# Has your child ever cut their own hair?



## Nillarilla (Nov 20, 2007)

DS who is 4 cut his own hair yesterday. He chopped all his bangs off. He said it was because they were bugging his forehead. I was at work when it happened and called home and found out about it. I told a coworker and she said all kids do that at some point. I'm just curious how many other mama's have had kids do this and what you did about it if anything. I'm really at a loss. I don't want him to do it again but I don't know of a reason to give him that he would accept.


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## stormborn (Dec 8, 2001)

My dd cut hers at about that age. I cried







; it had never been cut before that so it went from past her waist to a short bob. She didn't have a reason other than 'it seemed like a good idea at the time' so I just tried to keep scissors out of reach for awhile!


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## Llyra (Jan 16, 2005)

DD1 did it when she was three. She might have been already four, actually-- I can't remember precisely when it happened. She also cut DS's hair at the same time-- he was about a year and a half old, and she cut off all his baby curls from the top of his head, and left all the side ones. I was so sad. She also cut a few inches off one of her braids, and cut her own bangs off at the roots.

The braid was easy to deal with-- we had the hair evened out. DS had to have a very short cut all over, to even out the damage. But there was nothing we could do about the bangs she cut off-- we just had to wait for them to grow again, and she looked pretty ridiculous while they were growing.

All of this happened in the few minutes it took me to go upstairs to lay DD2 down on the bed to nap. And DD1 was really proud of herself-- she thought I'd be thrilled that she'd given herself a haircut, and her brother, too.


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## ewe+lamb (Jul 20, 2004)

Oh yeah they have cut their own hair, each others hair - funny thing with hair is that it grows back so it's not a biggie for me, although my mother nearly had a heart attack when my bf cut my hair at about that age, cut off my pigtails right at the root and i had two bald patches the hairdresser said she couldn't really do anything and hey it did grow back and right down to my butt too, but as I said it grows back - I'm there is lots of other mothers whose kids have cut their hair and their siblings too! lol


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## prothyraia (Feb 12, 2007)

My three year old cut his younger brother's hair.
And neck.









The fallout from that was bad enough that I'm not worried about him doing it again. Otherwise, rather than try to convince him, I'd just make sure all the scissors were out of his reach and he couldn't use them without supervision.

If his hair is bugging him, maybe think about a buzz cut?


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## Masel (Apr 14, 2008)

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d7...H/IMG_2461.jpg

DD did it a few months ago. You can't really tell in this pic but a few parts were really short and still aren't even two hair cuts later.


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## zinemama (Feb 2, 2002)

Never heard of a child who hasn't cut his own hair. Or someone else's.


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## DaughterOfKali (Jul 15, 2007)

No, my son has never done it. Thank goodness!


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## Annie Mac (Dec 30, 2009)

That's a rite of passage, isn't it? There are worse things they could do with scissors. It will grow back. My daughter cut her own bangs when she was around 3. The funny thing was, she did a half-decent job, and I didn't even notice right away!


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## 5gifts (Nov 16, 2005)

Oh man, my dd has cut her hair sooo many times! Even though she'd regret it...it would happen again. She was soooo scissors opsessed! She even cut 4 inches off of MY long hair as I sat at the computer one day!!! I had no idea until I got up and saw hair on the floor!! She was 5 then - I guess it was just a compulsion....

She did it at 3 and 4 several times. The worst...and funniest time, was when she stuck a purple hippo puppet that has a rough velcro mouth for catching a ball - on top of her head with the mouth wide open. She had pony tails in, and the hippo was stuck to her hair - she couldn't pull it off. She is ever one to NEVER ask for help - always thinks she knows what she's doing LOL! So she started cutting 'a little' of her hair on top so she could pull it off.

So she came out, and something looked off. Her pony tails were still intact, but on top of her head, above the bands, the hair was sticking straight up. She had really long hair...she may have been 6 even at the time. So that when I took the bands out.....half the pony tail ended up in my hand!! Boy was she freaky looking for a while!!!!

Of my 4 boys, only the youngest (5 yo) - who is a little boy clone of his sister - has tried to cut hair.


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## lonegirl (Oct 31, 2008)

I did it around 3
With children's safety scissors. I had very long hair and took out a huge chunk in the front to the scalp. lol


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## choli (Jun 20, 2002)

I doubt a kid exists that has not done this at least once...


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## Alyantavid (Sep 10, 2004)

My oldest never has. My almost 4 year old did about a year ago when I was giving him a trim. He only got about 3 hairs though so it wasn't a big deal.


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## sweetcheeks (May 21, 2005)

Neither of my older two have done it and I doubt they will now at their ages (7 and 5). It would not surprise me in the least if DS2 does it, it seems like something he would try. He's my troublemaker.


