Nighttime head banging !?!?!

[Ooopsi]

HI everyone

I’m at a complete loss and just wanted to see if anyone has experienced the same.

Toddler of 16 months has been banging their head on the cot frame ( rocking back and forth and doing it with great force may I add) since around 11 months?

It got progressively worse that the neighbours have commented a couple of times regarding the noise ( which has put me on edge so much)

Recently we decided to transfer to the travel cot, however toddler has found the corner of the cot to head bang against ( the hard legs)

Honestly the noise is so loud from the banging there is just noway to ignore it!

Toddler only does this of a night! No issues with morning nap at all! Last night I come across RMD (Rhythmic Movement Disorder ) If anyone has heard of it at all ?

I don’t know if I’m being dramatic but the stress this is causing is starting to make me ill !

Sorry if the post is long and drawn out hoping someone will have some form of experience or knowledge on where I should turn to next ?!

Thank you

Ah, I have an 18 month old and funnily enough he has started to do this in the night a couple of times and it wakes me up and he is getting his molars at the moment. Is your little one teething? It could be a comfort thing. Are they in a sleeping bag ? If not it might be worth trying one as they make them harder to move around at night and they can definitely end up in all positions in their sleep.

What about just the mattress on the floor see if it will break the habit? Just thinking aloud there.

Is your toddler awake or asleep when they do it?

Dd now 5 would do this at night and also in her high chair she mainly grew out of it but if she's accidentally woken at night she will bang her head against the mattress, it was just self soothing for her. If you are worried and want peace of mind speak to your HV x

@Chocolatetrifle

Ah, I have an 18 month old and funnily enough he has started to do this in the night a couple of times and it wakes me up and he is getting his molars at the moment. Is your little one teething? It could be a comfort thing. Are they in a sleeping bag ? If not it might be worth trying one as they make them harder to move around at night and they can definitely end up in all positions in their sleep.

What about just the mattress on the floor see if it will break the habit? Just thinking aloud there.

Is your toddler awake or asleep when they do it?

Hiya

Thank you ! Yes she does sleep in a sleeping bag, she’s normally on all fours banging her head or on her stomach with knees tucked up doing it!

Sometimes she’ll be asleep other times awake it goes through the whole house ! Absolute madness I’ve put padding under the travel cot to stop it vibrating I’m just at my wits !

She’ll sometimes bang her head when she’s upset never directly on the floor but the rocking motion of hitting her head on something I’m so at a loss !

Poor you it's so very stressful when things like this happen and I think it is a phase and stages thing something that they eventually grow out of but that doesn't help in the meantime!

Could you take the travel cot mattress out and put directly on the floor, there will be nothing for her to bang on then and it may be enough even after a few nights for her to stop, you never know.

Definitely seek advice from the health visitor in the first instance I'm sure they will have come across this as it's probably more common than you think. I know the head banging in frustration on a wall or floor is very common in toddlers
Sending you support.

I'd speak to your Health Visitor - it may be some way of self soothing as others have said. My 13-year old daughter does similar (bangs her head on the mattress) and has done for the past two years. In her case, it's linked to a whole host of sensory issues, which may not be the case for your DC, but at least it's on the HV radar if anything else arises.

Thank you everyone, I’ve actually got a HV appointment next month I feel stupid I didn’t mention it last time ! It’s just escalated all of a sudden

You’ve all been really supportive thank you ! Hoping for a good night sleep tonight !

Hi, yes this is a “thing”! It’s normal, apparently, and not uncommon, although it does seem insane.

My DS has been doing it since he was about 7-8 months, and he’s 27 months now and still does it, but it’s nowhere near as bad. It probably peaked when he was 1 and he would sometimes be up on his knees in bed, banging his head into the cot head board like a battering ram. It was a nightmare as it was so noisy, we padded his cot with pillows either end trapped behind airwraps, and even removed the sides, padded the wall side with a foam thing we’d found from Amazon and a bed guard (which he then broke). His cot looked like it belonged in a mental hospital!

It got better over time, and now although he still does it it’s very much just his head on the mattress, or sometimes his hands under his head on the mattress. The cot bars are back on and he doesn’t bang those or the actual head board any more. Hopefully you’ll find it improves once your DC have all their teeth - it’s a comfort thing but I guess the comfort is needed more when teething. DS only does it now to first go to sleep, and occasionally if he wakes in the night.

@tempnamechange98765

Hi, yes this is a “thing”! It’s normal, apparently, and not uncommon, although it does seem insane.

My DS has been doing it since he was about 7-8 months, and he’s 27 months now and still does it, but it’s nowhere near as bad. It probably peaked when he was 1 and he would sometimes be up on his knees in bed, banging his head into the cot head board like a battering ram. It was a nightmare as it was so noisy, we padded his cot with pillows either end trapped behind airwraps, and even removed the sides, padded the wall side with a foam thing we’d found from Amazon and a bed guard (which he then broke). His cot looked like it belonged in a mental hospital!

It got better over time, and now although he still does it it’s very much just his head on the mattress, or sometimes his hands under his head on the mattress. The cot bars are back on and he doesn’t bang those or the actual head board any more. Hopefully you’ll find it improves once your DC have all their teeth - it’s a comfort thing but I guess the comfort is needed more when teething. DS only does it now to first go to sleep, and occasionally if he wakes in the night.

Thank you you have no idea how much your message has reassured me.

Honestly we’ve done the pillow thing however taking the sides off could be an option what a good idea !

And other night of it last night, i had enough by 4am after( 4 hours of banging) and let the iPad do it’s trick admittedly terrible parenting however good Sleep makes you a better parent no ?

I swear toddler had all their teeth? I just don’t know what’s made it this bad, we’re on week three now of it being awful !

Hey
sorry i just come across this and currently have an 18 month old still BF in the same situation. I have him in a travel cot but hes out growing. He throws himself back out of temper so reallt worried about putting him in a cot as he does it with some force! What was the outcome for you?

Hey !

It lasted until up to March/April this year when we had a another baby, she’s now 4 and I had to tell her it was waking the baby and she pretty much stopped all together hasn’t happened since ! Probably not the answer you wanted !