DD keeps hitting herself

[penguinmum]

Anyone got any hints? 13 month DD has started smacking and punching herself in the face, quite hard, has made herself cry on a couple of occasions. Sometimes seems to be in response to me telling her 'no', but other times can seem just random. This is really getting me down, don't like to see her do it.

I think it's quite typical and she will grow out of it...I think it's related to frustration and feelings which they haven't yet learned to express verbally.

Penguinmum,
I tried a combination of what both zippitippitoes and nellie245 mention:
At a similar age, my DD purposely hit her head on the floor (with great gusto) and I remember how very frightening I found it. Initially I admonished her for being 'silly'. It didn't work. Then I ignored it, which helped, but what seemed to work best was empathy and actually saying what you thought she felt, eg 'you're really angry'. My DD faired much better having a word to describe and acknowledge her anger/disappointment/sadness/fear etc.. My DS displayed similar tendencies at a similar age, I went straight for the empathy and 'naming' of the emotion. It didn't take long for the self-harm to disappear. They are both now pretty good at identifying their feelings and talking about what they do or can do when they feel a certain way. For eg, they know it's ok to feel really angry/sad etc and that some things like crying or foot stomping are better ways to deal with these feelings than say, head bashing.
Cor!, sorry I've rambled, I remember feeling so worried myself at the time and just wanted to reassure you.