ds 2.3 head banging during tantrums and to get attention

[juicychops]

whats the best way to handle it?

He bangs his forehead on doors, walls, the fridge and the floor and the back of his head when laying on the floor. Its mainly when hes having a tantrum or when he's just got the hump and im ignoring him.

He will bang his head hard a few times then run over to me and say 'head hurts'

Ive told him its naughty and it hurts but other than that im trying to ignore it and not give him the attention he's seeking.

But worried about it now. He has a big graze on his forehead from doing it on the concrete in the garden

My ds did this from 18 months to about 2.6!! What a nightmare! Especially as we had a laminate floor! I tried ignoring it and he would run over to make sure I knew he'd done it! I ended up physically turning away, folding my arms, no eye contact etc. His initial reaction was to go headbutt something again, I carried on ignoring. It took a few weeks but eventually he would headbutt the sofa the second time! Then he just decided not to bother at all one day. I think our experience was prolonged because other people would react to it, and he would use it for attention seeking...
Good luck!

Ds did this when he was a bit older, I spoke to him and told him that I will be the first one to comfort him if he had an accident but "damage" done in purpose won't attract that. He continued so... after it become a bit more severe I said that if he did it again he would have a 3 min time out . It worked though, he did it a couple of times more and never since.

ds3 does it- also says "head hurt"- he's cutting back a bit now he can talk more. I ignore it as much as possible (he will bruise himself though so sometimes have to intervene). Unfortunately his eldest (autistic) brother does it as well so he has a bit of a role model.

thanks everyone so i guess il just continue to ignore it for the time being unless he is banging his head into glass/nails/fire!!