The Photographer's Wife Parenting, Disney, Travel, Reviews & Other Randomness
After our “fun” first haircut experience…and after noticing how fast Trent’s hair was starting to grow, I decided it would be best to learn how to cut his hair myself. We have a Disney trip coming up, and we thought about taking him to the barber shop at Magic Kingdom again, but we weren’t going to Magic Kingdom until the 2nd day and we figured it would be a bad day to do it since it’s the 24-hour event and will probably be quite crowded (and Brett is getting there at 6am!).
So then we contemplated taking him to the barber shop that Brett goes to, but realized due to the layout, he would basically be on display while getting his haircut…and if he cried or threw a fit, that would be a disaster.
So I decided I would cut his hair at home. Plenty of people do it and to be honest, I wasn’t really nervous. I’m no expert, but I did work at a salon for 3 years, I should kinda be comfortable with this kind of stuff. And if I can cut my own bangs and still go out in public, then I must not be completely terrible at it.
Plus, he always wears a hat at Disney anyway….so we can hide any mistakes lol.
Trust me, this is no detailed how to instructional post. This is just me sharing how I cut my toddler’s hair, what I used and how it turned out. 
Here are the items we set out to use: a pair of baby haircut scissors, fine tooth comb, plastic-y cape, and a water bottle. We ended up not using the cape, since he was about to get a bath anyway, we figured it would just end up irritating him anyway and we didn’t need an extra hurdle to jump.
We got these baby hair scissors/shears from Amazon and I took to the interwebs for instructions/videos on what to do.
They even come with a cute giraffe case.
We had to decide the best way to get him to not freak out…sneak attack one cut at a time while he plays? Sit him in a chair and try to keep him occupied with the iPad and snacks? Strap him down in a straight jacket? Ok that last one was a joke, but we ultimately decided to put him in his booster seat at the dining room table with the iPad in front of him, a toy and a snack. It wasn’t the most convenient position for me, but it worked beautifully for Trent!
Of course, I had to pause for the dramatic parts of Toy Story 3, knowing he could move frantically in excitement at that moment…
So once I got started, I was definitely kind of awkward about it. I started on one side and couldn’t tell how much I needed to cut off or how even each side was with the other, since I couldn’t see him from the front, but I just kinda went with it and got more comfortable over time.
I was so proud at how well he was doing…especially since he’s seen this movie a million times!
Eventually, Sheepy joined us but stayed far away from the scissors.
Towards the end, we gave him a snack so I could quickly cut the front of his hair.
While it’s not perfect, it was definitely quicker and cheaper and gave us peace of mind to avoid a potential freak-out at the barber shop. I’m sure I’ll get better over time and now that we saw how well Trent did, Brett may even do it next time too, since he used to cut a friend’s hair for several years!
Trent is now ready to face the heat at Walt Disney World this week! (This was the best photo I could get that night…it’s nearly impossible to get him to sit still long enough for his hair to be brushed and have a photo taken without messing it up again! Crazy toddlers!)
My handsome boy.
Speaking of do-it-yourself haircuts, did you know that the average family can easily spend as much as $2,000 a year on hair services at a salon or barber shop? Kinda makes you wonder just how much you could save by doing it yourself over the course of a year…five years…even 10 years - it sure does add up! If I can learn, so can you…it’s not difficult or scary! Luckily, there is a DVD that can help you learn how to cut hair and save big money. Get started today!
The last haircut Everett had was done by me. I found a very useful diagram online. It wasn’t perfect but definitely good enough for an almost 2 year old!! And $2200??? Get outta here! I’m lucky if I get one haircut a year and Robby cuts his own. I can’t imagine spending almost $200 a month at a salon.
I watched a YouTube video, but the child had long/curly hair, so I had to modify it a bit. And that number was for a family of 4 and could include other services too. When I worked at the salon, some people came in every 6 weeks without fail to get color/cut/etc…I can only imagine how much that added up to. I go about twice a year, but should go more. Brett goes to Renegade.