Turning heads since the moment she was born, Scarlett Godsall, now just seven months old, has locks so luscious her mum has been asked if her blonde highlights have been put in by a hairdresser.
Already able to wear her mane in bunches – which see her compared to Monsters, Inc. character, Boo – the tot was born on February 25 at Tunbridge Wells Hospital, weighing 8lb 8oz, with a full head of dark hair, complete with natural blonde flecks.
Now her mum, Kimberley Godsall, 36, a private tutor, of Tunbridge Wells, Kent, who is known as Kimbo, has to trim it every couple of weeks, as it grows so fast.
She said: “I knew about four hours before she was born that Scarlett was a hairy baby.
“The midwife had to put a clip on her head to monitor her heartbeat, but she was finding it hard to actually attach it, because there was too much hair.
“The first thing we all noticed when she was born was her hair. There was a lot of it, but she also had blonde highlights. It was quite dark but had little blonde tips, so it looked like she'd been to the hairdresser and had the foil treatment."
She continued: “The midwives commented on it and everyone who came to visit mentioned it. If I had a pound for every time someone commented, I would be a very rich lady.
“I really wanted a hairy baby. I'd been born with a lot of hair and it's just how I envisaged my child would be. She looked exactly like I thought she would."
Having been single for three years, longing to be a mum, Kimbo – who is sharing her story as singer Natalie Imbruglia announced the birth of her first child, Max, after undergoing IVF with a sperm donor – decided to “go it alone," opting to use her own eggs and donor sperm to get pregnant.
Following three attempts – two using intrauterine insemination, or artificial insemination, and one round of IVF- costing a total of £16,000, after 18 months of trying, Kimbo fell pregnant with Scarlett.
She continued: “I did choose a donor who had the same colour hair as me, but that's as much as I know about him. I don't know if he was a hairy baby, too.
“There's an old wives' tale that you get heartburn during pregnancy if you have a hairy baby, but that didn't happen with me at all."
Because Scarlett has a full head of hair, Kimbo washes it every other day with baby shampoo, planning her night-time routine to fit around it.
“If I feed her too soon after she's had her bath, then her hair goes crazy because it dries in that position," she explained.
“I have to wait for it to dry before I feed her.
“My mum said I lost some of my hair as I grew, but that didn't happen with Scarlett, it's just kept growing. Now it's in a kind of pixie style and some days it looks like a bit of a mullet."
Kimbo explained: “It all grows forwards into her fringe. I've had to cut it several times already, which is ridiculous. From around four months I've been cutting it every couple of weeks, waiting until she's asleep before getting to work.
“The first time I did it when she was awake, but it was at a very funny angle. It was a proper, 'Mummy's cut your hair' kind of style, so I thought it was best to do it when she's sleeping and doesn't move around.
“I like putting it in bunches now, so she looks a lot like Boo from the Disney film Monsters, Inc."
And I'm desperate to put it into French plaits. I'm going away to Kent coast with my sister during the October half term and we're determined that between us we'll be able to do it
Kimbo Godsall
She added: “And I'm desperate to put it into French plaits. I'm going away to Kent coast with my sister during the October half term and we're determined that between us we'll be able to do it."
Scarlett draws admiring comments from people when she is out with her mum, together with plenty of astonished remarks about the sheer amount of hair she has.
Kimbo laughed: “I got some of the little bows for babies her age to put in it, but her hair was actually too thick to fit in them."
She continued: “When we go out people will comment on how much hair she has, together with quite a few blokes saying, 'She's got more hair than I have.'"
Other parents looking at Scarlett's newborn pictures online would say their babies did not have hair like that until they were three months old.
“Her hair is also quite chameleon-like, in that it seems to change with whatever she's wearing," Kimbo continued. “Sometimes it can look quite dark, other times it looks red or light brown."
She said: “A few friends have joked, saying it would cost a lot of money to get her look done in a salon. But strangers have actually asked me if I've already taken her to a hairdresser to have it done professionally!"
Rather than being shy, Scarlett laps up the attention attracted by her impressive barnet.
“She has a smile for anyone who speaks to her and looks quite puzzled if she gets ignored," Kimbo said.
Kimbo added: “She's a very nosy little whatsit, she likes to know what's going on. There's a twinkle in her eye that tells me she's going to be trouble when she's older.
“As for her hair – I think it will just keep growing and I'm looking forward to trying out all kinds of hairstyles on her as it gets longer. "
