hope these ideas help you!Patti

From: jojubemom <karlakahler@...> Sent: Wed, December 22, 2010 5:29:02 PMSubject: ( ) Haircuts. Help.

This is a huge trigger for ds. He is 4 and every single haircut is awful. We went today and I gave in and didn't make him get his hair cut. Bur eventually we gave to cut his hair. How do you do haircuts with a child who is terrified?!

[Guest guest]

I also wanted to add, thinking on it some more, when he was little, we started taking him to Kids Cuts. They cater to kids with cool airplane shaped chairs, tv's on where you can choose the dvd, game consoles in the waiting room, and barbers that understand squirmy kids. That helped a lot too.

From: jojubemom <karlakahler@...>Subject: ( ) Haircuts. Help. Date: Wednesday, December 22, 2010, 6:29 PM

This is a huge trigger for ds. He is 4 and every single haircut is awful. We went today and I gave in and didn't make him get his hair cut. Bur eventually we gave to cut his hair. How do you do haircuts with a child who is terrified?!

[Guest guest]

I bought a good pair of barber scissors and did it myself for years. Luckily his

hair is slightly curly so any misses on my part were difficult to spot. My son

needed a haircut at age 2 mos. I tried to bring him to some of the children's

salons when he was in preschool but he hated them. So I continued to cut his

hair until the middle of elementary school. It took me so long to cut his hair

that he started to get impatient while I was cutting. I finally told him if he

wanted to get it done quickly then he had to go to the haircutting place. We

take him to supercuts on a weekday afternoon so that we avoid the crowds. We

figured out if the stylist cuts the back of his hair with the electric cutter

(#4 setting which is shorter than cutting it with scissors but longer than a

buzz cut) and did the top with scissors then the hair cut was that much faster.

My son has thick hair so minimizing the hair cutting time is important. He's

fine getting it cut now but still tries to space out his hair cuts as long as

possible so he's willing to get it cut quite short. I don't mind if he has long

hair but he finds it difficult to shampoo if it gets too long.

>

> This is a huge trigger for ds. He is 4 and every single haircut is awful. We

went today and I gave in and didn't make him get his hair cut. Bur eventually we

gave to cut his hair.

>

> How do you do haircuts with a child who is terrified?!

>

[Guest guest]

UGH - nail trimming. My son is finally trimming his own fingernails. The

toenails we still do for him. He starts squirming the moment I touch his feet.

We plan to find a pair of clippers with a good grip and have him start clipping

his own toe nails.

We've had to wean him off us doing many of the various daily living skills for

him. Toe nail clipping is next on our list. And we are beginning to teach him

how to cook on the stove (he can handle the microwave or toaster oven). Some of

the weaning process was as easy as us reminding him to do something and other

processes required us to figure out an easy way for him to do it. The key was

for us not to take over even though it sometimes would be a very easy thing for

us to do.

>

> I second the DVD approach. We are lucky enough to live near a few salons

> that cater to kids, and have a TV/DVD at each hair cut station, and some of

> the stations have fire trucks or race cars in place of the regular chair.

> It took my son until he was about five to be able to tolerate a haircut,

> but being mesmerized by a DVD certainly helped. At 12 he is fine at hair

> cut time but a little more sensitive than others to the electric clippers,

> and when the water is sprayed, and the feel of the little hairs falling, the

> drape fastened around his neck, and all of the other sensory nightmares

> that make haircuts fun.

>

> Now, about toe nail trimming...

>

> Peggy, mom to Connor 12, AS

>

>

[Guest guest]

hated haircuts until about 4ish. then we found sugarfree suckers one in the mouth, yes hairy and sticky and one in a hand helped him sit still. He now likes to stare at himself in the mirror at the hair cutters because he likes watching himself eat candy. I figure whatever works..

In a message dated 12/23/2010 9:23:09 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, seekingmist@... writes:

That was always a hard time for us too, when Aiden was that age. We'd bribe. He hated the sound of the clippers, the feel of it. We'd let him go for as long as possible in between haircuts, then would let him pick the reward (Going out for ice cream, a small toy, etc).

Aiden is 10 now, and we just got his haircut today. He does great now, and just sits in that stoic stillness now. I still usually bribe him with a pick from the dollar store next door when he's done.

From: jojubemom <karlakahler@...>Subject: ( ) Haircuts. Help. Date: Wednesday, December 22, 2010, 3:29 PM

This is a huge trigger for ds. He is 4 and every single haircut is awful. We went today and I gave in and didn't make him get his hair cut. Bur eventually we gave to cut his hair. How do you do haircuts with a child who is terrified?!

[Guest guest]

I let ds take his DS to play, as long as he does what the stylist days. It really helps him tune out the sensory chaos!Sent from my iPhoneOn Dec 23, 2010, at 11:58 AM, boogermeanie@... wrote:

hated haircuts until about 4ish. then we found sugarfree suckers one in the mouth, yes hairy and sticky and one in a hand helped him sit still. He now likes to stare at himself in the mirror at the hair cutters because he likes watching himself eat candy. I figure whatever works..

In a message dated 12/23/2010 9:23:09 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, seekingmist@... writes:

That was always a hard time for us too, when Aiden was that age. We'd bribe. He hated the sound of the clippers, the feel of it. We'd let him go for as long as possible in between haircuts, then would let him pick the reward (Going out for ice cream, a small toy, etc).

Aiden is 10 now, and we just got his haircut today. He does great now, and just sits in that stoic stillness now. I still usually bribe him with a pick from the dollar store next door when he's done.

From: jojubemom <karlakahler@...>Subject: ( ) Haircuts. Help. Date: Wednesday, December 22, 2010, 3:29 PM

This is a huge trigger for ds. He is 4 and every single haircut is awful. We went today and I gave in and didn't make him get his hair cut. Bur eventually we gave to cut his hair. How do you do haircuts with a child who is terrified?!

[Guest guest]

I used to have problems with taking D for a haircut, too, but one day Dylan needed one and my dad ended up taking him b/c I was at work. I think he was about 5 at the time? I warned my dad about how hard it was going to be, what I had limited success with when trying to distract him, etc... and guess what? Dylan did just fine with my dad. I don't think I was doing anything wrong when I took him, but I think having a different person helped. If you have another adult you trust that could take him, try it and see how it goes. I let my dad take him the next few times and then when I took him again, he acted fine. I couldn't believe it!

From: Catcelia <c2cats@...> Sent: Thu, December 23, 2010 10:14:07 AMSubject: Re: ( ) Haircuts. Help.

UGH - nail trimming. My son is finally trimming his own fingernails. The toenails we still do for him. He starts squirming the moment I touch his feet. We plan to find a pair of clippers with a good grip and have him start clipping his own toe nails. We've had to wean him off us doing many of the various daily living skills for him. Toe nail clipping is next on our list. And we are beginning to teach him how to cook on the stove (he can handle the microwave or toaster oven). Some of the weaning process was as easy as us reminding him to do something and other processes required us to figure out an easy way for him to do it. The key was for us not to take over even though it sometimes would be a very easy thing for us to do.>> I

second the DVD approach. We are lucky enough to live near a few salons > that cater to kids, and have a TV/DVD at each hair cut station, and some of > the stations have fire trucks or race cars in place of the regular chair. > It took my son until he was about five to be able to tolerate a haircut, > but being mesmerized by a DVD certainly helped. At 12 he is fine at hair > cut time but a little more sensitive than others to the electric clippers, > and when the water is sprayed, and the feel of the little hairs falling, the > drape fastened around his neck, and all of the other sensory nightmares > that make haircuts fun.> > Now, about toe nail trimming...> > Peggy, mom to Connor 12, AS> >

[Guest guest]

I have a few ideas, in no particular order. We have two girls with long hair,

so no experience with buzzing razors. That sounds really advanced!

Our younger dd has asperger syndrome.

- consider a different hairstyle that does not involve razors and allow

earplugs or headphones if the sound of other razors bother him

- go at the slowest time of day

- allow him to play with playdough or theraputty during haircuts

- allow him to chew gum during haircuts and nail trimming

- once you find a stylist who is gentle, keep the stylist. we go to a stylist

who does not speak English but she understands how to be patient, gentle and

loving.

- Kid salons work for us

- bribe absolutely.