Children with over-responsivity to touch may have difficulty screening out touch sensations and consequently dislike the feeling of the hair on their heads or necks. They may interpret the light touch of water on their head, a comb in their hair, or scissors near their neck as painful or dangerous. Others with postural disorders or over-responsivity to certain head positions may be afraid of tilting their head back during hair rinsing. Others who are sensory seeking may have difficulty just sitting still for hair care. “Hair care” consists of any activity that involves caring for your child’s hair including washing, brushing/combing, and haircuts. Here are some helpful ideas to make hair care for your kiddo with sensory challenges a little bit easier!
General Considerations and Tips
- Use distractions and motivators to help make hair care a more positive experience
- Consider doing haircuts yourself at home. Or if you use a professional stylist, keep looking until you find one who is flexible, patient, and clicks with your child. Some places specialize in cutting hair of kids who are neurodiverse, so they are more apt to use strategies to make it more tolerable or even fun for your child.
- Allow your child to brush, wash, and cut the hair of a special doll or allow them to help you with your own hair care. This can reduce anxiety surrounding hair care because it makes it seem less novel/unfamiliar in a way that is not directly about them.
- “Sandwich” any hair care task: calm/sensory regulating activity to prepà hair careà calm/sensory regulating activity to follow
- Using a visual schedule with your child may also help reduce anxiety surrounding hair care. How you go about this will depend on the developmental level of your child. You may be able to draw it out, write it out, find visual icons for free online, or even take pictures on your phone to create your own simple visuals
Movement and Muscle Tools
- Facilitate having your child participate in a regulating movement-based activity before hair care time to “get their wiggles out”.
- Heavy work: Before or after hair care provide your child with opportunities to participate in chores and fun activities with a lot of pushing, pulling, and carrying. This encourages full body use of muscles to get them calm and organized.
- Offer a steady surface to them to place their feet on during hair care time to help them feel grounded.
- Use a spray bottle instead of head tilting to wet the hair if they dislike tilting head back
- Place a pillow behind your child’s back for them to push into during hair care time.
Touch Tools
- A snug hat, sweatband, or hair band on your child for 15 minutes before hair care will provide firm, maintained touch pressure that can be calming
- Have your child wear a deep pressure vest, a weighted vest, wrap them in Lycra fabric, or provide a weighted blanket/lap pillow for them during hair care.
- Massage your child’s head and give gentle but firm downward pressure on the shoulders prior to hair care.
- Try washing your child’s hair with a washcloth
- Use a handheld showerhead or large cup while rinsing to prevent dripping water on the face
- Condition hair or use a detangler after washing to minimize tangles during brushing
- Use a towel and hair clip during haircuts instead of a plastic cape
- Use firm, maintained touch pressure when brushing or combing
- Experiment with a variety of hair brushes, wide tooth combs, or hair picks
- Teach your child to brush their own hair so that they can use the pressure they prefer.
- Allow your child to get their hair cut while sitting in your lap with a firm, maintained touch pressure hold.
- See if your child prefers scissor cuts or buzz cuts
- Cut hair in the bathtub so the cut hair can be rinsed immediately
- After haircuts, if possible, give your child a bath/shower and change into clean clothes.
- Keep hair short to keep hair out of eyes and minimize tangles
- Off your child a safe hand fidget during hair care.
Ear Tools
- Develop your own story book/social story about hair care
- Tell your child what you are going to do or recite a predictable nursery rhyme/song between clips.
- Play slow, rhythmic, calming music during hair care.
- Avoid noisy hair salons or barber shops. If there is any waiting time, have your child wear headphones as they wait
- If your child tolerates them, you can use ear plugs to minimize water in their ears.
Eye Tools
- If it helps your child to see what is coming, encourage them to watch hair care mirror.
- Allow them screen time during haircuts/brushing if it helps keep them distracted/calm.
- Use tear free or even no rinse shampoo to keep hair out of their eyes
- If they tolerate tipping their head back, consider putting a fun decal on the ceiling over the tub/shower so you can give them a visual cue to spot when rinsing their hair to help keep soap and water out of both their ears and eyes
- Offer swim goggles, a washcloth, or water visor to keep water out of their eyes.
Nose Tools
- Use softly scented or unscented shampoo/conditioners or allow your child to choose the scent
- Avoid salons and barbershops with strong scents
Mouth Tools
- During hair care, if they are able to do so safely, have your child suck on a piece of candy, bite chewy foods, or chew bubble gum
- Offer a safe “mouth fidget” like chewelry or a chewy tube during hair care.
Best of luck with your child’s hair care adventures!
