A 10-week-old boy almost lost four toes when a single strand of his mother's hair became wrapped around them for 14 hours and cut off the circulation.

Alex Upton, 26, has warned other parents of the danger of hair tourniquet syndrome, after her son Ezra was left in agony.

Mrs Upton said she discovered something was seriously wrong when she was woken by the crying infant and he refused milk.

After spotting his red, swollen toes, she discovered a piece of her own light brown hair, which she believes had been wrapped around them for '12 to 14 hours'.

A teaching assistant, from Paignton, Devon, Mrs Upton said: 'I feared Ezra might lose some of his toes and he could easily have needed [to have them removed] if I hadn't noticed the hair then.

'It must have been on there for 12 to 14 hours because I only noticed it in the morning.'

Describing how she discovered the situation, she said: 'Ezra wasn't himself in the morning.

'He wasn't having any of his milk and was just screaming. It wasn't until I was changing him and saw the little bit of hair that I realised why he was so upset. 

'It was just a single strand.'

Four of the toes on his left foot were red and swollen due to the strand of hair cutting off blood flow.

Mrs Upton added: 'I pulled at the hair and realised how tightly it'd wrapped around his toes. I managed to get it off except for the toe next to his big toe. 

'That'd gone so tight that it got to the point where I couldn't get it off. His toes are so small that it was hard to get under the piece of hair.'

While trying to free Ezra's toes, Mrs Upton said she made a panicked call to her husband Ben, 29.

She added: 'After 15 minutes, I thought I'd have to call the doctor or take him to hospital but in the end I managed to get my tweezers underneath and pulled it off.

'After that, I did take Ezra to the doctors just to be checked over and they gave me some anti-bacterial cream to put on it.

'I'll certainly be checking everything for hair from now on. I felt awful. I just can't believe midwives or doctors don't warn you of the risk when you have a baby.'

Mrs Upton, who is currently on maternity leave with Ezra, has urged other parents to stay vigilant when bathing or dressing their children.

She said: 'My advice to any parents would be when you're changing baby-grows or putting on socks, or even getting them out of the bath, check thoroughly and make sure you turn clothing inside out first to remove any stray hair.

'Luckily, Ezra's okay now and back to his normal self.'

Hair tourniquet syndrome occurs when hair wraps around a body part and cuts off circulation.

Symptoms include excessive crying, red or discoloured fingers, toes, genitals, tongue or umbilical cord, mild to severe swelling, an indentation even if the hair isn't visible.

Mothers are advised to brush their hair regularly to prevent loose hair from falling out randomly, keep hair tied back and check their baby's toes and fingers.