5 year old pulling out hair!

[Mummysgoneloopy]

My dd aged 5 has been pulling out her hair. I have suspected something for a while, as it seems quite a bit thinner than normal, but tonight she (rather proudly) showed me a specially hidden matted store of it by her bed under one of her fave toys!
Anyone got any experience of this??

she might have trichotillomania

I have this. It's kind of like biting your nails, only with your hair.

Yes, me. My dd started doing this age 4. In her case it was linked to the change from nursery to reception - all the nursery staff were hyping up the move to 'big school' and tbh so was I at home.
She also has OCD style tendencies and is generally a very intense little girl.

We ended up cutting her hair very short as she would wind the hair around her finger before pulling it out. So with short hair she could not do it. We kept her hair short (think boy's style) for almost a year. It has pretty much cured the habit but she will occasionally forget herself and her fingers will stray to her head.
She is now 7 and has managed a neat chinlength bob for the past year. If I notice she is getting a bit intense / anxious about things I pre-empt the hair-pulling and encourage her to wear those scarf-style fabric hairbands for a while. (have bought lots in different patterns so it is something she loves). When she can't easily get to her hair she seems to lose the 'need' to pull. She will still pull nowadays - I find hair in small clumps on the floor at times. But on the whole it has very much settled down.

My sister suffers from trichotillomania so luckily I was able to contact her for advise.

My advise to you would be not to make too big an issue of it, mostly ignore, but cut her hair short or tie it back to make it harder for her to get to.

Good luck

Thanks for all the info. She is about to undergo a big change in her life as she will be moving abroad (with us!) for a couple of years, so new school, new house, new country. She too is very intense, & very impulsive, & very "spirited" as polite parents say! It just seems so young to do something like this, but at least she showed me her stash! She must want me to know!?
Also, just remembered a couple of weeks ago she was blinking alot, which she seesm to have stopped - so just must be very anxious. Feel bad that our move is causing this...

hippipotami

your sister is a genius - they are brilliant suggestions.

I might try the hairbands thing for myself.

mummy - my dd does the blinking too, as well as a habitual nose rub and a shoulder shrug. Again, I go with the ignore as much as possible strategy.
Don't feel guilty - teh move will be exciting and she will love it (I speak as someone who moved between countries a fair bit as a child)
My brilliant GP put dd's hairpulling / ticcing down to 'an overactive intelligent brain struggeling to contain the amount of information being processed'. He suggested teh little habits were just overspill from all she was thinking about.

skidoodle - thank you I think she is fab too Glad to have been useful.

Thank you so much hippipotami too, your advice is appreciated.

Our dds sound rather similar - school do tell me she is very bright (but not really showing in her work yet!? - she's an August baby so has some catching up to do. But if there is a wierd habit to pick up, she will do it - the hair thing, blinking, nail biting, general impulsive behaviour, moments of craziness (biting into a raw egg (shell) to "see what is was like" / eating a fly / eating loo paper etc etc. Always keeping us guessing, incredibly sociable (made friends with some 9 year old boys in playground last week!), & generally has no fear!
Nothing to do with our parenting "skills" I am sure, as her big sister is complete opposite, very anal & sensible, & her little sister is so laid back & easy going it's unbelievable!
Must be in the genes!