A British mom whose son would sleep only after playing with her hair got him a ‘creepy’ doll’s head – but the plan has backfired.
The 14-month-old toddler now takes the mannequin head everywhere he goes.
Ilarni Clark, 22, would always allow her tot Harry to play with her hair, but she started thinking of alternatives when the kid’s habit began giving her headaches.
It was when the mother, from Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, took the problem to social media.
Luckily, a trainee hairdresser offered her the head of a spare doll, having almost the same locks as the mom herself.
Ilarni, a reception manager, reached out to help from social media after she’d had enough of Harry’s hair pulling habit.
Her social media friends gave her all sorts of funny suggestions ranging from plastic dolls to hair extensions before Ilarni took the hairdresser’s offer.
“It started because Harry wouldn’t settle unless he was twiddling with my hair,” Ilarni said. “He’s done it since he was a baby.
“I couldn’t leave him with his dad because he doesn’t have any hair to play with and he just wouldn’t sleep at all.
“A week ago I put something on Facebook saying I needed some help because I constantly had a headache and couldn’t sleep because he was pulling my hair out in the night.
“People commented on Facebook and said to get a Baby Annabelle or some extensions, but I didn’t think it would work.
“Then one of my friends who’s a hairdressing trainee messaged me saying she had a spare hairdressing doll if I wanted to try it.
“The doll hair is the same color and same length as my hair. I don’t think he notices it’s any different. He took to it straight away. He absolutely loves it.”
The plan seems effective at first as Harry started sleeping on his own.
Ilarni said: “At the weekend, my partner’s mom rang me and he’d fallen asleep on his own. He’s never done that.
“I normally have to rock his pram to go to sleep. He needs to be moving to sleep normally.
“I’ve tried everything to get him to fall asleep on his own, but he got on the sofa, got his doll head and fell asleep for an hour and a half.
“This is the secret – get a creepy hairdressing doll. He does normally sleeps through the night, but last night he was a nightmare.
“I took the doll head off him because I don’t let him sleep with it while I’m asleep in case the hair goes round his neck. He woke up and noticed, then screamed for about three hours.”
But the plan backfired when little Harry got so obsessed with the head, named ‘Baba,’ that he started carrying it everywhere he went.
The boy would keep the head with himself while sleeping, eating, and even going outdoors.
Ilarni has admitted that the mannequin head has left her and her 21-year-old husband Callum Mackay terrified a number of times at night.
“In our bed, there’s me, Callum, Harry – and the doll’s head. It has given me a few frights in the middle of night,” the mom said.
“For the first couple of nights I shouted, ‘Callum, there’s someone in the room!’
“We’ve both done it. Harry carries it around everywhere he goes. He won’t eat his breakfast or his meals unless the doll’s with him.
“We went to go to town [on Monday] and I said “Come on, we’ll go in the car” and he was halfway through the door with it.
“I refused to take the doll’s head with me and he had an absolute meltdown and screamed. I had to distract him with something else.
“I’ve gone over and given the doll a kiss by accident instead of Harry. It takes about half an hour to get back to sleep because you get such a shock.”
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