Image: Shutterstock
To dress up your baby girl is one of the most enjoyable activities for mommies. You love to style her hair in as many cute ways as possible. You would also get all the colorful hair accessories, most of which your baby girl may not personally be fond of. But you just love to see your little girl look all pretty. But here’s what you need to be warned about. Did you know that hair ties and accessories can be dangerous for your baby? Are you aware of the risks that come with hair ties to babies?
Hair loss
Your baby’s hair is much more fragile than that of older children. Also, the texture of baby’s hair is silky. The fine silky hair can have the best grip if you tie the hair tight. Here’s where the problem arises. When you tie your baby’s hair tight, it can break off causing traction hair loss. Dermatologists also do not recommend tying hair tightly, especially in babies. The condition called traction alopecia, or hair loss happens if the hair is pulled too tightly for a prolonged period in a repeated manner. It can weaken the hair follicles until the smaller and finer hair are also lost entirely. If you make braids, ponytails, or use hair extensions, they put stress on the hair follicles and cause traction alopecia as well.
Choking
It’s common for babies to put objects into their mouths. If your baby pulls off the hair ties, she will chew or suck on it. If a hair accessory gets loose or if the smaller hair ties get loose, they can become a choking hazard to your baby. Instead of using small elastic hair band or clips that your baby can pull out and put into her mouth, you might want to use larger cloth covered hair ties. However, your baby may still be able to pull it into her mouth. So you may want to be a bit watchful of what your baby is doing with her hair.
Allergies
If you use rubber bands to tie your baby’s fine hair, then you should be aware that these elastic rubber bands are likely to cause an allergic reaction in your baby. Latex allergy can show symptoms such as a runny nose, wheezing, difficulty in breathing, etc. It’s not just these, but latex allergy might also cause irritation to your baby’s delicate scalp and skin which can get an inflammation or develop a rash.
Strangulation
Using ribbons might sound like a safe idea. Especially with those cute bows on your little girl, you will want to use ribbons. But did you know that ribbons and larger loops can pose a strangulation risk to your baby? If the elastic hair or the loose ends of the ribbon can get caught around the neck or other objects, it can cause strangulation.
Does that mean that you should not tie your baby’s hair?
No, provided that you don’t tie the hair up too tight. You must be gentle with your little one’s hair. Also, you should not let the hair get into the little one’s eyes as it might irritate the eyes. Germs or dirt can easily pass into the eyes through long hair falling over the forehead and causing conjunctivitis. Here are a few tips:
- Look for hair accessories that don’t have added parts such as tiny stones or plastic cartoon characters which can fall off after a few uses. These little added-parts can cause a choking hazard.
- When it comes to hair bows, use the ones that aren’t too small and could be swallowed easily.
- Use tangle-free rubber bands to prevent the hair from getting stuck or uprooted.
- Don’t comb your baby’s hair when it is wet.
- Use gentle strokes to brush your baby’s hair. Use a wide toothed comb or hair brush with soft rounded bristles that help in detangling hair.
