Mom's stray hair can inhibit baby's circulation

I'm a new mom. I've heard that a strand of my hair can tangle around my baby's finger and cut off circulation. Can that really happen?

Yes, says Dr. Michael Grosso, a pediatrician and chief medical officer at Huntington Hospital. "Most pediatricians see this a few times a year," he says.

Here's what occurs: The parent or caregiver's hair falls out and gets wrapped around baby's finger or toe. Baby obviously doesn't have the dexterity to brush it off. It can get pulled tighter as baby moves. The caregiver may not notice because the hair is so fine and hard to see.

"It's generally not observed until its effects are observed," Grosso says. The finger or toe swells. That makes the hair tighter, into what Grosso calls a "hair tourniquet." The hair can also dig into the skin. In a worst-case scenario, a surgeon must remove it, Grosso says. "It's not life-threatening, and I've never heard of it causing a loss of the extremity," he says.

But it can cause infection, he says. "It's a good thing for parents of infants in particular to know about," Grosso says. Get in the habit of checking baby's fingers and toes daily.

If a single finger is

inexplicably swollen, that's suspicious, he says. "There are very few ailments that do that in healthy infants and toddlers. An early trip to the doctor's office may avoid the need for a trip the day after to the surgeon's office."