Does anyone else'sbaby/toddler try to eat hair??

[tigertum]

My 18 mo DS has always loved grabbing/pullin/biting and suckingmy hair. He'll go for my hair almost every time he gets close enough. I thought he would grow out of it, but he's showing no signs. It is a bit annoying but what I don't mind if it gives him comfort. What does worry me is that he actually gets peices of my hair in his mouth and although I/him manage to pull them out, he must be 'eating'some of it.

Does anyone else's DS/DD do this? Did they stop. Is it totally silly to worry about DS emassing some big hairball inside him? - yes probably - but you do hear of such things in the news once in a blue moon.

My one-year-old does this. Can get quite painful when he pulls on my hair too.

I'll be watching this thread.

I agree with painful Justaphase! He sometimes lays across me and combs my hair with his foot, when the hair is really taught - he 'twangs' it with his hand! It really hurts but I know he's not doing it on purpose.

WellI just googled it and apparantly human hair cannot be digested or carried through the gut. There is a rare disorder in which children eat their own hair and some have had to have operations to have the mass of hair they have eaten removed from their stomachs! How awful!

Yes!! My ds did this for almost a year from the age of 13 months until he was almost 2. Thing is he would pull his OWN hair out causing quite a bald patch then eat it. He would also eat fluff off cushions etc too if given half the chance.

Good news is that he has stopped and he didn't die of a giant hair ball. I think as long as they are pooing normally, any little bits of hair as long as there is not loads and loads of it should just pass through.

I got my ds to stop in the end by telling him that it was naughty to pull and eat hair. Obviously only worked as he got old enough to understand though. Now he tells me that pulling hair is naughty, though he will still put them in his mouth given half the chance. I also gave him a teddy with a hat for him to twiddle on the wool which stopped him too.

He did tell me yesterday that my hair was 'poorly' and was trying to pull it to make it better!!!!

So - as long as they dont eat lots and lots of hair I don't think it will make them ill. And as soon as they can understand tell them its naughty if you get fed up of it! Worked eventually for me