It's a rather large amount when she does it! It has to hurt but she will just sit there and purposely pull her hair out. Why would a child do this?
I set up a doctor appointment for her tomorrow.I will tell you what the doctor says.Stay tuned.
Yes it's a condition called trichotillomania. It can happen in any age I believe. There are sites for children and their parents to go to for help management.
Has there been a traumatic event recently? Death? Moving? Divorce? Etc.?
Sounds awfully young to be starting but this is a symptom of Trichotillomania - hair pulling.
From the Mayo Clinic website: "Trichotillomania (trik-o-til-o-MAY-ne-uh) is an irresistible urge to pull out hair from your scalp, eyebrows or other areas of your body. Hair pulling from the scalp often leaves patchy bald spots, which people with trichotillomania may go to great lengths to disguise.
For some people, trichotillomania may be mild and generally manageable. For others, the urge to pull hair is overwhelming and can be accompanied by considerable distress. Some treatment options have helped many people reduce their hair pulling or stop entirely."
You can go to MayoClinic.com and read the rest.
I know from experience this is difficult to deal with but I would definitely consult her doctor.
Good luck and God bless!!
Time to take her to your Peds. This is a serious condition, needing mental intervention.
What types of emotional stress does your family have going on?
It's called trichotillomania.
The last time I saw a little girl with this condition, it was at school, and the father was incredibly emotionally and physically distant to this child, it broke my heart. Every time she would approach her dad, whoever he was talking to was way more important than her needs, and he's dismiss her and continue to focus on the other person. I just wanted to slap him and say, hey, share your attention with your girl. Because she would immediately feel rejected and start to pull out her hair. And the cycle would repeat itself, every single time I saw them.
Some kids do it as a soothing thing as they are settling down to sleep or nap.
It's more common than you think.
My sister would suck her thumb and twirl her hair with her other hand.
If she's doing this all day, look for ways to keep her hands busy.
Play dough, finger paints, playing in the sand box, playing with blocks, sorting things (we had empty wooden spools from thread to play with) (don't give her small things like buttons or beads yet until you know she won't eat them or shove them up her nose).
She'll be working on her manual dexterity and leave her hair alone more often.
Eventually she'll grow out of it.
I'd definitely see the doctor, but I'd also cut her hair so short that she can't get her fingers around it.
Good luck...
