This toy can get SO stuck in kids' hair that parents are saying it should be banned

Of all the harmless accidents kids get into while playing around the house, getting something stuck in your hair—be it a hairbrush, a piece of gum or a handful of slime—is among the worst, for all parties involved. However, when mom-of-two Lisa Hoelzle saw what was stuck in her daughter Abigail's hair, she probably wished it was just a piece of gum.

She says her son, Noah, jokingly poured the whole container of burr-like toys called Bunchems on her daughter's head while they were playing in the basement. The kids tried to remove them on their own at first to no avail, so by the time mom was notified, Abigail had about 150 of them fully tangled and matted into her hair. Yikes!

According to Hoelzle's post on Facebook, it took her three hours to remove just 15 pieces. FIFTEEN! Out of the 150 pieces stuck in there! Now, some parents would just pull out the scissors, say tough luck and get to chopping, but Hoelzle was determined to save her daughter's long hair, so she spent over an entire day handling the situation armed with a detangling comb and all the mineral oils and conditioners she could get her hands on. Take a look at Hoelzle's full post below:

Surprisingly, Abigail didn't cry very much during the removal process, which is pretty amazing considering most kids can't sit still for five minutes let alone 20+ hours of detangling. To be honest, if we were in her position, we'd probably be crying the whole time, so kudos to her!

And big kudos to Hoelzle, who should be applauded not just for admitting that she herself shed a few tears during the process, but for having the patience to remove every single piece without reaching for the clippers. Patience is on very short supply due to the pandemic, so we have no clue how she did it.

It should be noted that this wasn't just a one-off case of bad luck for Hoelzle. Amazon reviews for Bunchems include multiple complaints of the same thing. "DO NOT BUY THESE!!!!!!," says one Amazon user. "Bought for my niece for Christmas, her cousin got one caught in her ponytail and it was almost impossible to get out! The tiny hooks grab on to the strands of hair and the more you try to get it out the more tangled it becomes. If it had got stuck at the root of the hair it would have to be cut out!"

Another review says: "My granddaughter inadvertently rolled onto four of the Bunchems. A large mass of her hair became entangled around the objects in such a way that it was impossible to disentangle and the problem could only be resolved by cutting away a large amount of hair. A thoroughly unsuitable and dangerous toy which should not be for sale..."

Now, to be fair, the toy's manufacturer includes a warning on the box cautioning consumers to keep the toys away from hair. In fact, the company published a video on how to remove them from hair. Still, if you have these toys in your house, we suggest supervising your kids very closely, or better yet, consider taking Hoelzle's advice and mandating that your kids wear shower caps while playing with them. If that's a no go, then it might be a good idea to just get rid of them. Now the question is, whats worse: Bunchems in the hair, or lice?