Haircut Ideas

[Guest guest]

Hi Everyone,

Isn't it sad, but I'm somehow happy to read that other people are struggling

with giving their kid a haircut! My dream for (5) is to go to a barber and

get a real haircut. Even more so than walking, or brushing his own teeth, I

think.

Last week, we visited Dr. Capone at the Kennedy Krieger Institute at s

Hopkins and there was a brief discussion on haircuts and sensory issues. At one

point there was mention of medication-- and a little light bulb went on over my

head-- you mean I could temporarily medicate my kid- and he'd actually be able

to go to the JC Penny salon and get a haircut?! Ha ha. It's available, but he

felt like wasn't " there " yet. Instead, we are going to do 8-12 weeks of

desensitization-- cognitive/behavioral retraining while is admitted to the

hospital for a feeding/swallowing program. Sounds ......like.......TORTURE!

We have had tremendous success with the headphone method! I can't praise it

enough. can actually fully focus on whatever DVD he's watching/listening to

and I can give him a very fine buzz cut in 10 minutes. And it's a great cut--

size 6 blade for the front (very stylish), size 2 blade on the top and size 1

for the sides and back. Over the last 5 years I have become quite a hairstylist.

The benefit of the very short cut is that shampoo (we use foaming kind) is super

easy to rinse (I just wipe off his hair with a wet washcloth because he can't

handle water on his head) and it dries in less than 2 minutes out of the bath.

takes a bath every morning. He's still in diapers and has a feeding tube

stoma that needs a good soak every day.

Other Hair Cut Ideas

Hold a lollipop during the cut [we tried, but the lolli was full of hair ]

Hold onto a fidget, favorite toy or sticker

Watch a favorite tv show ( with or without headphones)

Take frequent breaks

Sensory activities before haircut- massage/brushing

Make up a social story about haircuts to prep for the big day!

Weighted vest or blanket

Try a mini haircut over a series of days

Give a haircut in front of mirror

It's really hard when you're working with someone who's pretty much non-verbal,

hyper sensitive and very defensive. can't even wear a drape so the hair

doesn't get all over him. He just goes wild. I'm going to look into that Flobee

to take care of that itchy hair problem!

So, what I do is place in his rifton chair with a tray, put on a favorite

DVD on a personal player about 3 feet away from him and give him a set of

headphones. And now he makes it through the whole haircut without assaulting his

mother (me) or crying so hysterically that I'm afraid the police will be

knocking on my door to find out what's going on!

So, we're working that problem out. Still haven't found a good nail clipping

method besides just grabbing his foot and going for it (he wakes up if I try to

trim his nails while he's asleep).

It's hard work! But so rewarding when you find out a way to make things work for

your kid.

Take care all,

-----------------------------------------------------------

Coll-Guedes

www.21Down.org

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 4/9/2006 12:37:29 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,

coll.guedes@... writes:

So, we're working that problem out. Still haven't found a good nail clipping

method besides just grabbing his foot and going for it (he wakes up if I try

to trim his nails while he's asleep).

, thanks for the tips. Maddie is good these days, but it used to be

torture. I am the hairdresser (or sometimes Alison, my 13 yo) and with

Maddie, taking it slow helped a lot. AND I can't say enough how making it fun

has worked every time. Same with nail clipping. We giggle, and fall back

every time we clip so it looks like the clipping made it happen....she thinks

it's the funniest thing, and will put her hand out for more. Toes continue

to be a problem, and we just get in there and get it done.

Donna

[Guest guest]

remember the infomercial, it's a gadget that hooks up to your vacuum. it sucks

the hair and then makes the hair stand up the flobee then trims the hair and the

trimmed hair goes into the vacuum! voila - instant haircut without the mess! I

could use one - don't think it would make a heck of a difference with

but I and my house wouldn't be covered with hair when I cut my oldest and my

husband's hair.

take care,

Jayne

kpblackmail@... wrote:

What in the world is a Flobee?

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[Guest guest]

That's a cute idea Donna.

Nails used to be just as awful as toes for us too. Now we get through them by

counting how many clips each nail takes. Somehow that works - I think he knows

it's about 4 clips per nail and he just hangs on. We have a huge high 5 session

after the nail clipping.

Now toes, forget it! Strictly done while sleeping still.....

I have hope for haircuts and toenails since fingernails are now not a problem.

There's a bit of a struggle at first but then he settles into it.

I'll have to try the falling backwards thing though - that sounds like

.

take care,

Jayne

duffey48@... wrote:

AND I can't say enough how making it fun

has worked every time. Same with nail clipping. We giggle, and fall back

every time we clip so it looks like the clipping made it happen....she thinks

it's the funniest thing, and will put her hand out for more. Toes continue

to be a problem, and we just get in there and get it done.

Donna

[Guest guest]

<<So over the last two years we have grown Hannah's

bangs out so we don't have to deal with that anymore. Now that her hair is

shorter she no longer uses it as a Kleenex, now she's eating it instead!

a (Hannah 9 DS/Aut)>>

a, this is hilarious!! has long straight as a board hair with bangs

and she's usually ok with letting me cut her bangs now but I always have to have

a third person to keep her head in a vice lock. Cutting the back straight across

usually ends up in repairing a few diagonal cuts. It used to be long enough to

get stuck in her underwear but now if we cut it shorter it seems like we have

less grouble with knots. This is really a pain.

She sleeps folded over in the laptop position and her open mouth usually end ups

drooling on her hair giving us a great big gnarly snarl in the AM. I really want

to keep it long though. It's like the only thing everyone notices first off and

they can comment on " oh what pretty hair she has " . She also eats hers...there's

always a strand or two sticking in her mouth and we have to tell her to get it

out of her mouth.

Sherry

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 4/9/2006 3:25:09 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,

jacksonsmom99@... writes:

I'll have to try the falling backwards thing though - that sounds like

.

LOL Yea, our kids love slapstick.

Donna

[Guest guest]

why dont hubbys get that " hair all over " issue, ive cut DH and boys hair off

and on over the years, but im constantly trying to get him to go to the barber,

as i HATE the mess!! its like no matter how much you clean there is still hair

somewhere. shawna

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[Guest guest]

we never had prblems with the fingers it was cutting toenails , we figured out

singing the piggy song with each toe and that worked and we havent had to sing

that fora good few years now, he just lets me do it, and often seems to like it

goes " whew' or " wow " hehehe, kids are soo funny. shawna

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