Toddler hitting herself

[SamanthaVimes]

My 2yo has started hitting herself in the head/face with her hand.
It seems to be worse when she’s tired or frustrated. Does anyone have any advice on how we should react?

Part of me thinks we should ignore it and give it no attention and she’ll give it up. The other part of me wants to stop her doing it and say “hands aren’t for hitting” or similar (it’s not nice to watch but she’s unlikely to cause herself any serious damage)

I’m sure it’s just a phase but would love to hear what some more experienced parents would do

This was one of the first signs of autism (ASD) for one of my DC.
Are there any other signs?

@Discovereads no other signs that I’ve noticed.

Her speech is pretty good but not exceptional. Her motor skills are normal. She can be a bit shy in social situations initially but usually warms up after a little while.

My gut says it’s not this but what would be things to watch out for? I know it can present quite differently in girls.

I came on here to say that my toddler does this too ( nearly 2). If she gets told off she slaps herself in the mouth and face, scratches or pokes her eyes hard.

Having seen @Discovereads has surprised me, I currently have a referral in for autism assessment for myself but have wondered at some signs.

DD did this a bit at that age. She stopped of her own accord. No SEN or ASD. It's not nice to watch though so sympathies! I think it's just when they get so frustrated as they can't communicate what they mean and it just all boils over.

Oh and from what I recall we just did something like 'Hands aren't for hitting ourselves or others'. We also redirected her to something else that she could hit - we used a cushion and she would hit that a couple of times instead.

@Hugasauras yes this is what my instinct says it is. I just don’t want to accidentally encourage it iyswim

@Hugasauras redirecting is a good shout, I’ll let her pummel my cushions instead!

@SamanthaVimes my boy started this at a young age and go extremely worse, he is now 16months. I've seen 4 different doctors and endless HV. All said the same thing - it's a comfort thing.. we thought it could be a trigger for autism or something else. I was told to make a note every time he didn't and what occurred just before he did it. Like tiredness or teething or frustration. If you are still worried I would speak to your GP etc.

Try this website. It groups symptoms by age (baby, toddler, child) for which they have an infographic that for some reason MN wouldn’t let me attach.
www.autism360.com/autism-symptoms-checklist/

It has a step by step guide of a checklist of symptoms that you can then score to see what % chance may be Autism.

Then there is also an online test of sorts for toddlers
www.autism360.com/autism-test-for-toddlers/

Its important to note that you can’t diagnose autism with these resources, they’ve just meant to guide you in gathering information and then recommending whether a formal assessment is warranted or not.

@Discovereads thank you, I’ll check that out

@SteakChips sorry to hear you’ve had this as well. If it persists I’ll definitely speak to the HV/GP

Also going to suggest Autism. The problem with Autism is that a lot of Autistic traits can be normal toddler behaviour that they grow out of. It's when they don't grow out of it (like DS didn't) when it becomes apparent.

I don't agree that you should ignore it. Usually children Autistic or otherwise do this because they are frustrated and don't know how to verbalise or express that frustration. Help your child by giving them the tools to help them manage their own emotions. Talk to them about it and how they're feeling, even this young. You can say something as simple as 'I can see you're tired' or 'I understand you're frustrated'. But follow it up with 'But we don't hit'.

@Spinasaurus I like that suggestion, thank you

How’s your baby doing now ?

@Vittoria123 I’d actually forgotten all about this. Looks like it was just a random phase that she grew out of.