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## pixilixi (Jun 20, 2006)

Ds did this last year when he was about 3 1/2. Funny thing is, he's never had a hair cut because he still hardly has enough hair to warrant getting it done! He chopped all the baby curls off one side of his head and toward the back. It looked pretty funny.

He did it while he was quiet behind our bed. When I found him in action, he looked worried that I might tell him off, but honestly, it doesn't bother me at all, so I just remarked "oh, you've given yourself a haircut! That's a tricky thing to do!" and left it at that.


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## 34me (Oct 2, 2006)

None of my 3 ever did it but my ds#1 did shave both his eyebrows off when he was in 5th grade


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## beckyand3littlemonsters (Sep 16, 2006)

Yes both my ds cameron and dd. caitlin have both done this on more than one occasion.


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## Viola (Feb 1, 2002)

Both my kids have done it. With my first daughter, it was barely noticeable, she just cut off a long section next to her face. My second daughter gave herself kind of short bangs, but they looked cute.

One of my nieces cut all her hair off at the ponytails, because she didn't want her mom doing her hair anymore. She was about 4 or 5 at the time.


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## Starflower (Sep 25, 2004)

My DD has done this a few times. One time when she was 6 and we'd told her that if she wasn't going to brush her hair or let us brush it, then she'd need to get it cut shorter. So she decided to cut it shorter. We ended up convincing her that the salon would be a better option. She liked what they did and ended up with a short bob. She keeps wanting to grow her hair out, but she won't take care of it, so she ends up with a short bob fairly regularly.

Another time she did her bangs because she was really into painting her face with facepaint. All week, she was painting cool designs/masks on herself. I thought they were actually quite good. About mid-week, she she cut a chunk off the front, leaving about an inch or less. I caught her before she finished and I trimmed the rest, but not as short. Apparently, the hair was covering her face paint art work. I gave her a hairband to pull her hair all her face so she could see the colors she'd applied. I was really surprised though, because she'd been trying to grow out her bangs.


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## Annoia (Nov 16, 2003)

My DS (6) cut his sister's hair in April. With safety scissors. REAL short on top, longish on the sides, a few holes in the back. And her hair is curly, and takes FOREVER to grow.

After I peeled myself off the ceiling, I asked him "why?". He said he wanted her to have "smooth" (I guess short?) hair like him and his father. So we had a discussion about INFORMED CONSENT







and respecting other peoples boundaries. Basically, that he cannot make changes to his sister's hair (or anything else to do with her body) without her saying it's ok. And she is not old enough to say it's ok, as she doesn't understand yet what cutting her hair would mean.

Now, I'm not quite sure what I would say if he cut his own hair. I don't think he would, bc I let him decide how to have his hair cut when he goes to the barber.

And not quite sure what I would say if/when his sister is old enough to give consent and they both decide to have him cut her hair LOL.


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## 4evermom (Feb 3, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *sweetcheeks* 
Neither of my older two have done it and I doubt they will now at their ages (7 and 5). It would not surprise me in the least if DS2 does it, it seems like something he would try. He's my troublemaker.









I don't think my ds did it the first time until he was about 6 so there's still hope







.

He's trimmed the front a few times because it bugs him. I just trim up the rest and suggest he just tell me if it is bothering him. He has easy hair with a bit of a wave so it invariably looks fine.


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## Mama~Love (Dec 8, 2003)

Just snippets here & there, but the worst by far was when DD#1 got the clippers on DD#2's head.

Picture here. Her hair did grow out just fine







.


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## MissMaegie'sMama (Jul 27, 2006)

No self-inflicted haircuts have happened 'round these parts. However, two years ago DS clipped off his own eyebrows with DH's beard trimmer.







It took two months for his brows to grow in again. Lesson learned!

Post-script: School was not yet out for the summer, so DS had to explain what happened to his classmates. He told them that his 2 year old sister was the culprit!


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## One_Girl (Feb 8, 2008)

My cut her hair at school when she was that age. She was wearing pigtails and cut one side only. She told me she was ready for a haircut. We talked about telling me when she wanted a haircut and her teacher told her she would lose her scissor privelages if it happened again.


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## amma_mama (May 20, 2008)

When she was 4.5yo, DD cut some hair in the front just as her bangs were finally fully grown out...back to the drawing board on that process!

DD also shaved off half an eyebrow around the same age, a fat strip right down the center...

For a while she was on "special watch" with the scissors...she has not been inclined to do it again, so she has her scissor privileges back.


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## newbymom05 (Aug 13, 2005)

My 5 yr old has cut his own hair at least twice, his little brother's once (although not bad at all, I caught that right away), but the worst was the dog--they found my good scissors and gave that poor dog a real buzz cut. What can you do, it grows back. I was angriest about the dog b/c they used my good cloth/sewing scissors.


