Almost 14-mo hurting himself - is this normal?

[SparklingBubbly]

My almost-14 month old DS has started showing more toddler-like behaviour. He’s my first baby so I don’t know what’s normal and what I need to be more worried about.

He’s started to get really frustrated when he can’t do things (like he was trying to put two blocks together but couldn’t quite manage it) or when he’s told no or when something he doesn’t want is happening (nose wipe, bum change, etc). Only today he started pulling at his hair. He wasn’t crying or anything but he was yanking at it quite hard. He did this quite a few times and he didn’t like being stopped. He was also slapping his face and yanking/scratching his genitals, though not as often. I don’t know if this is normal toddler behaviour but it looked really horrible to watch.

I found conflicting explanations online, some saying it’s because he can’t express his frustration with words, some say it’s self-soothing, some say it’s boredom (he’d normally be at nursery on a Tuesday), and some say it’s ADHD/autism (it seems silly to diagnose someone with those things so young).

Did your toddler do things like this? How did you stop them? Did they grow out of it?

Yes! Just distract him. He'll do it less and less as he learns how to communicate. Try to work at teaching him the most basic communication skills so he can feel heard, even just hand signals. Nothing we can do about wiping bum and things like that, just distract with a toy or a song. I'll move my DD's legs like she's dancing, or make funny noises. If I'm in the kitchen I'll give her a bowl and spoon to play with. If I'm trying to work I'll give her paper and crayons. Anything to help her feel included, seen, heard, etc. Pretty much anything can be solved with distraction though, and this is true for years to come as they develop and learn skills. My LO went through a phase at 14mo where she was biting her finger, hard. It was horrible. She would bite me too, lol. She would also throw herself back and hit her head. Now she's 18mo and rarely hurts herself, usually just a slap if she does. It might take longer depending on your child and their temperament, language skills, etc. It gets better, don't worry!

My 14 month old throws her head back and hits her head when she's angry and also started pulling her hair when stressed/tired. I've tried to distract her and ignore it. As the previous poster said I think it's just a frustration thing for not being able to communicate. Sometimes my daughter throws real fits of rage when I'm not understanding her! It can only get better over time surely. In the meantime I'll just have to get used to the new bald patches forming in her already fine hair
She also will grab our faces with venom and it bloody hurts!!! I think this is just an age filled with frustration, I can't wait until she's properly talking!

Yep mine would have epic meltdowns over toys and stuff would get so frustrated! But as he's got older and can communicate he's so much calmer and just asks for help now. It's normal and it feels like the days are long and it's like another tantrum or meltdown then one day u sit and read stuff like this and your like I crnt recall when that behaviour stopped or how you coped ect. I was always told you get though one stage and then another one starts haha mines nearly three now I suppose another stage is on its way 😅 hang in there it's part of them growing up xx

My daughter used to walk/crawl over to the nearest hard surface and bang her head on it quite hard, she also pulled her hair in the way you describe. She’s 4 now and NT, perfectly fine.