Ever heard of hair tourniquet (tur-ni-ket) syndrome in newborns? Neither had I, until my pediatric plastic surgeon husband scared the heck out of me about it.
When we first brought home LadyP from the hospital (1 month ago!) he kept telling me to “mind my hair” and make sure that there weren’t any of my long, shed strands stuck on her blankets, in her bassinet or anywhere near her. Turns out, strands of hair are actually strong enough to wrap around infants’ tiny fingers and toes and cut off circulation! (As though I wasn’t already annoyed about post-partum hair loss… now I had to worry about my own hair harming my baby girl?)
My husband says that the worst cases involve amputation of babies’ fingers & toes (he’s seen it happen and dealt with it first hand). Ponytails for everybody! Here’s an easy read if you’re curious for more info:
