Little Madams

[Hackers79]

Hello,

I have a 16 month old girl. She is generally well behaved but she gets really frustrated and angry if she doesn't get what she wants. I try and ignore her but she's started to hurt herself. If I can tell it's coming, I put her on the floor with loads of space but she leans forward and bangs her head against the floor. She looks like a little nutter. She also smacks herself in the face. She hurt herself by whacking her mouth on her cot last weekend and then blood was pouring out! Not good.

I just want to deal with it in the correct way so it doesn't escalate as she gets older. I'm hoping she will be a little calmer when she can talk and I can reason with her but I'm bit worried this the start of a nightmare.

Any advice welcome.

Thanks x

When the blood was pouring out how did she react? Remember that the tiniest of cuts on the lips produces an awful lot of blood - usually looks a lot worse than it actually is.

Sounds to me like you're dealing with it okay. She's only trying to make you give her what she wants. Don't give in, continue to ignore her. Can you put her in a soft area (rug with cushions around) so she doesn't hurt herself too much? A lot of kids do this as they realise it upsets mum. You could leave her to it but at the same time (quite loudly) start playing an interesting game nearby with her toys - she may decide it's more exciting to play than to bash herself.

She cried. I picked her up and got a flannel to hold against her mouth and it was all over in 5 mins. First time I'd seen her bleed so it just wasn't nice for me!

I try not to react and pretend to go and pick up the phone or something to distract her. Toy playing is quite good as well.

I just wanted to know if it's normal I suppose and this doesn't necessarily mean she's going to be a horrid child!

thanks

Definitely a normal phase, try not to worry and you are doing the right things. I have to say though, if it's the first time you've seen her bleed and she's 16 months old you've done very well. I cut my dd's finger tip when trying to cut her nails when she was about 2 wks old, and she's bled a few times since (bad mummy!)