Suffolk mum says her daughter's 'uncontrollable hair is beautiful'

Layla said she loves her hair

A mum whose daughter has uncombable hair syndrome wants to teach her that "different is beautiful".

Layla, three, from Great Blakenham, Suffolk, was diagnosed with the condition that affects only about 100 people, when she was about one.

Mum Charlotte, said her hair is constantly "fluffy" as it lacks protein and grows in a different shape and "outwardly".

"We don't treat her any differently but the rest of the world does", she added.

Layla's four-year-old brother Freddie said his hair is "smart" and he thinks his sisters hair is "pretty" and it tickles when he gives her a cuddle

Charlotte said the biggest challenge for her family is to explain "consent" to Layla.

"People just come up and touch of her," she added.

"How do you teach a child it's not OK to go up and touch someone?"

Layla loves days out with her brother Freddie, mum Charlotte, and dad Kevin

Charlotte said when several people noticed Layla's hair was different, and after her third or fourth nail infection, she went for tests.

• BBC Radio Suffolk - The girl with Uncombable Hair Syndrome

She said testing was not available on the NHS so went to a private trichologist - a hair and scalp specialist -in Ipswich who was "thrilled as it was the first case he'd seen".

"I was stunned, we always knew she was special but now she's diagnosed as special," Charlotte said.

What is uncombable hair syndrome?

• Uncombable hair syndrome, also known as "spun glass hair syndrome", is a rare condition caused by a genetic mutation

• The shaft of the hair can be triangular or heart-shaped, compared to normal hair which has a circular cross-section, according to research published in the American Journal of Human Genetics

• Researchers said the condition, which usually occurs in childhood, improves with age in most cases

Charlotte said the family wanted "to teach her that being different is beautiful" so created an Instagram account to "educate people".

"There's not too much she can do about her hair and I want her to love it and I want her to know people love it too."

Layla's Instagram account has 2,300 followers and says she is"one of the lucky people" to have uncontrollable hair syndrome

She said when she recently went to a supermarket a man aggressively said to her "why would you style your child's hair like that, it looks like you've rubbed balloons all over her".

Charlotte said she thought carefully how to respond, as it would show Layla how to handle it.

"I said, I haven't done anything to her hair, it's natural and I think it's beautiful."