Hair pulling and head scratching in 6.5 mo

[theUrbanDryad]

ds is 6.5 months, and when he is very tired, scratches his head and pulls his hair. i keep his nails as short as possible, but he still leaves massive scratches on his head! he's started to do it even when he's not tired, and i don't know if it's because he has dry skin or some other reason!

has anyone else experienced this with their lo?

TIA

Yes. My DS1 used to do scratch his forehead at that age. It looked awful and it often bled. He grew out of it, but has gone through stages of twiddling his hair so much it causes bald patches. He is now 7. We just try to keep his hair short now. I think it's just a habit, and nothing more worrying.

my ds (9mo) does this when he's tired and teething

yes, was a phase around 7 months, seemed to be connected with wanting to sleep rather than itching or trying to reach something. He outgrew it within a couple of months (is now 3.5). I just kept moisturising the skin so it was as supple as possible to minimise scratch marks, and kept his nails short.

yes our dd2 started doing the same around that age and is still doing it now that she is 15 months old. She does it even more when tired. She has eczema, but it is under controll now. We uses Dentinox(?spelling) shampoo. We keep her nails short. She has alot of hair, it is difficult to moisturise her scalp.