So Junior's locks have grown so long that he looks more like a girl than a boy. Yet the last time kiddo had his haircut, he wouldn't sit still, screamed and tried to bite the crimper.

Fret no more over his floppy follicles, frazzled Mum and Dad.

WHERE KIDDIES CAN GO FOR A HAIRCUT
Curly & Spike (above) 02-14 UE Square tel: 6733-9298 Opening hours: 11am to 7.30pm daily Junior League 01-76A United Square tel: 9128-4879 03/K02 Suntec City tel: 9619-6053 02/52 Parkway Parade tel: 9044-7022 02-183 VivoCity Toys "R" Us tel: 9128-8646 Opening hours: Weekdays 10.30am to 8.30pm, weekends 10am to 9pm Hwa Xia International 02-09 Punggol Plaza tel: 6489-4847 Opening hours: 10am to 8pm daily

Several hair salons have sprung up specially for children, complete with fun chairs and distractions like cartoons to watch and XBox 360 gaming consoles that will make the whole experience child's play.

One chain even has the ultimate antidote to a hair-raising experience - an outlet inside little people's heaven, a Toys "R" Us shop.

A check by Urban found three specialised kiddie clipjoints that have opened within the past four years, which offer cuts from $16 to $20.

Also on offer are beauty treatments for pampered poppets, such as massages and manicures.

And the demand seems to be there - Junior League Children's Style Salon, for example, which opened its first outlet at United Square four years ago has now grown to a chain of four, cutting the hair of an average of 1,000 kids a week.

Its three other outlets are at Suntec City, Parkway Parade and inside VivoCity's Toys "R" Us. The latter opened a year ago.

Junior League founder and owner Michael Yeo says of the Toys "R" Us salon: "It's a one-stop shop. Parents take their kids toy shopping, then go straight into getting their haircut."

For $18 a cut, kids are pampered with candy, balloons, toys and stickers. Each chair even comes fitted with its own TV screen, playing popular cartoons like Dora The Explorer and Tom And Jerry.

Yeo, 59, who has three kids and several grandchildren and describes himself as a well-travelled executive, came up with the concept after seeing it abroad.

"We see our fair share of tantrums, but our stylists are trained to handle kids - patience is the key factor," he says.

Another salon, Curly & Spike at UE Square, has special dwarf-size seats for its pint-sized customers.

Cuts cost $20 but infants certainly get pampered. There's trendy decor like plush couches and a black granite runway for them to sashay down. And it seats only four - making it quite an exclusive experience.

Each custom-made chair comes with a 19-inch flat screen TV, equipped with a DVD player and XBox 360 with the latest games like Shrek and Superman - enough to pacify the most stubborn, scissor-avoiding squirmer.

Owner Philomena Cannon-Brookes, 37, who opened the salon in June this year, says business is doing well. It is next door to JWT Kids Gym, which she also owns.

She says: "Being a mother of three, I know what a pain it can be to take your kids for a haircut."

The enterprising Mum notes that many of her customers come from the JWT Gym, but it gets new people coming in through word of mouth too.

The salon also does kiddie makeovers for $35, complete with manicures and pedicures at $15 for standard polishing and $22 to add rhinestones and 3D stickers, and even hosts birthday parties.

Proud parents can get a before-and-after picture of their children, and a first haircut certificate.

Newly opened Hwa Xia International at Punggol Plaza specialises in haircuts for babies as young as a month old.

Tots sit in car-shaped seats which play music as their hair is trimmed, and they watch cartoons on small TV screens.

A cut there costs $16.

Says Peggy Chua, Hwa Xia's operations manager: "We saw that places like the United States, Australia and China had already done similar concepts, so we wanted to do it in Singapore."

Its hairdressers also make home visits for babies too young to leave the house, charging the usual fee for a cut plus transport fees.

Parents are given locks of their child's hair as keepsakes and a VIP card after their first cut, with the fifth one free.

The salon also offers hydrotherapy - swimming for babies to strengthen their muscles and lungs - and massage services for tots at $25 and $20 respectively, and business is doing so well that there are plans to expand.

"If all goes well, we may be opening another salon in a more central location like Selegie, as Punggol is a little secluded," says Chua.

Junior League's Yeo sums it up: "The environment is a big factor in making the experience enjoyable. Instead of a chore for both parents and children, getting a haircut becomes something kids actually look forward to."