Hitting Herself and Pulling Her Hair.

Perfectly normal! My 9 month old does the same things. Sometimes it seems that she got ahold of her hair and just can't remember how to let go. :)

Look into sensory integration information. Perhaps particularly "proprioceptive"--having to do with knowing where her body is in space. Some kids need a really INTENSE stimulation to know "where" they are--or at some levels that they "exist."

My SI guy was a boy and it's my suspicion (from reading and observing my other children and remembering childhood) that girls combine this with emotional reactions maybe more than boys (so, my guy would just smash into things while running around (for instance), rather than spending focussed time trying to figure out where he was or what was "him" as opposed to what was "the rest of the world").

Since your little girl is doing it while sitting in your lap, I'd guess she's feeling as secure as she can and is searching instinctively to 'fix' something in her world that isn't making sense to her.

On the other hand, at ten months old, a lot of kids are pulling their hair and hitting themselves in the face, some. Like all SI issues, there is a developmental curve, some kids early, some kids "on time," some kids "late" (which can trigger diagnoses and interventions).

I managed most interventions without a doctor just by reading up--but then I don't have a trust relationship with doctors. If I did, it might have been easier to just ask ;). My guy had several SI issues, but was mostly recovered by the time he entered first grade and unless I tell someone most people (even some educators) can't tell he had them--YAY!

Proprioception is a very common "late" (according to the doctor-types) development (if it's often considered "late" shouldn't we change the expected "schedule"?) ...

Anyhow, homegrown advice,
1) pet her, a lot (to build coherence in the nerve signals her brain is programming), and
2) start doing "here is your HAIR, here is your NOSE, here are your KNEES" exercises with her, moving *her* hands to each body part, gently ... and another key *at this age* (as opposed to more preschool-y age) is to not cross the midline (no right hand to left knee) ... either do both hands together or one hand, and then the other in the same pattern as the first. You are trying to provide order her brain for whatever reason hasn't instinctually created.
Make sure to do these things both on bare skin and with clothes on, so she learns that both states are normal and so she can process where her body is in space with or without clothes (some kids are overstimulated when exposed to 'just air' and no clothes, some kids are overstimulated by clothes, especially pinchy elastics or sticking-out seams) ...

If proprioception is the issue she is demonstrating (which of course it may not be ;) ), hopefully this helped. (Proprioception is an issue all kids this age would be dealing with at some level--so at least it's really unlikely to hurt anything ;). )

Is it a temper tantrum? Did you say "no" to her or tell her she couldn't do something? If not, if she just does it just to be doing it - for instance you come into the room and she is just doing it for no reason there is probably a reason and you need to take her to the family physician to find out why.

If it is a tantrum then what I did was just put her in her room and let her have at it. If you are concerned for her safety you can tell her if she wants to act that way put her in a specific corner of the room and let her have at it. Do not give her any attention - just ignore her and she will eventually stop it because she isn't getting the attention she wants.

N.

Talk to your doctor sooner than later. And you should record when and in what she is reacting to she is pulling her hair and hitting herself to. Is she mad is it just random?

I almost wonder if it's just a phase.... My 14 month old son does the same thing. When he gets mad sometime he will "lightly" try to hit is head on the floor, so I tell him not to and redirect him. Thankfully, he doesn't do it a lot. I have noticed off and on that he kind of hits his head (open handed) and pulls his hair, too. It started to freak me out wondering if kids/teachers at daycare were doing this to him and he was copying them.... or wondered if there was a problem he had I didn't know about. Lately, it's not happening as much but it still doesn't make you feel any better. No one wants to see their child hurt themselves : ) Good luck.

you may want to go see the doc at Portland Family homeopathy...http://www.portlandfamilyhomeopathy.com/, she may be able to help evaluate your daughter. It's important to get this checked out although just incase, most likely, she's just playing.

Right around that age my son was hitting his head on things too. I was very concerned, as it did not seem like normal behavior to me. I called the dr, after we talked about it he said it didn't seem like it was destructive behavior, more like - this feels kind of strange type thing. Then for a while there when he would throw a fit he would hit his head on the floor/wall, again I was really nervous because it just didn't seem normal!!! But, it did eventually pass.

Are you giving her a really big reaction when she does it? Perhaps she is just looking for attention and knows she can get it by doing those things?

Can you give a little more information? Is she she screaming/crying when she does this? Is she doing it when she is happy? What kind of situation causes her to do these things?