# Anybody cut their kids' hair? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 29, 2016, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-cut-their-kids-hair/744623 "2016-01-29T22:51:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2016, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-cut-their-kids-hair/744623/21 "2016-01-30T16:21:27Z")
Did they have conditioner in the 60s? I don’t remember, maybe that came out in the 70s? But either way, you should comb the hair first (which might hurt) and then cut the smooth, combed hair. It sounds like that gadget your mom had wasn’t a great idea. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2016, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-cut-their-kids-hair/744623/22 "2016-01-30T17:29:04Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > When I was little, my mom trimmed my hair. She had this little pink plastic disc, about three inches in diameter. One segment was straight, with comb teeth moulded in, and the disc sandwiched a razor blade that extended about halfway into the comb teeth. The idea was that all you do is ‘comb’ the kid’s hair, and _voilà!_ Instant ‘haircut’! > > I hated it. It hurt. I remember seeing ads on TV for these things. And it probably hurt because the blade wasn’t sharp enough. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2016, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-cut-their-kids-hair/744623/23 "2016-01-31T00:39:00Z")
Growing up, my dad always cut my and my brother’s hair. He used an electric clipper, and it did not look like a “buzz cut” at all. I didn’t go to an actual barber until I was in college. Now, I cut my own hair with the same type of electric clipper. I don’t want to waste $15 or whatever it is these days, not to mention the travel and wait time. The clipper was around $30; paid for itself in two haircuts. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2016, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-cut-their-kids-hair/744623/24 "2016-01-31T01:08:50Z")
It’s not that clippers can only do a buzz cut, it’s that if you want a buzz cut, clippers are the best tool. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2016, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-cut-their-kids-hair/744623/25 "2016-01-31T02:11:21Z")
I cut my five-year-old son’s hair. It’s not that hard. We picked up a set of inexpensive scissors with both the regular and thinning(?) ones. I’ve cut my own hair with scissors for years so you can get used to it. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2016, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-cut-their-kids-hair/744623/26 "2016-01-31T04:14:49Z")
Kids’ hair are cut at home in my house. Put them in front of the TV - they become statues. ---
**Author:** ![scootergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@scootergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scootergirl)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2016, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-cut-their-kids-hair/744623/27 "2016-01-31T08:14:53Z")
Yes. Once. Never again. I’m not good at it. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2016, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-cut-their-kids-hair/744623/28 "2016-01-31T08:35:49Z")
Only his bangs, and only about once in between haircuts. Besides the hairdresser can wash his hair with shampoo in the washing chair. We just wash his hair with water, have done since birth. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2016, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-cut-their-kids-hair/744623/29 "2016-01-31T08:48:59Z")
Does anyone still use a flowbee? [- YouTube](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=V3G1cwqYkO4) Anyway, i did cut my sons hair untill he was four. He wouldnt have sat still long enough at the hairdresser anyway. I learnt how at a community centre class once. But now you have youtube. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2016, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-cut-their-kids-hair/744623/30 "2016-01-31T20:28:23Z")
My mom cut her four kids’ hair until we were in our teens. My MIL cut her two kids’ about that long, too. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2016, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-cut-their-kids-hair/744623/31 "2016-01-31T20:34:14Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > I cut everybody’s hair in my household (including mine, sometimes), plus a couple of brave friends. I taught myself when I was a poverty-stricken student. It’s not that hard, and you don’t need special scissors, though you do need good sharp ones. Well, maybe you haven’t seen a left-handed woman barber someone with right-handed scissors… 😃 Mom bought the lefty scissors as much for her comfort as for results, and like a lot of such non-standard things it wasn’t a rock-bottom price. On the other hand, that pair of shears lasted more than 40 years. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-cut-their-kids-hair/744623/32 "2016-02-01T13:41:37Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > It’s not that clippers can only do a buzz cut, it’s that if you want a buzz cut, clippers are the best tool. This. As noted upthread, a good set of clippers comes with a set of attachable guards in varying lengths. Mine even includes guards that are shorter on one side than the other for going around ears (cuts hair short near ears, longer farther away), and an eyebrow guard for removing the bushy untamed length from eyebrows (this is more useful for old men than little kids). I haven’t had a professional haircut since Y2K. To be fair, I keep it pretty simple - I use clippers + guard over most of it, and then my wife cleans up my neck - but more sophisticated hair trimming ought to be learnable on YouTube; you can find instructional videos for damn near anything there. [Spend ~20 bucks on a clipper set,](http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=wahl+clipper) and spend an hour watching [YouTube how-to-cut-hair videos](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=how+to+cut+hair); you’ll be saving money after the second home cut. ---
**Author:** ![llcoolbj77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/eb9ed0/32.png) [@llcoolbj77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/llcoolbj77)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-cut-their-kids-hair/744623/33 "2016-02-01T17:58:20Z")
I cut my husband’s hair and my 4yo son’s hair with clippers. I got the $40 Kahl set with multiple guards, as mentioned above. My daughter is 19mos. I just trimmed up her bangs. I think I will continue to cut their hair until they want it in a style I can’t really pull off. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-cut-their-kids-hair/744623/34 "2016-02-01T18:59:29Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > The place I go has a hand lettered sign reading “Yes! We cut kid’s hair”. In smaller, but readable letters it then says, “No additional charge!” > > I never cut my kids’ hair, but I did color their hair once, using Manic Panic brand hair dye and coaching help from a friend. First I put pink streaks in my daughter’s hair. My son demanded equal time, so I put a green band down the center and showed him how to faux-hawk style it. > > When my daughters best friend asked if I would giver her pink streaks, I told her only if she had a permission slip from her mom. Which she got. Good times. Ah, you’re the _fun_ dad! ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-cut-their-kids-hair/744623/35 "2016-03-13T20:21:27Z")
If anybody’s still waiting with bated breath, I watched a bunch of YouTube videos, followed some Pinterest links, and gave it a go today. The front looks fine, the sides are a little ratchet but not, like, alarmingly so. The high chair didn’t work well for it because I couldn’t reach the back very well, we’ll have to come up with an alternate arrangement that keeps him still. On the whole, I’d say it was a valuable experiment, as the barber scissors cost less than a kid’s haircut. I’m sure practice will improve me. ---
**Author:** ![quiltguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e47774/32.png) [@quiltguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-cut-their-kids-hair/744623/36 "2016-03-13T23:33:40Z")
Zsofia: Ya’ got a bowl? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-cut-their-kids-hair/744623/37 "2016-03-13T23:36:26Z")
Bowl might have been more even in the back! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-cut-their-kids-hair/744623.md?page=1)