Toddler Nearly Dies While Sleeping & Every Mom Needs to See Her Photo

So, you've child-proofed up a storm, and swear your toddler is sleeping safely … well, there's one risk you may not have considered yet: long hair. That's right, one mom was recently horrified to learn that long hair nearly strangled her toddler.

How it happened: Australian mom Amanda Lee's daughters share a room; one night her 21-month-old Taleisha climbed into her big sister Rhianna's bed to sleep. Somehow, Rhianna's waist-length hair twisted around Amanda's neck.

Taleisha started screaming; her parents rushed in and found some scissors to cut her free. While the toddler is doing well now, check out the mark left on her neck. That's no joke!

hair strangulation

Mom Amanda snapped this photo and posted it on Facebook as a warning to others — and it's been shared over 72,000 times.

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So consider this your warning, too! And not just for older siblings with long hair. I mean YOU, mama. If you've got long tresses, your baby could be at risk.

Honestly, this story makes me want to give myself and everyone else in my family buzz cuts. Because hair is hard to avoid! Even if you don't co-sleep, strands of it fall everywhere. Cases even abound of single strands wrapping around baby's fingers and toes that would require emergency surgery to remove.

And it's just hair, either. Teething necklaces are another big strangulation risk, as I learned after a mom in Australia found her 21-month-old unconscious, necklace wound tightly around her neck. Clothes and their cotton threads can also pose a danger.

All in all, this has opened my eyes to the fact that strangulation can happen with anything — hair, string, clothes — so moms must be vigilant to things beyond the obvious.

Do you worry about your hair being a strangulation risk for your child?

Image via Photographee.eu/shutterstock