A mum has said she is regularly stopped in the street by strangers who think her son is a doll or that he is wearing a wig thanks to his wild mop of brunette hair.
Emma Mooney, 35, said nurses and midwives were surprised when her son Charlie Foster was born with black hair.
Since then, the nine-month-old's hair has only got longer and more voluminous, Emma said.
The mum, who works as a certification manager, said she is stopped every time she leaves the house as other people think her baby is either a life-like reborn doll or that he is wearing a wig.
The mum, from Kettering, Northamptonshire, claims she and her son were once stopped by strangers 11 times in a day.
She said: "People stop us in the street all the time, it's like having a little celebrity.
"We can't go through a supermarket shop without people stopping us. Some people in a shop think he's a doll and that I'm just pushing a doll round in a pushchair.
"I've been asked if he wears a wig and he gets constantly mistaken for a girl despite dressing him like a boy. When people ask if he's wearing a wig I do think 'why do you think that? No-one's putting babies in wigs'.
"I used to say he looked like one of the Golden Girls because he had this incredible, enormous head of hair. It looked like he'd had it blow-dried at the salon.
"I was in Ikea the other day and someone walked past and she said 'oh my god your baby's hair is amazing', I get that quite a lot. I don't mind the attention at all, it's lovely."
She said: "It takes me ages when I go out shopping with him. We went to Asda a couple of days ago. I only needed some bread and some milk and we were there an hour and a half.
"I think the most I've been stopped in one day is 11 times with people stopping to ask about it and they want to touch it."
The mum-of-one, who lives with 45-year-old transport planner partner Colin Foster, once shared a charity shop bargain on Facebook modelled by Charlie.
The post was flooded with comments from baffled social media users asking Emma whether Charlie was a doll or was wearing a hairpiece.
Emma said: "In my Facebook post people said they thought he was a doll and asked if he was wearing a wig.
"Within a few minutes it reached 100 comments, it was crazy."
After posting her Facebook advert, she had to update it to read: "Edit: he doesn’t sit in it for long periods, thank you for your advice and yes, I promise he’s a real baby and that’s his real hair!
"Thank you all SO much for the lovely kind comments about baby Charlie we’re very, very lucky."
One Facebook user wrote: He’s lovely, I actually thought at first glance he was a pretty doll! Glad you got him a bargain!"
Another commented: "I thought he was a doll at first and then a real baby wearing a wig and actually it's a real baby with his own hair. Just soooo cute.
Another user wrote: "The kid is nine months old and has better hair than me. Sad times! Great find BTW [by the way]."
Emma suspected Charlie was going to have a lot of hair when she started experiencing severe heartburn during her pregnancy.
She said: "I had heartburn when I was expecting him. I had to send Colin out late at night to get me some Gaviscon in the last month.
"It's completely true, not an old wives' tale at all. I'm convinced it was Completely true, not an old wives' tale, I'm convinced it was because he was so hairy.
"He was born in January with a full head of hair and all the nurses and midwives all commented about how much hair he'd got.
"When I first saw him his hair felt like thick layers of silk. It was amazing, it was the softest thing you could ever possibly imagine touching."
Obsessed with Charlie's flowing locks, Emma admits she now finds it odd seeing other bald babies.
Emma said: "When I see another bald baby I just think 'oh my god where's your hair?', it's so weird.
"I'm completely obsessed with his hair. It's more noticeable to me when I see another baby that doesn't have any hair."
Charlie's locks grow at such a rapid rate that Emma had to book him in for his first haircut at the tender age of just four months old.
Emma said: "He hasn't lost any hair at all since he was born, it's just got bigger and bigger and longer.
"By the time he was four months old he had to have his first haircut as it was getting into his eyes and you could see it was annoying him.
"I remember taking him into the salon. I hadn't got an appointment, the hairdresser just looked at me and said 'what would you like doing?'
"I said 'it's not for me it's for the baby'. She took one look at him and her jaw dropped to the floor."
She said Charlie needed a second haircut at six months as his fringe was going into his eyes and covering his ears.
Emma said she often has to brush Charlie's hair and when she washes it with shampoo, she uses a towel to dry it and let the rest dry naturally.
