Anyone's toddler ever pulled own hair out?

[Verytiredmumofone]

My daughter is 2.5 years old and since the age of around 18 months, sometimes pulls her hair when she's angry or frustrated, hard enough to pull it out.

Has anyone else's child ever done this? I'm feeling very alone and wondering if there is something wrong with her.
Her speech is great and no other signs of anything out of the ordinary.
She pulls small clumps of hair out sometimes a couple times a day, sometimes not for a few days, but it always returns.
Please help!

My youngest daughter used to pull her hair out when she was the same age as your daughter. I remember her doing it when she would have a nap and it was so frustrating, as she did not know she was doing it. I had resorted to putting socks on her hands when she napped, so that she would not pull her hair out. Eventually she grew out of it but I remember being very worried about her at the time.

Yes, also had very good speech for her age. Diagnosed as autistic now.

Did she used to do it when she was angry? Did she have any other signs of autism at a young age?

It's a habit, a bit like nail biting or thumb sucking - best to gently redirect rather than tell her to stop. Most children grow out of it. Try not to show anxiety about it as that's only going to fuel it.

I used to do this throughout my childhood and I’m autistic. It wasn’t related to anger/frustration though. It was like a habit I guess. It was so hard to stop, but I managed to stop in my teens as I became self-conscious of bald spots and tufts where it was growing back.

She only ever does it when really angry. Does this sound like autumn do you think?

Mine would pull her hair out when she was sleeping or tired, she then would suck her thumb and move the pulled out hair around her fingers (like threading it in between 2 fingers again and again) She had almost no hair at 2 after previously having quite a lot of curly hair. I tried all sorts- putting her to bed with a Barbie so she could play with Barbies hair instead, socks on her hands, silky tag comforters- but she only wanted her own hair. Eventually she grew out the pulling, she’s 8 now and has all of her hair back and doesn’t pull it anymore. Although she does still like a hair and a thumb suck when she’s tired but there are now 4 girls in our house so no shortage of random hairs to be found without her pulling them from her own head

Impossible to say based on that alone. I mean other than the hair pulling do you have any other concerns around her development?

It's trichotillomania. It's usually a form of self soothing at this age, like thumb sucking, that generally goes away on its own by age 4 or 5. It should improve as her language skills develop but in the meantime you can try putting coconut oil or leave in conditioner in her hair to prevent pulling.

It isn't indicative of autism, where it's a stimming behaviour, in the vast majority of cases.

Yes she would pull her hair out if very distressed and upset, also scratches till she bleeds sometimes. ASD diagnosis at 3.

No other concerns with development, she's toilet trained, speech is good, no other signs of autism (eye contact, intense interests, hand-flapping etc.) She notices when people are happy, sad, angry etc but naturally doesn't have the empathy just yet. The hair pulling is only for a couple of seconds when she's very angry it's not like a constant thing through the day.
What do you think based on this?

It isn't a symptom of autism. Some people with autism pull their hair as a form of stimming. Many, many more people pull their hair because they have trichotillomania, and no autism. Nobody here can tell you if your daughter has autism, but in the absence of any signs of it, you would be best to treat it as baby tric, which generally self-resolves before children start school.

https://trichotillomania.co.uk/hair-pulling-in-babies-and-toddlers/

My DD used to twirl her hair around her fingers and it got pulled out when she was tired as a toddler/pre schooler.

Extremely intelligent child, talking in full sentences at 18 months, potty trained at 2 and, much to my initial shock, diagnosed with autism as a teen.

She says now it was obviously sensory seeking and a form of stimming and it was also triggered by an awful stage of her having night terrors.

She never did it in anger or as a reaction to frustration though.

My 14 year old used to do it as a toddler. He has autism and adhd.

I forgot to write that she only does it in front of me, not when she's with my parents or husbands parents, which is once a week at each! And to emphasise, she only does jt when very angry and it's a split second reaction. Not like a repetitive daily thing.Do you think this changes anything? Is she doing it for my reaction?

Hi yes my DD did exactly this at the same age. She would get in such a rage that she would bang her head on the floor and yank at her hair and pull it out. She ended up with a bold spot. It was so upsetting for me and I remember the health visitor saying she'd never come across it before, which didn't make me feel any better.
I think other posters are talking about a rather different type of behaviour.
Her speech was quite poor and I think it was frustration at not being able to express herself, especially as she is a lady of strong opinions! Eventually it just stopped and she is absolutely fine now, (aged 8) if that's any reassurance. Feel free to pm me.

It doesn’t sound/feel like trich to me (not an expert, but long time sufferer). Trich is more of a repetitive, soothing/anxious/sub conscious thing whereas this seems to be more of a frustrated action.

Personally I wouldn’t worry too much, which is obviously harder in the moment. Like PP my DS went through a couple of year long phase where he would bang his head on the floor or walls out of temper and frustration starting around 18 months. He’s still prone to a bit of an angery outburst now at 5, but he doesn’t hurt himself any more and will dramatically fling himself onto his bed instead.