Once you have made a hair appointment for your child, it’s time to start preparing them. Though you should expect a certain level of excitement and nervousness in the lead-up to a hair appointment, a handful of things act as effective calming techniques. Below, we have listed five tried and tested techniques that help parents to calm their little ones before a trip to the salon.
5 Ways to Calm a Child Before a Hairdresser Appointment
1. Choose a Children’s Hairdressers and Children’s Barbers
There are a lot of hairdressers out there, but choosing a children’s hairdresser or children’s barber is a key way to keep them calm. At Hair Play, we have everything needed to keep children calm during their haircuts. Choosing someone experienced with cutting children’s hair can take a lot of the stress out of the experience.
2. Recognise Their Anxieties and Sensitivities
Many things could make a child worried or nervous about an upcoming haircut, but these can be dealt with by you simply recognizing how they feel. It’s important to show them you recognize how they feel about a
trip to the hairdresser. With open and honest communication, you can get to the bottom of what’s making them anxious and make them feel more relaxed about an upcoming haircut.
3. Let Them Know What to Expect
A lot of children struggle to calm themselves down before a haircut simply because they don’t know what to expect. Even if they have had a haircut or two before, there’s a lot of ‘unknown’ about a trip to the hairdresser. When they know what to expect, they can relax knowing how the appointment is going to go.
4. Play ‘Hairdressers’ Together at Home
Practicing everything together at home is a good way to calm a child before a
hair appointment. For example, you can play ‘hairdressers’, which will get them used to having their haircut. It’s all about familiarising them with the things they will see, hear and experience at the salon.
5. Allow Them to Let Off Some Steam Beforehand
Before you go to a
children’s salon, it’s a good idea to find a way for your child to let off some steam. This could be an hour or two at a soft play centre, sometimes running around the park or activity at home. Being
full of energy can make it difficult for a child to remain calm during a hair appointment. Though calming your child in the lead-up to a hair appointment can be beneficial, it’s important to remember that a haircut is something out of the ordinary for them. This can make them excitable, energetic, and nervous. At Hair Play, we handle this by providing haircuts that cater to children of all ages.
Get in touch with our children’s hairdressers to find out more.