18 month old hurting himself?

[boymama82]

We have 2 boys aged 18 months and 5 months, our eldest has recently started slapping himself in the face or smacking his head on the baby gate/wall/door. I believe it's frustration at trying to communicate but does anyone have any tips on what to say/how to act to stop it? I've tried jumping up and quickly stopping him, ignoring it (causing me massive anxiety) or getting down on my knees and speaking to him about what he wants but he just gets so angry.

I agree that it's probably frustration and can often happen at this stage where they can understand a lot but are finding it hard to be understood themselves.

We found that teaching a few simple signs helped DC1 particularly and we also ignored the head banging, although all of your instincts are probably screaming for you to go and intervene.

ICan have some good tips on supporting them to talk a little more, which might be helpful