19 m/o headbutting

[Ree121303]

Hi all

My DS is 19 months old and is going through a stage of headbutting/deliberately hitting his head.

When he was much younger, he used to bite and would occasionally hit himself in his head by punching himself. This all tailed off but now he will headbutt us/other family members/our legs if we are stood up and will get down on to all fours and smack his head off the floor intentionally.

He does it when hes angry about not getting his own way (ie: picked up when he doesn't want to be, but we've no choice as he wont budge from the supermarket otherwise!!). He also does it when he is overly tired or excited.

I feel self conscious when he does this out in public and worry as he does sometimes display aggression towards other children and also our pet dog. He will hit or push and sometimes thinks it is a game and funny to do.

Did anyone else's little ones do this and if so, did they grow out of it? Is it normal and perhaps just a form of expression?!

Many thanks.

Ree

How's his language OP? Often they can be frustrated before they start to talk.

Hi.

I would say his speech is quite advanced for his age and over the past couple of weeks, he has been able to communicate a bit more regarding his wants (eg trying to say "breakfast") in the morning if he's hungry.

Have you ever experienced or heard of children headbutting yourself?

Yes DS hit his head on the floor due to frustration. Keeping calm helped a lot

Thank you- will bear that in mind! Hopefully he grows out of it before long. Thanks again

If developmentally he is on track with everything else I would just say it's him handling frustration/anger - babies will deal with it in different ways. My son at that age, when frustrated or angry because he didn't get what he wanted would clench his fists really tightly by his sides, get really tense, and start turning red - as if he was about to explode! :)