To be so worried about this

[kaylouise2184]

My Ds is 16 months old and has recently developed a habbit of headbutting things when he is tired/frustrated/can't have his own way etc. At first it was the rug or the chair and we were told the best thing was to ignore it which we did at first.

It has now escalated to tables/walls doors and the side of the cot which he does with such force and intensity that it's scary. If he wakes in the night we now have to rush to his room so quickly to prevent it. I know he has probably realised that when he does this we will come running but we are so concerned that he will really hurt himself we cant ignore it please help x

[leftmysociallifeatthedoor]

Ds did this. Seriously - IGNORE. It is the only way it will end.

[kaylouise2184]

thanks i'm trying so hard to ignore it especially as sometimes intervening makes it works. The bruises however are horrendous I actually cried when I saw him this morning. It's just sometimes its so bad I think he is going to knock himself out or give him self brain damage x

[MrsKittyFane]

Google "why does my baby bang his head"
It's very common and normal it seems. :)

[MrsKittyFane]

here

[TheArmadillo]

Head banging is extremely common. Ignore and carry on as usual. He won't come to any harm.

[LingDiLong]

Could you put him in a Travel Cot so that you don't have to panic so much in the night?

I think you need to ignore whilst still protecting his head a little. Move him somewhere soft where he can't hurt himself and then ignore him.

I can only imagine how stressful it must be though...a friend of mine went through this and her son used to make his nose bleed slamming his head against the wall. It was a bloody awful time for her.

[leftmysociallifeatthedoor]

No. He's not. Ds did this and also held his breath until he passed out. Ignoring truly was the only thing that stopped it and I am a very touchy feely never do controlled crying etc etc type parent.

unfortunately dd makes herself sick for her party trick which is harder to ignore

[SingingSands]

Both my miss did this, and it was awful to witness and the bruises were horrendous. But it is really common. As others have said ignore/distract and they soon learn to stop. It's a horrible phase but thankfully a short one.

DD stopped after headbutting MILs driveway, got a nasty cut and a real fright at the pain. Not as big a fright as me though, I was beside myself!

[SingingSands]

KIDS! Not "miss"! Blimmin phone.

[kaylouise2184]

Thanks so much everyone it's good to know he is not the only one doing this. The pain though doesnt seem to bother in fact it seems it encourages him to do it more. Going to google it now kitty thanks x