How Can I Help My Nervous Child Enjoy The Hairdresser’s?

Let’s be truthful, we all know adults that avoid the hairdresser’s, so we can’t blame our little ones for being a nervous child! However, we want to assure you, and them, that with us there is nothing to be nervous of. So, we wanted to give you and your children some advice on what can be done to help their return to the salon a more relaxing and enjoyable one.

The Experience:

Firstly, it’s important that we state that the HairPlay experience is a huge part of ensuring an enjoyable cut and one that stops our clients being nervous. We pride ourselves on being more than just a salon as we are specifically designed with children in mind: bright colours, trendy signs, cars to sit in (for the little ones, sorry parents!), iPads, TVs and music! Everything we do is with them in mind. We want them to visit and be excited, because it has everything that they would ever need or want! We don’t want them setting foot into somewhere which seems clinical, cold or intimidating.

Before You Arrive:

Talk it through

It’s important you don’t spring things like these on children, especially those that aren’t eager to attend in the first place. We recommend you discuss with your child what is going to happen and where they are going. Discuss things like how you, or they, want their hair, so they know exactly what they are going in for. This way they don’t have to make any big decisions on the spot!

Words to avoid

Now, this may sound like a silly one, but who really wants to hear the word “cut” when you’re talking about your precious hair? Try to rephrase how you talk about the salon and their haircut. Try to use words like “trim” or “style”. This sounds a little less scary, especially to the smallest of ears! These slight changes in our vocabulary can do the world of good and help make the salon seem like a much friendlier place to visit.

Get to know the salon

Now, we know due to the pandemic this isn’t as easy as normal. We would normally say pop in with your child if they’re nervous and they can meet people and see how gorgeous our salon is, however, we unfortunately can’t do this at the moment. Instead, show your child pictures and videos of the salon if they have never been before. We bet they’ll be shocked to discover it’s a hairdresser’s! If they know exactly what the salon looks like and what to expect than it may help them feel a little more at ease.

During the Haircut:

Remain Calm and Keep it Friendly

The more nervous you are about the experience the more nervous your child will be. Our staff are experts at dealing with cutting children’s hair, so follow their lead. Stay upbeat and friendly and before you know it your child will feel like they’re talking to their friend, rather than a scary hairdresser. Simple things such as not mentioning their fear of the hairdresser or watching their haircut too closely will help them feel like everything will be ok. Otherwise, they’re going to be wondering why it is we need to know they’re scared and what is going to go wrong.

PPE

We know that during Covid-19 the use of PPE and our visors may make your child a little more nervous than normal, but we have kept this in mind. We have tried to keep our visors upbeat, light-hearted and child friendly: something fun for them to engage with, rather than another scary unknown. We hope that in presenting our visors in this way they won’t be seen as visors at all, but a fun little accessory that our staff use – with an added benefit of knowing that we get to keep all our clients safe and sound!

Distractions

If you know there is something that calms your child down let us know or bring it along! Why not? Distractions will help them focus less on the haircut and more on the things that they like and enjoy. Blankets, teddies, toys and sweets are all welcome if it helps your little one enjoy the experience more! Still Nervous? Still Have Questions? We really hope that this information has helped give you some ideas and strategies which will put your child at ease, however, if there are still concerns niggling away at you (or your child) then we want to help you further! If your child has an issue or concern, then why not give us a quick call or message us online – we will be able to answer your queries further and put you at ease. We know that every child is different, and we want to make sure every child has access to our wonderful facilities.