ds - headbanging with force - concerned - (2yrs 1 month old)

[lunarx]

ds used to hangbang around 22 months in frustration, but he stopped when i stopped reacting to it.
now he's been doing it again, but with a lot greater force and this afternoon post-lunch, he banged his head on the table which has resulted in a bruised lump on his head he will crouch down to the ground, within 6-8 inches and hit his forehead on the ground and cry louder with each subsquint(sp?) bang.
we (both me and dh) have been blanking these tantrums. but that seems to lead ds to bang harder.

its distressing to see, and getting even harder to ignore as i am seeing my son hurt himself.
i cant talk to the HV til monday so am hoping for some peace of mind/advice...etc. here.

thanks ladies.....

that should be 'headbanging' in the first sentence, sorry!!!

I don't have any advice as such but my friend's little boy used to do this at around the same age - he had a permanant 'egg' on his forehead. I saw him do it on the pavement once when having a tantrum

He did stop of his own accord as he got older and better able to express himself - he was a middle one, really only a baby himself when the new baby arrived, iyswim - and I think a lot of it was borne of frustration.

I think ignoring and distracting is probably the way to go - unless he's about to do it on a pavement, in which case I would step in and try and stop him. My friend found it very upsetting - and got very fed up of 'jokey' comments about the permanent bump on his head.

can you not speak to him but just put a pillow under him when he does it. So you are ignoring him but at leat he won't hurt himself

saw it on the one the behaviour programmes once!!!!

I have seen a similar progrma where they put the little boy on a beanbag when he started headbanging so he could do it to his hearts content but not do himself any damage.

that's a good idea about putting a pillow underneath him, thanks ladies. i'll have to make sure i've got one to hand when in the house.. if we are out in public, i'll just have to stop him without making a fuss.. i hope he grows out of it again soon though.....

ds1 does this, but not during a tantrum; he just does it for no reason when he's perfectly happy. What's that all about? But he does pick softish places, like the settee or my leg.

come to think of it, ds was softly headbanging while happy once he turned two, but he wasnt hurting himself.... no idea why they do this!!