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## Peony (Nov 27, 2003)

DD1 cut a small section off when she was 5 or so, it wasn't really obvious. DD2 age 3, cut off one whole side of hair the week before X-Mas.







The back was intact and most of the other side, but it was hopeless with that one side, it was at the longest parts one inch in length. There wasn't anything left to do but cut it all off.







I'm not of the mindset that girls must have long hair but I have not enjoyed these past 6 months where she has been running around in what is a traditional boy hair cut. Part of it was that her hair had just finally grown in and I had taken her recently for her first real hair cut, it was all this one length adorable bob, and then it was all gone. It is growing back slowly though, it is to the top of her ears now, sigh.


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## Daffodil (Aug 30, 2003)

DD cut a small piece of her hair when she was 4, and made some small cuts in a Santa dress she liked at the same time. I never would have guessed she would do such a thing - she was a very non-destructive kid, and had been using scissors for a long time by then, and had never even tried to cut anything she shouldn't. She was extremely upset and ashamed of herself when I found out, even though I didn't get angry or make a big deal out of it, and she never tried anything like that again. DS is 4 1/2, and hasn't cut any hair yet, but I won't be surprised if he does. I'm a little surprised he hasn't tried it so far.


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## MAMom (Mar 24, 2005)

Oh yes, DD cut off her beautiful locks at 3.5. It wasn't funny to me in the moment, but I'm glad I took pictures and saved the hair, and can look back on it now and laugh.

We put the scissors away for a long time and talked repeatedly about how we don't cut our own hair (though I do the haircuts in my house). DD wanted her hair like her brother's (a buzz cut), so that's what she was trying for


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## LindsC (Dec 16, 2008)

DS just turned 3 years old, but he has never cut his own hair. Heck, he throws a huge fit everytime we need to cut his hair.


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## Bea (Apr 6, 2008)

My son gave himself a haircut aged 2 and 10 months. Within an hour of a trip to the hairdressers. It was obviously inspiring









He's never done it again despite almost free access to his scissors, apparently the reality of his image in the mirror didn't match with his random snipping of chunks out his head


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## momshelper (Jun 6, 2010)

My daughter did it once when she was about three and my son took until he was 13 years old to cut a chunk outta the front of his hair...!!!! What can I say...LOL!!!


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## Hey Mama! (Dec 27, 2003)

My older girls both have. Oldest dd just cut a little snip out, no big deal. Middle dd chopped half of her bangs off because they were bothering her. One side was a normal length, one side was 1 in long. I ended up cutting all of them super short. Youngest dd hasn't done it yet.


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## MtBikeLover (Jun 30, 2005)

Yep - DD did it around that age. She had been asking me to take her to get her hair cut but we had been busy so I never got around to doing it. So she took matters into her own hands and cut it herself. When I asked her why she cut it she said it had been bothering her.

I didn't care at all and it saved me the $20 I would have paid to have someone else do it.

She then proceeded to cut her own hair about 6-8 more times over the next couple of years. I think she is past that stage now but you never know.


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## bandgeek (Sep 12, 2006)

DS did when he was 3 1/2. I know I did it once when I was little and so did my sister. My friend's kid just chopped off all his little sister's hair. He's 6.

Kids certainly do have a fascination with cutting hair!


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## Annoia (Nov 16, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Mama~Love* 
Just snippets here & there, but the worst by far was when DD#1 got the clippers on DD#2's head.

Picture here. Her hair did grow out just fine







.

That just about stopped my heart. Ouf!

Did you go for the 'cut-it-all-and-start-over' or 'make-do-with-whatcha-got' approach?

When DS cut DD's hair, I decided to let it grow for a bit before evening things up.


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## Dukey25 (Nov 19, 2006)

My ds also cut his bangs because they were bugging him. When I took him for a fixer haircut the hairdresser told him it was dangerous because he could cut himself (which carried more weight coming from someone else).
I also try to get him for a haircut faster when his hair starts to bug him


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## lotusdebi (Aug 29, 2002)

Both of my boys have cut their own hair, and DS1 has cut DS2's hair. I was more upset over DS1 cutting his weighted blanket.









I remember cutting my bangs when I was about 7. I thought I was doing a good job - wet the hair first, used a comb, cut (mostly) straight across. But, when my hair dried, it was way too short and looked silly.


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## Mama~Love (Dec 8, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Annoia* 
That just about stopped my heart. Ouf!

Did you go for the 'cut-it-all-and-start-over' or 'make-do-with-whatcha-got' approach?

When DS cut DD's hair, I decided to let it grow for a bit before evening things up.

We just did the comb-over to cover it up til it grew out, then got it all cut the same length.


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## karika (Nov 4, 2005)

yes dd1 did it last year. I think she got the idea from a country music video. I freaked out. She had gone in her room and was only in there a few minutes. her dad took her to a salon that evened it up.


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