15 months, seems happy but is tearing out her own hair

[artichokes]

This has been going on for two days. DD is happy and does not seem ill. Her sleep is poor at the moment so she may be tired but does not show it. However, she keeps grabbing fistfuls of her hair and pulling so hard that quite a strands come off in her hands. This must be painful but she does not show it. If you tell her to stop or pull her hands away she starts to cry and keeps pulling.

I am a little worried because (i) it seems strange behaviour and (ii) she does not have that much hair to spare!

Any experiences or advice?

Is it the same hair she was born with? Many babies loss their 'baby hair' at some stage and have a bald patch or two for a little while.

Maybe she's not pulling it hard; maybe it's just falling out as it's her baby hair.

it will grow back properly.

She is 15 months. Is it still normal to loose baby hair at that age? She was born with dark hair and did get some bald patches in the first few months. This is new, blond hair.

She looks like she is really tugging hard at it.

My dc didn't lose their baby hair until between the ages or one and two, I can't remember exactly.

But I think they only lose it once.

I wonder if that is it then. I did not know they could still lose hair this late. But the tugging still seems strange. She really pulls. Did yours do that?

I think all small children go through a stage of holding their hair because they are discovering it's there.

That's not quite the same as pulling it out.

I probably wouldn't worry too much at the moment unless it continues and she seems distressed.

My little one started hitting her own head a few weeks ago, especially if I was telling her off. When I told her not to do it, she'd get really upset like your daughter. It goes without saying that no-one has ever hit her so we were frantic with worry.

In the end, we turned it into a game and it went away. When she started doing it, I'd say "Oh are you brushing your hair?". She'd start laughing and doing brushing movements. It then stopped as suddenly as it had started.

She's 15 mths old too but has good comprehension. I wonder if you could try some diversionary tactic like we did?

my dd(21mths) pulls and twists her hair when she's tired, my ds used to tug his ears.
perhaps your'e dd is telling you its time for bed.
Give it a go and put her to bed see if thats what it is works for me every time.