 |
John Newman before (L) and resisting his first haircut (R) |
by Charlotte L. Bowman
 |
e did it. We finally cut Fletcher’s
hair for the first time. One frosty
January morning we chopped
off our 2-year-old’s ’80’s-style
mane for a shorter, more manly look.
Fletcher had a head full of ringlets. They looked like spun gold and bobbed when he ran. But as his locks grew, so did the pressure to lop them off. Even his adoring grandparents started calling him “little Lord Fauntleroy” and“Goldilocks.”
A baby’s first haircut is not that big of a deal, my in-laws argued. A snip here and a snip there, and we’ll be able to see his face, they said. But nothing would sway me. What if his curls never grew back? Besides, I reasoned, some Mongolian children don’t get their hair cut until age 6. My husband pointed out that we don’t live in Mongolia, and de-tangler is really meant for girls.
There are many milestones in a baby’s life. The first haircut is often marked by saving a lock of the cut hair. However, the age at which the first haircut occurs can vary. It all depends on your cultural and religious background, and on your baby’s amount of hair.
Some parents cut their baby’s hair at home. Some take their little one to a familiar stylist. Others have better luck at child-friendly salons like Pigtails and Crewcuts. Here, the waiting area could double as a playroom, complete with a train table. Kids can watch movies while they wait. But the coolest features, by far, are the custom barber chairs shaped like taxi cabs, fire engines, police cars and airplanes.
Stylist Christie Price, 25, is an expert. She cuts an average of 25 first haircuts a week. “You can always tell which kids are getting their first haircut,” she said. “They come in with all the relatives, cameras, camcorders and diaper bags.”
Some kids take it all in stride. Others cry. “The younger kids are easier to cut,” Price said. “Some kids fight it. Some bite. Some kick. Some
are agreeable. Only about two percent of the
parents give up and leave.”
Christina Rice took her 21-month old daughter Abigail for her first cut last October. “We waited so long because she didn’t have much hair,” Rice explained.
For a toddler, Abigail had a powerful set of lungs. “She went ballistic. She cried and cried,” Rice recalled. “She didn’t like the airplane, so we tried a different chair. That didn’t work. We tried to entertain her, but that didn’t work. They gave her some candy, but that didn’t work. She might have done better if she sat on my lap.”
Rice took plenty of pictures and loved Abigail’s new look. “The cut looked great. It was an inch shorter and very cute,” she said.
Lori Newman also waited to cut her son’s hair. John was 25 months old when she took him in for a trim. “People would mistake him for a girl, even when he was bald,” she recalled. “He had lots of long, pretty curls. When his hair was wet, it stretched halfway down his back. But as his hair grew, it began to resemble a mullet.”
Newman expected to be emotional. She envisioned her son squirming while she cried and snapped pictures. “Instead, I was trying to calm him down. John was fine at first, but then he started screaming,‘Mommy, hold me!’ He screamed and cried the whole time. I was so embarrassed.”
The staff tried everything to refocus him. One girl cut while the other tried to distract him. But he didn’t calm down until it was over. Despite the traumatic experience, the haircut looked great. Newman’s husband was happy to lose their son’s mullet, and she was thrilled when the clipped hair curled right back up.
There was great wailing and gnashing of teeth in Margaret Thomas’ house the day her son got his first haircut. One hot July afternoon her husband took the 14-month old outside, stripped him down to his diaper, plopped him on a bar stool, and began trimming his hair with the clippers.
Thomas discovered the clandestine activity when she walked past the back door. “I threw a royal hissy fit,” she remembered. “It was awful. Joshua’s wispy blond hair was half gone. David didn’t just trim it—he shaved it off! Joshua was fine until I started yelling. He started crying. Then David got mad and started yelling at me. It was a scene. The worst part was that for months afterwards, Joshua howled whenever he got his hair cut. It took forever for him to get over it.”
When it came time to cut Fletcher’s hair, I scheduled an appointment with my favorite stylist Yong Davis at Jamison Britt Salon. Still, I wavered. But before I could cancel, my 4-year-old son took the scissors in his own hands—literally. He cut a handful of Fletcher’s curls with a pair of blunt scissors. The results were so awful, I had to keep the appointment.
Unsure what to expect, I prepared for the big day. My husband and in-laws met us at the salon, armed with cameras, camcorders and a bag of treats.
One pack of goldfish, one sippy cup and one toothbrush later, Fletcher had a new look. He didn’t fuss at all. In fact, he enjoyed the attention. Everyone loved his new look. Best of all, his hair is still curly.
If you’re planning to cut your child’s hair for the first time, here are some tips to help you prepare and, hopefully, keep your baby smiling.
“Talk it up,” Newman advised. “Take him to see a haircut first. John might have done better if he had been exposed to it first.”
“Choose a time a day when your child is more agreeable,” Price cautioned. “Don’t do it around lunch time or nap time.”
“Remain calm,” Thomas added with a laugh. “Don’t start an argument with your husband or relatives during the haircut, otherwise you’ll create tension and upset your child. If you choose a salon that isn’t specifically geared for children, make sure you choose a stylist who’s patient and good with kids.”
Rice agreed. “Don’t expect too much from your child. They’ll probably be upset. If the cut doesn’t look just right the first time, don’t worry. It’ll grow back. You can always cut it again.”
Send us your comments and feedback: contactus@valleyparent.com.
