6 Tips for a Fun and Drama Free First Salon Visit for Your Afro Kid

In a previous post, I talked about how to choose the perfect salon for your child's natural hair. And in another post, I listed 10 different types of hair professionals and how to choose the right one based on your hair needs. So now that we've gotten some knowledge on salons and hair professionals, and after visiting about 3 salons before choosing the best child friendly hair professional, it is now time to prepare your daughter for her first real salon visit!

Regardless of the personality trait of your child, it is important for the both of you to be prepared before going to the salon, so that you can both have a more favorable and enjoyable experience. Below, I have listed 6 easy preparations to help prepare your Afro Kid for her first salon visit.

At Home

1. Talk to your child days in advance so that you can both build a level of excitement prior to her first visit. You can even have a count down calender, similar to the one you would have for any other special activity or milestone such as her first day at school, dance class, violin lesson or what not. You can even have her choose the hairstyle she would like to have someone else do on her for the very first time. 

2.  Prep your child’s hair in advance so that her first salon visit can be shortened. You can prep her hair by washing, deep conditioning, combing, detangling and stretching the hair so that the hair is ready to be styled. You can gradually add each process to future visits as she gets comfortable sitting still for long periods of time.

Hair which is stretched is easier to work with 

At the Salon for the first time

3. Bring your own hair tools and products if necessary. Children can be sensitive to unfamiliar items, so it’s best to bring your own hair tools and products at this time. Having your own set of tools on hand will help to create a sense of familiarity because your child is already used to those tools. Also, having your own products will produce expected results which questionable salon provided products might not. Although salons should always carry a set of sanitized hair tools, one can't always guarantee this, regardless of how fancy the place looks on the outside. So, please bring your hair bag with you.

4. Choose a quick and easy, but fun hairstyle so that her first salon visit doesn't take forever! A complicated and time consuming hairstyle can be frustrating to you and the hairstylist, especially if the child is tender headed, can't sit still for more than 10 minutes at a time or falls asleep while she gets her hair done. Also, if you have a child that likes to whine and complain, it would be best to keep it simple at this point.

5. Bring a distraction for your child in case the salon doesn't offer one. Although many salons have TVs, magazines and other sorts of things to pass time, a majority of these items might not be appropriate for your child. So remember to bring along an iPad, iPod, game boy, books, coloring sheet and lots of snacks.

All Done :)

6. Stay at the salon! Bear in mind that this is your child’s first time at the salon. It is also an important experience which she will remember for a long time and it would be nice if you were a part of it. Your presence at the salon will also ensure that the stylist doesn't use a particular tool, product or technique which you normally won't use at home. This will also give you the opportunity to ask the stylist more questions and answer any question she might have for you. You can also help to calm your child when she starts squirming.

First time experiences aren't always smooth sailing, so your child might need a few more visits to be comfortable with the routine, so don't get frustrated if the first visit didn't go according to plans. Keep Trying. And if things still doesn't work out, you might need to wait until your child grows older to be comfortable getting her hair done outside. In the meantime, simply put her hair in quick and easy styles such as as buns, chunky cornrows and twists. You can also have a family member who is close to the child help out.

How was your daughter's first salon visit? What were some of the things you did to make her first visit fun?