Hi, I have a 5 month old daughter who is creeping all around the house. She sucks her left middle and ring finger all the time. She is raking on what ever touches her fingers. I Have put a comforter on the carpet so that she can move about, but she creeps away from the comforter and starts raking the carpet. When she does that she picks up small strands of hair and puts her fingers into her mouth to suck not knowing the presence of that hair in her hand. When ever I see I clean her hands, but I cannot be looking at her all the time and I think she is swallowing them accidentally. I don't know how much she has swallowed so far. What happens if she swallows hair? Is it harmful to her stomach? Will it give her digestion problem? Is there a possibility that if she swallows so much hair, she wouldn't feel hungry?
She is so small and sucking her fingers is her instinct but can anything be done to it. I am vacuuming the carpet, sweeping and moping the kitchen floor everyday. But I just don't understand how those hair come. Any advice appreciated and Thank You so much.
Thanks to all of you who wrote. I am less worried now. Once again thank you so much.
I feel for you. My now 2 yr old had the same issue. I vacumed several times a day. Used the lint brush to pick up everything I could and she still got the hair. I was lucky because as soon as she got one she would gag and I would run get it out. To this day she will run to be sticking her tounge out for me to get the hair off. Sounds like you are doing all you can. I even thought about removing the carpet and putting in tile.
This is completely normal. You should not police every area of your house to the point of a sterile environment; she will build a healthy immune system by ingesting small amounts of "foreign" matter from time to time. Unless she is consuming large clumps of hair, the worst of it is that she will gag on a long strand if it gets caught in her throat.
Watch her while she is crawling and when you discover some hair on her hands, point it out to her. Say "We don't want to eat hair," and make a big show of clearing it off of her hands. She will eventually figure out that this is not something she wants in her mouth.
I strongly agree with K M. We would all be surprised at what our babies swallow. Everything they touch goes into their mouth. Hair will go thru her digestive track without any difficulty. Perhaps the baby who became constipated had swallowed a large clump of hair. Perhaps the clump of hair after someone had cleaned out the hairbrush after several weeks/months. It would have to be enough hair to completely block her intestines. Getting that much hair from crawling on the floor and picking up a hair or two on her fingers is not going to hurt her.
We are all loosing hair everyday, one or two hairs at a time throughout the day. You cannot clean your floor so that there is never a hair on it. Since it's been hot I've been running my fingers thru my hair when I'm on the computer. In an hours time I can see several hairs on the keyboard.
Our bodies build up immunity by being exposed to germs. I do wonder how this next generation is going to fare with all the emphasis on anti-bacterial everything.
My daughter's sister is a super clean freak. She even shampoos her rug every week or every other week at least. Her kids are frequently ill. My daughter, who has kids the same age has not shampooed her rug since she moved in 5 years ago. The only anti-bacterial product she uses in hand soap. Her kids are healthier.
I've seen my grandchildren, as babies, pick up lint and assorted other fluff off the floor. Usually they don't like the texture and spit it out. It's quite likely that your daughter isn't aware that there is a hair on her finger. Which reinforces the idea that she is swallowing very little hair.
Anything that we swallow passes thru out system in 24 hours or less. Therefore she has no build up of hair in her system.
Look at cats who swallow lots of hair as they groom themselves. I frequently find long clumps of hair on the floor and in the yard. Sometimes cats get a hairball which causes them to cough and gag. The hair always comes out of one end or the other.
Please just relax. Kids are tough. And why worry about something that might happen? You've seen no ill effects so far. Why would there be ill effects in the future?
she will CHOKE to DEATH !! i cant believe how many mothers thinks its "cute" when a baby plays & twirls their mothers hair . i used to work with children & one mother thought it was soo cute when her 7 month old "ate" her hair she would laugh at it until one day he choked & she spent 6 hours in the hospital ..well upon his return have to say she thought diffrently after that experience !!
Recent research has found that the more stuff and dust and micro "bugs" kids are exposed to as babies and toddlers the less allergies they have as children and adults. So I would be concerned about hair but not about dust and stuff. Let her be as normal and expansive as she wants to be. It will only make her stronger as a young woman.
The hair isn't anything to worry about. My daughter was (actually still is)in love with my hair. It was her security item. It is fairly long and thick and I lose a bunch every day both in the shower and throughout the day. As soon as she figured out how, she would swipe the hair I had pulled out of my shower comb daily. She would carry around her "hairy" as she called it and often ended up swallowing hair that you definately see come out the other end. She never had any problems with it.
Try putting her in a playpin,make sure you vacuum really well and that he vacuum is getting all the hair,if you have to get on the floor and run your hand over it to insure there is no hair,that she can get ahold of.
Swallowing hair is not good and can cause severe constipation.My daughter got a hold of some hair with out my knowledge and swallowed it,she ended up in the e.r. cause she couldnt have a bowel movement and was turning purple,and not breathing off and on,so we had to call 911 and take her in.They were able to get her to pass the bowl movement and the Dr.said it was caused from her swallowing some hair,and that,that can cause serious constipation.
So no matter what you have to do,make sure there is no hair on your floor or in the playpin.It can also get wrapped tight around her finger quicker than you think and start cutting into it. Please be very careful.
Good luck to you.
She will be fine! I am a hair dresser and in beauty school we were told that particals of hair are in the air and everybody eats hair...it sounds gross, but our body doenst digest the hair so it goes right through us, without any harm!
It might be kind of silly, but you could try. There is always that one blanket or fabric in your house that attracts hair. Maybe if you run that accross the carpet. It might collect a little more hair than the vaccum.
Complication can arise from this. Hair is not digestible and can accumulate within the body and not extract. "Google" it and speak to a physician. A link for starters: http://jrsm.rsmjournals.com/cgi/reprint/94/2/68.pdf
Do you have a dog that is emitting hair all day long? A play pen would stop your worries also if you can't watch her to keep her on the comforter. Check your vacuume too, ours stopped suction and a new one made sooo much difference.
I wouldn't worry about it. Everything goes into their mouths at this age, and a little dirt and hair won't hurt her. I think a daily or every other day or so vacuuming and sweeping is plenty. But you do of course need to be vigilant about anything bigger that she could choke on, anything toxic, as well as all the standard child-proofing safety concerns like electrical outlets. But really, natural things like dirt and hair shouldn't be a problem. In fact, people who aren't exposed to bacteria and such actually end up with weakened immune systems.
