My son (2 years old) plucks the fur off his favourite stuffed bunny, to the point where the bunny has a very bare face and I find little clumps of fur all over the house. If the favourite bunny is unavailable, he'll do the same to any of his other stuffed animals. He'll also sometimes pluck the hips of his nappies, and I find little bits of white fluff on him. Obviously, telling him to stop has no effect - he either laughs at my scolding or, if I physically try to stop his hand from plucking, he gets upset. (I should add that it happens primarily when he's tired, at which times he likes to lie down and stare into space and pluck. When he's well-rested, on the other hand, he's active and adventurous and not at all bothered about plucking!)
I've been assuming it's just a comfort thing which he'll outgrow. With that said, I'm a little worried this habit of his might have been inherited from me. I have OCD (onset around the age of 9/10) and had the on-off habit of picking my hair from my teenage years up until fairly recently (I'm now in my thirties). My hair-picking would be considered a type of trichotillomania. Like many habits, it used to get particularly bad when I was tired or stressed.
Has anyone on here had a similar experience with your toddler - a comfort habit that s/he later outgrew? Or a habit that stretched into later childhood / young adulthood and was perhaps connected to OCD or anxiety?
Clearly there's no way to know for sure at this point, but if my son's plucking/picking habit does come from me - if he has similar 'wiring', so to speak - I guess there's not much I can do about it given his age. I'd just like to be aware of the various possibilities.
Thanks very much to anyone who has time to comment. :)