# Head Banging



## jillybeans (Mar 11, 2005)

DD is 14 mo, and has decided to release frustration by head banging. Hard. Into everything. I've tried ignoring her, giving her my undivided attention, hugging her, and asking her not to hurt "my baby"

What else can I do? Please someone tell me she'll outgrow this!


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## sbgrace (Sep 22, 2004)

She'll likely outgrow this. You are doing the right thing by giving it little attention. The less attention the less likely it is to continue in general. I know it is awful though. She really can't hurt herself until about 3 years--she just can't generate enough force.


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## haleyelianasmom (Nov 5, 2005)

DD went through a couple phases where she'd smack her head when frustrated, sometimes so hard she'd cry. She got over it on her own after a few days each time (I think she's gone through 2 "episodes"


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## hipumpkins (Jul 25, 2003)

My son does that. He makes himself cry and rubs his head. I rub it too and say "Oh michael don;t bang your head" Sometimes I can catch him just beofre impact.
Luckily it is too cold to be outside but I worry if he keeps it up he is going to get mad than bang his head onto the sidewalk.
He also throws things and screams vehemently...he's my little red headed temper boy.







:


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## jillybeans (Mar 11, 2005)

DD is full of fire too. Can't blame anyone but myself.







But it sure is hard to deal with when she resorts to self destruction!


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## 2tolove (Mar 11, 2005)

Just found this thread...

ds is 15 months and has started doing this a lot! yesterday he DID bang iton the sidewalk because he wanted to hold my hand and I was zipping my dd's jacket - so it took 10 seconds to repond to his need










I am actually really worried, does anyone have any thoughts on when to talk to a professional?

It sounds like most of you think that ignoring it is better then giving it attention?


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## sbgrace (Sep 22, 2004)

Yes, the more attention paid the more likely it is to continue (this is true of lots of behaviors you don't want to see repeated...my son was gagging himself today I pretended not to notice thinking if he did throw up I was going to play it cool. He did it again and then said to me, mommy, what was that and i said I think you had a burp! and went back to pretending I didn't notice).

When to seek professional help...when you see other signs something is amiss or your mommy gut tells you something is wrong. Or if, when he is a bit older, he has a language delay that is causing more frustration and head banging. So again when you notice signs something else is wrong.

This is a really reassuring and good article on the subject
http://www.drgreene.org/body.cfm?id=...detail&ref=578

The only thing I strongly disagree with is his autism list. Lack of pointing and basic pretend play by one year is the concern, not 14 months. My son has autism and was doing all that stuff by 14 months...but none of it by a year.

Head banging is a common behavior in perfectly typical kids!


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## 2tolove (Mar 11, 2005)

Thanks Racellel!

That was a good thing for me to read.

Ds is teething (all 4 molars at once) so he is more stressed and tired then normal.

I appreciate the reassurance and encouragement


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## cchrissyy (Apr 22, 2003)

if it's the normal developmentally approporate kind, then treat it like all behavior- praise the positive but don't reinforce the negative. And any attention is reinforcing it, including your sympathy, your begging her to stop, your hugs, your attention. Those all teach her the behavior has a positive payoff.

that said, one of my kids head banged much more than normal and years later he still does and is diagnosed with high functioning autism. if your gut tells you this is a true problem, get help now! a single bang or two in a burst of frustration in a short phase of her life is not big deal, it will pass. If the intensity and duration aren't normal, speak up!


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## wendy1221 (Feb 9, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *sbgrace* 
Yes, the more attention paid the more likely it is to continue (this is true of lots of behaviors you don't want to see repeated...my son was gagging himself today I pretended not to notice thinking if he did throw up I was going to play it cool. He did it again and then said to me, mommy, what was that and i said I think you had a burp! and went back to pretending I didn't notice).

When to seek professional help...when you see other signs something is amiss or your mommy gut tells you something is wrong. Or if, when he is a bit older, he has a language delay that is causing more frustration and head banging. So again when you notice signs something else is wrong.

This is a really reassuring and good article on the subject
http://www.drgreene.org/body.cfm?id=...detail&ref=578

The only thing I strongly disagree with is his autism list. Lack of pointing and basic pretend play by one year is the concern, not 14 months. My son has autism and was doing all that stuff by 14 months...but none of it by a year.

Head banging is a common behavior in perfectly typical kids!


THanks for posting this. I wish more peds, etc, knew signs of autism spectrum disorders. I've thought my ds1 had "something" up w/ him since he was little, he was just finally diagnosed w/ AS this year. He was a head banger for a long long time. He still smacks himself on the head w/ his fist sometimes, but no longer bangs his head.

I keep telling people I'm sure my 17 month old also has some ASD, although he is talking much MORE than typical for a child his age (as did ds1.) But he doesn't respond MOST of the time when you call his name. He's never called me mommy or mama, he didn't start making eye contact w/ me while nursing till just a few months ago, he didn't point until he was 13 mos old, and that's around when he started pretend playing as well, which he still doesn't do much of. Just plays w/ phones mostly and recently started bringing me baby dolls and stuffed animals to nurse (but doesn't nurse them himself.) People look at me like I'm nuts and tell me he's absolutely fine and obviously can't have AS like ds1 b/c he's talking so much and is very sociable w/ people he knows. THey don't understand that there are all of these litttle things that maybe only I (and his dad) notice. I'm so glad you mentioned that it's by 1 year for those things, because I'd seen different ideas on those and was thinking maybe I was crazy. But I never thought ds2 had it the way I thin ds3 does.

Now if I can only get a "professional to take me seriously, maybe I can actually get ds3 into OT in a reasonable amount of time. Still haven't been able to get ANY services for ds1.


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## SleepyMamaBear (Jun 5, 2005)

could you also give them something they ARE allowed to bang their head on. alot of toddlers when unable to find the words to express their frustration and anger and dissapointment will lash out and do things like, bang their head, hit, bite, kick, etc. my dd is a biter. and a hiter sometimes. but mostly a biter, so i give her something handy that she CAN bite that isnt her skin or someone elses skin, and explain to her that its ok for her to bite the pilloe, blanket, stuffed animal, etc but not skin, ebcause we dont want to hurt ourselves or others. maybe you could have a special head banging pillow?


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## thehappyhippo (Jan 1, 2007)

Just wanted to throw in that sometimes diet can be the culprit. Try removing food dye and anything else artificial in their diet. Some children even react adversely to things like apples and other natural salisylates. It is worth going to www.feingold.org.

I wish I would have picked up on my daughters signs of a sensitivity to food coloring earlier.

And as far as my two cents goes, just because something is common doesn't mean it is something to ignore. I'm sure I'll get flamed for that one. So much of children's behavior and common ailments (ADD, ADHD, explosive and erratic behavior) are all deemed common or "developmentally appropriate". So sometimes we feel more at peace to know that it is common, but so what? Common doesn't mean "good". Perhaps it is culturally appropriate based off of diet and environment. For any moms who are concerned in the behavior, I say keep looking into it. That particular behavior may go away but you may see different ones crop up to take its place.


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