Almost 3 years ago, Jonathan and I started finding Lydia with hair in her hand. Soon, we figured out she was pulling out her own hair and rubbing it on her face while she sucked her thumb. We knew it had to be the stress of having a new baby in the house and that is how she was coping with it. It didn’t take long for her fine, shoulder length, wispy hair to be noticeably shorter.
We tried many different ways to get her to stop. We offered her cuddly blankets, tried to get her to stop sucking her thumb, spending more time with her and vitamins, just to name a few. The doctor wasn’t quite sure but thought it might be a OCD symptom and suggested we bring her to a psychologist. We prayed often, just wanting to get some kind of answer. I often felt like I was a bad mother and that maybe I shouldn’t have had another baby so soon.
We had a friend cut her hair to even it out. She continued to pull even that short amount and was soon completely bald on one side of her head. We then decided to try shaving it, because then it might be too short to pull. Which worked until it grew out long enough for her to grab onto.
Then came Lydia’s 2nd birthday. Still hairless we brought her to the doctor for her yearly check up. She came home with a stuffed animal bunny. She loved that bunny and carried it with her everywhere. Not long after she got it we started finding bunny hair everywhere. She had started pulling it’s hair rather than her own. We rejoiced over vacuuming the bunny hair and watching Lydia’s hair grow back in. She still pulled once in a while and then we would give her the bunny and all would be well. For Christmas her Auntie gave her a pink poodle and soon we were finding pink fur around the house. The puppy got bald spots pretty fast and there have been a few more pets since then-another puppy, monkey, and now lion(a.k.a. Leo Lydia Joel Davis).
I was reminded of what we have journeyed throughwhen I was checking out at Sam’s the other day and the cashier commented on how much hair Lydia had. This stranger had no idea that my petite little girl was a baldie for a while. I was blessed by her comment and I am extremely grateful to God for giving Lydia her headful of hair.