Question:
My son also used to hit himself when angry. (He still does, at times.) He also used to bang his head down on the floor really hard. There wasn’t really a whole lot we could do, except make sure he didn’t hurt himself. He seems to have grown out of it, and the more his verbal skills improve, the less violent he is. I know how bad you feel, I used to cry with Matt when he was this upset. Just hang in there, try not to let him really hurt himself, and help him express himself in other ways if possible. Sometimes I would divert his attention by giving him a stuffed animal to hold, which he promptly threw down. I figured this was better than hurting himself. I would repeatedly pick it up and hand it to him to throw down, and it seemed to work pretty well after a while. At first he wouldn’t even hold it, though. Good Luck and HTH, Mickie
Response:
Don’t worry about it unless he really does serious injury to himself. My parents told me I did the same thing at about that age, mostly by pounding my head on any convenient surface — and there’s a huge bruise on my forehead in certain childhood photographs to prove it. And I grew up without any damage. ExcEpt fOr thAt lArgE fUrry mOnstEr UndEr my bEd thAt hAs nEvEr gOnE AwAy! JUST KIDDING!
Response:
About the monster, that is. I really DID whack my head around, apparently, with no damage done.
Response:
I have seen a lot of children do this or better yet sit on the floor and bang there head on the floor. I don’t think he is hitting himself to punish himself — he’s hitting in frustration. Every parent who has a child that does this (and it’s around 18 months) is concerned at first until you find out how many kids do this. One of these friends — has a handsome, outgoing, intelligent little 5 year old now — but at 18 months he walked around with a bruise on his forhead from hitting his head on the ground when he wasn’t allowed to do something. (I’m not a doctor though — if it persisted and he did this when he was happy, sad, glad — I would check it out. If he only does it when he’s mad or scolded — then he’s frustrated.) He’ll talk soon! Good luck. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->Hi everyone — >My son Jacob has recently begun to hit himself if he is frustrated or >tired. For example, he is not allowed to climb onto the coffee table or >race along the length of the couch. We ask him to please get down, and >depending on the type of mood he’s in, he’ll start to cry and hit himself >two or three times (with an open hand) on the top of his head! There are >some times when he will just get down on his own and then go about his >business, but him hitting himself like this really disturbs me. My >husband and I try to reassure him that he is a wonderful little boy, and >when he hits himself, we hug him and say, "It’s not nice to hit >yourself. Why don’t we do such-and-such?" We don’t know where he picked >this up, but we find it very disturbing. Has anyone else been through >this? Could there be something wrong? What should we do when this >happens that we’re not doing? Jacob is developing normally, says quite a >number of words, and is a very sweet little boy. Please respond to the >bounce your mail back to you. Thank you! >Lisa J. Iwig >Internet Address:
Response:
> >Hi everyone — >My son Jacob has recently begun to hit himself if he is frustrated or >tired.
Lisa, In my experiences working with young children (we are now expecting our own…) that stage of development can be quite frustrating for a child. There is so much that they want to do or express, and often they don’t have the means to do so, that they get frustrated and angry with them- selves. Unless your son is also exibiting self-stimulation activities such as; sitting on the floor and rocking, twinkling his hands up by his face, spinning in a circle for long periods, persistently I would not worry at this point. Just reassure him when he does hit himself. Perhaps tell him that it bothers you and his daddy when he hits himself. It is not bad or wrong behaviour, it just worries you and your spouse… Hope this helps a little, Tracey :>
Response:
When my 14 month old son gets frustrated or angry, he gets down on all fours and bashes his head on the floor! He’ll hit his head on the floor once or twice. It’s really sort of funny, guess you have to see it. Classic frustration, I feel like doing it sometimes too. Then he "forgets" that this is painful on a non-carpeted floor, then he shocks himself and the expression on his face is one of "Damn that hurt this time!". I keep saying that one of these days he will crack his forehead open and need stitches. He sometimes does it again a wall too. He’s a head-banger, just like his Mom. (I love heavy metal music and while pregnant wore a shirt that read "Head-Banger Under Construction"). Christine M. Dakes Mom to: _ _ Zakary Joseph 3/5/95 – "Tiger Cub" ( o ) _/ …And we’re livin’ here in Allentown, PA ^
Response:
Hi everyone — My son Jacob has recently begun to hit himself if he is frustrated or tired. For example, he is not allowed to climb onto the coffee table or race along the length of the couch. We ask him to please get down, and depending on the type of mood he’s in, he’ll start to cry and hit himself two or three times (with an open hand) on the top of his head! There are some times when he will just get down on his own and then go about his business, but him hitting himself like this really disturbs me. My husband and I try to reassure him that he is a wonderful little boy, and when he hits himself, we hug him and say, "It’s not nice to hit yourself. Why don’t we do such-and-such?" We don’t know where he picked this up, but we find it very disturbing. Has anyone else been through this? Could there be something wrong? What should we do when this happens that we’re not doing? Jacob is developing normally, says quite a number of words, and is a very sweet little boy. Please respond to the bounce your mail back to you. Thank you! Lisa J. Iwig Internet Address: