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Their children might not have much hair, and they might have tiny heads, but doting parents are prepared to fork out big bucks for the latest kid's haircut.
In Auckland, toddlers' haircuts can cost as much as $60 at the top salons for parents used to paying $130 for a cut for themselves, and between $200 and $300 for a cut and colour.
Some upmarket salons avoid cutting children's hair, figuring that sharp scissors, a grumpy child having a tantrum and other high-paying clients sitting nearby simply don't mix.
But top Auckland salon Bettjeman's welcomes the children of clients, as long as parents are prepared to pay $60 for the cut.
Owner Grant Bettjeman says he takes the business of children's haircuts seriously.
"It's $60, and that's a good spot in a salon. That's what half an hour in this salon costs."
He and the other senior stylists in the Orakei salon all cut children's hair.
"We find the more senior a stylist, the better they are at cutting children's hair. You often don't have a big window of opportunity with a child, so you have to be quick. If you take too long, the child is over it."
Parents who paid an average price of $135 for a haircut at the salon were happy to pay $60 for their children - up to the age of 15.
"They know the price, and they want their child to have a really good haircut."
However, trimming a toddler's fringe was done as a free service for clients, he said.
Chagall salon in Auckland City charges $26 for a boy's haircut and $46 for girls, from infants to primary school. The price goes up once they reach secondary school - $30 for boys and $56 for girls. Owner Sam Shirazi doesn't cut children's hair but his staff do.
Servilles in Newmarket avoids cutting children's hair because of the risk of disturbance to regular clients. But if a client asks, the charge for a child's cut is half the stylist's charge-out rate, which ranges from $65 to $110 for adults.
One salon that does welcome pint-sized clients is Kids r Hair, a Remuera hair salon catering exclusively for children. Owner Karen Fraser saw a gap in the market six years ago and opened a child-and-parent-friendly salon.
The kids don't get a hair wash - just a spray of water to get the hair damp - but they do get lollipops and snacks, a play area with toys and books, TVs, videos and PlayStations for older children, and decor that is bright and decorated with kids' art.
Parents can sit and have a coffee and read a magazine, while Fraser and her staff snip away at the family brood.
The salon has feeding and changing facilities for babies, and for the all-important first haircut, Fraser will save a lock of hair for a memorabilia card, with the child's name, age and date of the cut. She'll even take a Polaroid photo of the occasion if a parent has forgotten the camera.
Kids r Hair charges $20 for under two years and $24 for kids aged two and over. The Sharing Shed in Orakei also welcomes children into the barber's chair.
A no-appointment-needed chain of salons, the Sharing Shed's trademark is coloured hairspray at the end of the cut. And a lollipop when it's all over.
The salon charges $13 for children up to the age of four, $14 from five to 11 years and $15 for 12 to 14-year-olds.
