18 Month Old Bangs Head Badly..... HELPPPPP!

Hi, I was a head banger when little haha. Here's an article that states: Up to 20 percent of babies and toddlers bang their head on purpose, although boys are three times more likely to do it than girls. http://www.babycenter.com/0_head-banging_11554.bc

the most heartening part of the article: Try not to worry.
Your toddler may get a bruise or two, but don't worry — head banging is usually a "self-regulating" behavior. This means your child is unlikely to hit his head hard enough to seriously injure himself. He knows his threshold for pain and will pull back on the throttle a bit if the banging hurts.

Good luck

I feel for your friend. That sounds scary! How many naps is he taking and for how long? Also, how long is he sleeping at night? Do you think he is getting too much sleep and that is resulting in him acting out at nap time? Not sure what else. My son really changed his demenour when he was cutting his "I" teeth. Once they cut though he was back to normal. It was a horrible time. I wish her the best of luck. Sorry I have no other ideas.

Hi K.,
This sounds scary/disturbing, but my first question to Mom would be how does she react when he starts bonking his head?

Is he getting a, "reaction" out of her when he does it? If so, I would suggest she minimize how she reacts to it, and maybe see what happens.

If not, I agree with others that not all head-banging is "bad." Don't even GO to the Autism corner unless there are specific, develpomental delays Mom can point to.
T

Hi K.,
When my second born started doing this, He just was not content to be stuck in bed, so I put just a mattress on the floor and made it up like a bed. That way I could lay by him until he fell asleep, I got up quietly and went about my work, But when he woke up he could crawl off the 5 or 6 inches onto the floor and crawlout into his room or other parts of the house. He was content to go to sleep because he knew he wasn't "stuck" in the crib when he woke up.
Good luck, M.

I would take a look at this website :

http://www.babycenter.com/0_head-banging_11554.bc

Hope this helps.