Headbanging toddler

[Clockspotter]

I've heard its really common for toddlers to head-bang during a tantrum and that the best way to deal with it is to ignore it, but my 19month does it so hard she has a black bruise on her forhead. It is obvious from her behaviour that she does it to make herself cry more genuinely when shes pretending to cry cos she doesnt get her way or is told 'no'!

Biggest prob is that she is an early waker (4am some mornings) and when she is told to go back to sleep she quickly gets hysterical and starts headbanging the side of the cot. Unfortuately we have now given in on the controlled crying method ('Toddler Taming!') and started taking her into bed to try and get her back to sleep.

Am starting to feel like we are her puppets and she is the master!!

Any advice??

I know someone in a simnilar situation who moved their child to a travel cot (soft sides!) while they solved the problem.
DD1 used to headbang when teething and as distressing as it is to watch they do grow out of it.
Good luck

we had this, she even smashed her head against the concrete ground at the park when i said we had to go home...couldn't stop it and she grew out of it...sorry not much help.

DS2 was a headbanger, and as the others say, they will grow out of it quite quickly. It's quite self-limiting, tbh, because they soon realise that it hurts and stop doing it.

I talked to some experts about this once (in the days when I had a job). They all said it's completely normal, and children who do it will grow out of it (although it's distressing to witness it). It might be an idea to move your DD to a travel cot or similar to stop her from bruising herself.

The other bit of advice that I remember was not to reward the behaviour with any kind of attention. Make sure the child is safe, and let her get on with it. It will pass. If you can bear not to bring her into bed, that would help. Good luck!

Thanks folks. Just reassuring to know she's not alone. She does seem to have been doing it forever though!

Travel cot a good idea- I did tape blankets to her cot bars at one point so its prob worth putting it back and persevering. )