Self harming 14 month old?

[Nicadooby]

Hi there,

well as the title says my DS is 14 months old and he is always hitting/punching himself in the head, head butting things (as in floor, furniture, toys etc) and is now pulling his hair!

He seems to do it alot more when he is tired, altough he could do it at anytime during the day, sometimes he laughs after doing it and sometimes he crys.

I was just wondering if anyone elses little ones do this?

My 16 mth now bites herself and has a nasty cut from her teeth on her thumb I think its normal

My DS is 20 months and is similar. He loves a good headbutt off of mirrors/door/floor etc when he's frustrated. He will also pull at his hair or grab his face hard if he's angry at being told no.

It always seem very hard and painful looking when he does this stuff but he never cries in pain from it so it mustn't be as bad as it looks.

My 20month old bites his arm and has been known to suck it hard in the past, making it look like he's got a small lovebiteHe only really does the biting when he's cross though.

My 19mo DS slaps himself round the face and neck when he has tantrums-also yanks violently on his dinkle if he's having a full-on take off all his clothes paddy! I try to ignore it but it does make me wince-his daddy too!

My 8 month old Ds does things like this - he started pulling his hair quite violently at about three months. We shaved it all off at 5 months so there's not much there anymore! Now he's taken to headbutting the cot bars, safety gate, back of his wooden highchair seat, wall etc. He does it once and then does it again harder for good measure. He seems fascinated by the feeling and won't stop until he's stopped iyswim.

I deal with it by gently stroking his head and saying "no, love [DS' name]" - I do that when he's violent to us or his big sister as well. I get the feeling I'll be told to ignore it but I'm a bit worried about brain damage plus I'd just like to nip it in the bud before it escalates any further.

LOL at Alicious' DS yanking his dinkle

DS2 who will be 3 next month, likes to tell me 'I'm gonna scratch myself Mum' if I tell him off or not to do something he really wants to do. He bargains if I let him, he won't do it.

I tell him to get on with it..... Though, since I simply told him to go ahead he has not suggested/done it again.

I read somewhere that children around that age head butt when they are teething - something about venting their frustration due to the intense irritation/pain in the gums. Evidently the head butting relieves some of the pain (or maybe takes their mind off it). My little one went through a similar thing at 14 months. Have you tried giving him Ashton & Parsons infants powders? They are herbal and seem to work with my son, ie they calm him down a bit. They were recommneded by the lady who ran the NCT antenatal course I attended.