Being a new parent, few things are quite as upsetting as when your baby is inconsolable and just keeps crying, despite having been fed and changed and snuggled. Obviously, the reasons can be many, and no-one knows your baby like you, but when we came across this warning on Instagram the other day, we thought it was absolutely worth sharing as this particular danger might be one that most parents have no idea about.

We had a big scare yesterday. Ended up at the Childrens' Hospital St Francis again with Ann. This time it was a #hairtourniquet Please tag anyone you know that is a parent or soon to be parent. This is when a hair gets wrapped around a finger toe, or other extremity, and gets so tight it cuts off circulation. It can even result in amputation if not caught soon enough. A hair, for unexplained reasons, does this when feet are in footies or hands in mittens and there is repetitive movement. Check your baby's toes and fingers often. Hair has the ability to stretch when wet, then shrinks when it dries. For this reason hair tourniquets are so dangerous. Praising God again for His grace, a mother's instinct, and my hearing of another story that led me to my instinct the day before. #babies #baby #newborns #newmom #moms #motherhood #hair #fingers #toes

A post shared by The Good Land Homestead (@thegoodlandhomestead) on Feb 13, 2017 at 5:07pm PST

Hard to believe, but this baby was in agony as a hair had been caught in her little sock.  The hair had then twisted around her toes, obviously getting really tight and would around her toe as she wiggled and moved her feet. This may sound innocent enough, but keep in mind that a hair can cause severe pain and can, if would tight enough, even block blood circulation, which could even result in amputation if not noticed in time. More worrying, the longer the hair is there, the harder it gets to spot, as the toe swells. Parents Scott and Jessica Walker also shared the warning on Facebook after the same thing happened to their little girl. The infant had been crying all day, though she seemed to have no reason for it. Jessica then took off her socks, hoping it would calm her, and noticed that her daughter’s toe had swelled and become red. As it turned out, there was a hair that twisted around her toe. When she examined her little girl's foot closer, she discovered there was a hair that twisted around her toe. Luckily, some tweezers and a magnifying glass saved this situation, but if the hair had been left any longer, it could have had a far more serious consequence.