One of our favorite things to do at Disney World involves a trip to Harmony Barber Shop!
Harmony Barber Shop is a full service barber shop located in the heart of the Magic Kingdom on Main Street, USA. (Learn more about it from Disney right here.)
It’s also home to the first haircuts of both of our boys!
Previously, I put together a post on what to expect and how to setup your little one’s first haircut. Lots of questions resulted from the initial post on how to prepare for your little one’s first haircut. It can seem like such a daunting task!
It’s actually a lot easier than you probably thought, especially if you have the haircut completed at Disney World. The Harmony Barber Shop staff is the best!
Yet, a little prep work goes a long way in helping to make it a pleasant experience! Take a look below for a few tips and suggestions on how to have a successful first haircut experience! When you’re done, let us know if you have any tried and true tricks that work for you.
1. Practice Sitting with a Cape
It might seem a little silly, but hear me out on this one.
Purchase a cape for your little one to wear and have them sit in a chair for a few minutes at a time. Possibly even use the cap during meal time. It basically is the world’s largest bib.
We really like this haircutting cape found on amazon.com. It’s big enough to cover your entire kiddo. Plus, it could be used for crafting and another other messy activities if you don’t plan to use it for haircuts. Oh, and it’s Disney themed, so that helps a ton too!
Cheer on your little one for keeping the cape on and commenting on how cool it is. See if you can get the whole family involved in the celebration.
Breaking down the task of getting a haircut into smaller tasks will help your little one become more familiar with the task that is to be completed. Wearing a cape is part of the task for getting one’s haircut.
Plus, anytime anyone gets to wear a cap, pretty much means they are a superhero.
2. Practice with Pretend Scissors (or Something as simple as a spoon!)
Another portion of the haircut that you could practice having a ‘strange’ object touching your little one’s head.
You could use fake scissors (meaning scissors that don’t have any ability to cut!) or you could use something like a spoon. Just touch the object to your little one’s head and make cutting or trimming motions.
Yes, this is strange and you might find it odd.
However, imagine how weird a trimmer or pair of scissors is going to feel to your kiddo the first time they have a haircut. Practicing with something before hand might just make it a little less strange!
3. Younger is Better
In our opinion, we felt the earlier we brought our sons in for a haircut the better. Mainly because we were capitalizing on the element of surprise!
For the first five minutes for both haircuts, our son’s they were so thrown by what was going on. The result was them sitting really, really still.
Not saying this will happen everytime, but it doesn’t hurt if you were considering getting the haircut rather early. It might even help you make the decision if you were hesitation due to your little one’s age.
Both our boys had a generous amount of hair around 1 year of age, so it was the perfect time to complete the haircuts anyhow!
4. Watch YouTube Videos of Haircuts (If your kiddo is a little older)
If your kiddo is a little older, don’t fret.
If they are old enough to sit still and watch tv, YouTube will be your friend. A quick search for first haircuts will let you and your little see some firsthand. You might even find one at Harmony Barber Shop.
Or even better, and you’re willing, take your kiddo to watch you get your haircut. They will be able to see first hand that haircuts don’t hurt and are no big deal.
…yeah, I totally understand that you probably don’t want to take your kiddo with you to a hair appointment. That is your time for peace and quiet!
5. Don’t Schedule During Naptime
This one is probably a no brainer, but if you’re anything like me, schedules and time all seem to fly out the window when I’m at Disney.
Time no longer means anything and I’m basically on the hunt for Dole Whips and Mickey pretzels from dawn to dusk.
Thankfully, if you’re planning to have your kiddo’s haircut while in Disney, you’ll most likely make the appointment before you head into the parks.
Therefore, you won’t be distracted by all things Disney and be able to focus on having the appointment at an appropriate time.
Odds are nap time is not going to be at the same time as it is back home when you’re in Disney (and if it is, you’re amazing!). With that being said, aim for a time that is well before naptime, instead of after naptime. Scheduling before naptime will let you relax and not freak out if nap doesn’t happen exactly when you planned.
Plus, having the haircut earlier in the day allows you to get it done and frees you up for hunting those dole whips and pretzels. Basically a win-win in my book.
6. Take a Peek in the Window Before Your Appointment
Before your appointment, if there is time, be sure to peek inside the windows of the Harmony Barbershop. Talk about how fun the barbershop is to your kiddo and point out the really cool chairs he/she will get to sit in.
Just a quick peek and heads up might help your little one feel comfortable before heading inside him or herself.
Things Don’t Always Go as Planned
What if things don’t go as ‘planned’?
Let’s be honest, even with the best prep and planning in place, there is no guarantee things are going to go as planned
Don’t worry too much, the barber’s at Disney’s Harmony Barbershop are AMAZING! Not only are they good at what they do, they are also really quick!
They know lots of little tricks for helping keep your little one happy and occupied as they trim away.
Take a look below, here are a few things you can do to help as well.
7. Distract, Distract, Distract
Keep your baby’s hands and eyes busy. So busy that they will forget the weird feeling clippers that are circling their head.
Each time we have visited the barbershops, Disney has provided a handful of toys for our little one to play with. Everything from light-up toys to plastic Mickey figures. Not to mention a TON of (seriously so many) stickers.
As a parent, my job was to keep the toys moving and the stickers sticking. The distractions help a ton and help the time pass so much quicker for your little one.
8. Hold Your Baby
Speaking from experience, you CAN hold your baby is needed. Our second child wasn’t having it with his haircut about 3/4 of the way through.
Attempting to wait things out, little man made it another 2 minutes before he was DONE.
Instead of throwing in the towel, I took little man into my arms and the barber was able to finish up the trim.
In the end, don’t fret if tears start to show up, there are workarounds to help your little one finish up that haircut.
Plus, when all is said and done, you’ll be off continuing your magical day in the Magic Kingdom! Woohoo!! And if all else fails, you can always use a little Mickey bar and bribery to help get through the haircut!
Conclusion
Having your little one’s first haircut is a big milestone! Hopefully these tricks and insights will make it that much more special for you.
Be sure to check out our original post on a first haircut at Harmony Barbershop and what to expect. It goes over everything from making an appointment to finding the Harmony Barber Shop. Check out the post here!
We are really glad we decided to make this Disney memory. Well worth the time! Leave us a comment if you decide to have your baby’s first haircut at Disney World!
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It’s fantastic to learn that you should get your baby’s haircut before it’s their nap time. My wife and I are expecting our first son and we are looking for tips on how to style and cut our son’s hair. I’ll let her know that we should get our son’s haircuts before he is going to sleep.