10-Week-Old Boy Nearly Lost Two Toes, And His Mom Warns Other Parents About Hair And Thread Tourniquets

October 9, 2018

Mom’s warning to other parents about hair tourniquets

When you’re taking care of a baby, it’s nearly impossible to know where the next danger may be lurking. A mom took to Facebook to warn other parents about one of such dangers after her baby son almost lost his two toes.

Heather Fricke was getting ready to go out with her partner, Tommy, and her 10-week-old son, Jacob. The latter woke up from his nap, Heather changed his diaper and clothes. Then, she asked Tommy to put socks on Jacob.

That’s when Tommy noticed that two of their son’s toes "were blue and tied together with a strand of hair," Heather wrote in a now-viral Facebook post.

MakeStory Studio / Shutterstock.com

Heather and Tommy took their son to the ER, where doctors carefully removed the rest of the hair. Heather was told that if she hadn’t taken off some of the hair, her son’s two toes would have been amputated, so he was lucky.

Little Jacob’s toes were saved, but they remained swollen for hours after the hair was removed. Just looking at the boy's little toes and thinking about what could have happened to them pained his parents immensely.

After their ordeal was over, Heather took to Facebook to warn other parents about hair tourniquets. The mom’s message has been heard; to date, the post has been shared more than 240,000 times!

Jacob’s story is not unique

Unfortunately, Jacob’s case is not unique and uncommon. A dad named Scott Walker wrote a viral post about a similar scare he had with his baby daughter.

The girl was screaming and her body temperature started to rise, but her parents had no idea what was happening until they removed her socks.

There was a hair tied tightly around one of the baby’s toes. Fortunately, the girl’s mom managed to remove the hair and save her toe.

How can you prevent hair tourniquets?

Hair tourniquets (sometimes called hair-thread tourniquets, as they are also caused by loose threads) may or may not be common – we don’t know for sure, as not all such cases are reported. Hair tourniquets can lead to amputation in extreme cases if they go unnoticed long enough, so it’s important to know how to prevent them.

Wallenrock / Shutterstock.com

According to HealthLine, the following can help:

Brushing your hair frequently to prevent loose hairs from falling on your baby.
Keeping your hair tied back during bathing, changing diapers and clothes, and playing with the baby.
Checking the baby’s clothes and crib for loose hairs and threads, and removing them.
Checking the baby’s toes and fingers (and penis, if it’s a boy) for signs of a hair tourniquet.

PHOTOCREO Michal Bednarek / Shutterstock.com

If your baby is crying for seemingly no reason, remember to check the baby’s fingers and toes!