How To (Maybe) Successfully Get Your Child’s Hair Cut

Do you have a child (or know a child) with sensory issues? Then you likely know the frustration that can come when it’s time for a haircut. The fear associated with scissors, the buzzing of the clippers that seem to hurt or are too loud for the ears, the touching of the head and ears - all of these factors (and more!) can make the seemingly-simple act of getting a haircut seem like more of an act of torture. We have struck out so many times when taking our guy to get a haircut. I want to share, though, how to (maybe) successfully get your child’s hair cut.

For a time, I would just buzz it down to almost-nothingness just to get it off his head quickly. As he got older, he disliked that option more and more. We had tried many different places where we could just drop in, without an appointment, in hopes that if we happened into the shop during a good moment, he might actually do okay with getting the cut. He did not.

In a little town nearby, there are a large number of barber shops. One of the shops is right beside a little ice cream place where we sometimes stop for a cool treat on a hot day. So when we would get ice cream, we’d point it out and “talk up” the idea of getting a haircut.

One day we decided to try this barber for our son with sensory issues (after many times of talking it up). This particular barber shop is a family-run business, and so the day we ventured in, our son got Grandpa barber when it was time for his haircut. What happened next may be one of the most interesting things I’ve seen. You know when you take a child to get their hair cut, they often get a lollipop when they are finished? Well, Grandpa barber had his own unique twist on this whole ritual.

Picasso climbed up in the chair and seemed squirmy. Grandpa barber tried asking him to sit still a couple times, with little success. Right beside his barber chair is the container with all the lollipops. Grandpa barber reached over and pulled one out. He took the wrapper off and offered it to my son, who willingly took it - WHILE he was getting his hair cut. He kept it in his mouth, sucked on it, and kept his mouth closed. This worked for a few minutes and then he started to get squirmy again. I started to worry, thinking what a great idea that had been, and feeling sorry that my son was being antsy.

Grandpa barber wasn’t bothered in the least, though. He grabbed a second lollipop out of the container, unwrapped it and offered it to my son. I was amazed! My son was thrilled with the prospect of another lollipop and gladly nodded his approval. Grandpa barber gently took Lollipop #1 and threw it away, and gave Picasso Lollipop #2 which he happily kept in his mouth - keeping his mouth shut, and preventing hair from getting in his mouth.

Meanwhile, Grandpa barber was snipping hair as fast as he could, while Picasso was on cloud nine, having had TWO lollipops now! Things were going well for a few minutes, till my guy started squirming again. Sigh. But to a seasoned barber, like Grandpa barber, this was just another opportunity to pause, give my guy a minute to stretch, AND to give him Lollipop #3, trading it for Lollipop #2 which had served it’s purpose of 5 minutes of distraction while he’d cut some hair.

Me? I was sitting in one of the chairs watching all of this, in amazement! WHO KNEW that there was a trick like this that maybe, just maybe, would keep my son IN THE SEAT long enough to get a haircut?! With the successful consumption of Lollipop #3, the haircut was finished.

As if that wasn’t enough, Picasso went home with 3 lollipops, from Grandpa barber, for “being such a good boy”. Six lollipops for one successful haircut - worth every penny we paid that day!

Do you have a sensory kiddo getting a haircut? This trick with the lollipops would be a great thing to try.