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Hair Pulling & Head Banging

My daughter is 2 yrs 4 months. She has developed these habits over the last 3 weeks. She has also started biting her own arms image

 Has anyone else had these experiences and what did they do if so? I've tried distracting, ignoring and telling off, I've run out of ideas, am hoping it's just a stage, but it's very distressing for me (she doesn't seem to care- apart from when she hits her head too hard and it really hurts)

 Any advice greatly appreciated

Ty

Ps we have just moved house, but she seems fairly settled and the hair pulling is starting to pass, it's just the head hitting and biting now

Replies

  • my daughter bites herself and has pulled her hair on a few occasions, usually when shes extremely angry or frustrated, sometimes she stops quickly, if she doesnt i hold her, facing away from me (or ill get bit) and wrap my arms around her so she cant move alot. but not tightly, and sssssh her until i feel her relax then we have a cuddle and she is fine,

    its calming down now she has alot more words, and i just act quickly and quietly and never ever talk about it, it makes her worse.

    hope it passes soon, its not nice is it!

    xxxx

  • my son did that too for half a year. my friend's kid do it too. i think it is just another phase. it will pass. not too worry. try to talk to her.

  • My son used to head bang,sometimes really hurting himself,from the time he was about 9 months,long before he could walk,and he stopped I think around a year and ahalf.He'd bang his head on the wall,or the kitchen gate if that was shut and he wanted to come in,things like that.Particularly when he was tiny I 'd rush to stop him doing itand avoid anything that might upset him,but in the end the only way to stop it was to ignore it,and try to distract him,but also I think him learning more words helped him express himself and that helped.It was just the headbanging with my son,not the hair or the biting,but a couple of times he really hurt himself.

    I think some children do get very frustrated,they don't know what to do with that,but it does pass.

  • TY everyone

    It's nice to know I'm not the only one image. She doesn't seem to have any real triggers, it just happens all of a sudden!

    I hope it passes soon

  • My son was also a head hitter - he once managed to put his head through a plate glass windown panel when he was annoyed that the kitchen door had closed on him!!!  He started hitting his head on everything (especially the floor) at around 1 year old and only stopped at around 2 years old.  It was awful and really upset me but after trying most things, I resorted to telling him that he was only hurting himself and that it didn't bother me what he was doing.  He would freak out initially but after a few times of this, he started doing it less and less.  However i agree with what others have said, once they start talking, things seem to get easier.

    Good luck with it x

  • My son was also a head banger, the harder the surface, the better.  I tried everything, ignoring him, loads of attention, being cross, but it didn't deter him, then I started to throw a small amount of water over him when he was down, and he did not continue for too long after that.  He will be 8 years old next week, and has no memory of it at all.

    Once, when we were out with his 3 year old sister, he was 21 months, and his newborn sister, and he fell out of the trolley and knocked himself unconscious.  I rushed him to hospital, and I was so scared that they were going to find an old skull fracture when they did the x-ray.  But he was fine, and they don't hurt themselves enough to cause real damage, just enough to scare you.

    I hope he stops soon.

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