My daughter is almost 11 months and she recently started hitting herself in the head and face. I noticed it this weekend when I was home with her. Does anyone know how to help make this stop.
I was thinking that she was doing it because she was mad at me. I am 7 months pregnant and have had 2 stays in the hospital in the past week. She is used to me putting her down for the night and 2 nights (Last Wednesday and this past Sunday) I was not home for this. I know that she needs to get used to being put down by someone else and I am working on that.
I am just worried that she is going to hurt herself. When we tell her no she just smiles or looks at us funny and then continues to do it. I have tried to hold her hand so that she does not do it, but as soon as I let go she does it again.
My MIL thinks that it could be an ear infections, but I always thought they would pull at their ears. Also, so does it on both sides of her head and not just one. If it was just one side then I would think the same thing.
Has anyone else had this happen with their child? What did you do about it?
Thanks for all the help with this!
If she doesnt seem to be in pain I would just say she is just doing some weird thing and if ignored she will probably stop. If she's getting a payoff (attention) she'll continue. If she seems in pain, or has a runny nose or something, it could be her ears messing with her.
She's probably learning that her hand is connected to her body and she can use it to hit her face...and it's FUN! I mean, we wouldn't find it fun - slapping ourselves in the face - but hey, it's a new thing for her.
My firstborn son used to gag himself by sticking his fingers in his mouth until he made that gross vomiting sound. Chances are he likely thought it felt weird and cool. He grew out of it.
Check with her ped to rule out an ear infection perhaps, but sometimes our kids do strange things when they learn they can interact with their bodies.
It's a phase. I used to shudder during the phase where my son would fling himself down on my wood floor and start banging his head...he never hurt himself though and if she does (by accident), she'll stop!
If there are no other signs of an ear infection (fever, crabbiness) she's probably fine.
its for attention don't give a reaction she won't hit herself hard enough to really hurt.
It could be an ear infection and possibly worth checking out. More likely, though, it seems to me she's just figured out she can do it. Kids do weird stuff like that all the time, she'll probably move past it and move on to something else equally annoying and troublesome, but I don't think she's mad at you or even trying to get attention. She's only 11 months, so I wouldn't expect her to have made that many connections yet and I surely don't think it's because you're pregnant.
Keep trying to redirect her when she does that, but my guess is she'll be off of it in another week or so and you won't have to worry.
Have her ears checked, just to be sure, but my gut tells me she's looking for attention. I would ignore it or it's likely to get worse. I doubt she could hit herself hard enough to do any real damage and if she does hit herself hard enough for it to hurt, maybe she won't do it again! She's learning cause and effect (the hard way). :-)
Good luck!
I would investigate the ear infection thing too, because my son would pull his hair when he had an ear infection, not his ear, beyond that I would see what the pedi has to say.
I had the EXACT same problem. I even video taped it to show to a friend/doctor. Found it is had to do with communication. My friend (who is a speech pathologist) came and taught my daughter baby signs to communicate simple things and the hitting stopped IMMEDIATELY. My daugher was prone to ear infections and I had her checked and I even had her checked for symptoms of autism/etc-all came back clear. It truley was that she was starting to advance verbally but had no means of expressing it until she was taught the baby signs. She learned most of them in 2-3 days and now she's 21 months and can speak in 3 word sentences. I was mortified when I first saw her hitting herself, but it turned out fine.
My daughter used to do that and bang her head against the wall when she was between 1 and 2 years old. Can't remember exactly. It freaked us out too but it's normal! Kids do wierd things to themselves when they're discovering their bodies. You could get her checked out to rule out any infections but she's probably fine! I agree with ignoring the behavior because once she gets a reaction out of you then she'll continue to keep getting your attention.
I would call the pediatrician's office. They may have you bring her in just for your peace of mind. My daughter had a sinus infection when she was young, but old enough to talk. She kept telling us that her face hurt. We thought at first maybe it was a tooth coming in but then she started developing other cold like symptoms so we took her to the doctor and that's what it was. She was my first child and it honestly didn't occur to me that children got sinus infections. Hopefully it is something as simple as that. Good Luck!
Call your doctor and see what he/she thinks.
ignore it most likely she is doing it because its getting her attention, When she starts try to distract her with a special toy but ignore the behavior completely
you are giving her a reaction so she is thinking it's fun and keeps on doing it. It's NOTHING really, but YOU need to just ignore it completely. If you ignore it and not pay her any attention when she does it then it should stop in a few weeks.
I would ask your child's pediatrician about it. Some babies do that when they have headaches. I know it doesn't make any sense that they would be hitting their head if it already hurt, but my son's neurologist explained to me that is the only way they can let you know that their head is hurting. She actually diagnosed a 9 month old with migraines before!
My daughter did this too and I agree with Kristen G that they do not know how to communicate their needs. I just tried to validate my daughter's feeling at the time and give her alternative ways to get it out. For example, when I saw her hitting herself I I would say "I know you're angry right now but we dont hit" and give her something else to do (like a ball to throw). But dont worry it is a phase and she wont hit herself forever!
