PSA~Check Your Babies Toes

Here is my Public Service Announcement for the day. CHECK YOUR BABIES TOES!! Yes I know this sounds like I am completely psychotic but I am serious. Some of this information may be unpleasant to hear but definitely a necessity to know. Last year when my almost 19 month old was about 9 or 10 months old he  was very fussy for about 2 days. I assumed teething as the culprit because he had no symptoms of anything. It was about 6:30 in the evening and my hubby was about to put Hayden in the tub before bed time. As he pulled his foot out of his sleeper(our kids live in sleepers unless we have somewhere to go that day, benefits of staying home with mommy all day), Hayden started screaming uncontrollably. This was of course abnormal and as we are overlooking his body we noticed this:

(Photo compliments of Babycenter.com)

This ladies and gentlemen is a Hair Tourniquet. A Hair tourniquet is a medical condition where in a hair or other thread becomes tied around a toe or finger tightly, so as to put the digit at risk of damage. The problem usually arises in babies and small children when hairs and thread are lost loosely inside socks. They can become spontaneously tied round a toe and will tend to tighten with wriggling. Natural hair is much more likely to undergo this phenomenon than spun thread.

In the 14 years of being a mother, I had NEVER heard of such a thing or ever had it happen. Apparently it happens more often than is reported. Just as an FYI, this can also happen to little boy parts so check the diaper area too. Luckily for Hayden we caught it quick but unfortunately it required a trip to St Louis Children's Hospital, a shot of anesthetic, and a scalpel to remove the hair. Needless to say, I now wash my socks and sleepers inside out to prevent hair or threads from getting caught inside. I also check his toes, fingers, and boy parts during every diaper/clothing change. 

My other reason for posting is that this morning as I was getting Hayden out of his crib he was favoring his foot and didn't want me to touch it. I brought him downstairs, sat him down, looked at his toes, and sure enough it happened again. However, this time it was an elastic type thread from his spider-man comforter(he went to bed in a 2 piece pajama set, no socks last night). This is a toddler bed set that I purchased at the store. After getting the thread off his toe, I pulled out his blanket and examined it for any loose threats, clipped them off right away.  Now I guess he has to wear properly checked sleepers to bed every night LOL