8mo smacking herself

[mamacolleen]

I've just noticed my DD has started to smack herself in her head repetitively at times, usually while breastfeeding and usually if she's tired. It seems pretty hard to me. I try to catch her hand and hold it gently but she works it free and resumes the smacking.

I find it hard to watch. Is there some reason she's doing this? She, of course, doesn't seem bothered by it.

Also yesterday I noticed that she banged her head against the doorframe a few times pretty hard. It seemed deliberate to me. I was rinsing poopy diapers at the time and it took a few seconds to wash my hands and pick her up. By that time she'd hurt herself and was crying.

Is this "normal" behaviour for an 8 mo?

[ThankfulMama]

My DD, now 9mos, went through a head-smacking phase while nursing too. I noticed that it was usually when she was very tired. Apart from swaddling her, I think the next best thing for her was when I put on a chunky necklace that she could play with. Now she has moved on to playing with my hair.

Best wishes!

[Llyra]

http://www.drgreene.com/qa/head-banging-children
http://www.drspock.com/article/0,1510,3941,00.html



I think it's pretty common. Babies often head-bang or hit themselves out of curiosity, or because funny enough it feels good and soothing to them, as long as they're not hitting hard enough to hurt. And trial-and-error teaches that pretty quickly.

That said, it is upsetting to watch. My DD2 at two years old even used to hit herself in the head on purpose when she was angry, and that drove me nuts.

I think if it bothers you, distraction is the key. But I also think that by trying to stop it, sometimes we draw too much attention to it, which encourages them to keep on doing it, only now they're not doing it for their own mysterious purposes, but because they've figured out it gets a reaction from us. So I think it's important when they do weird stuff like that (head-banging is only one of many little tics and self-soothing or self-stimulating habits LOs pick up) that we don't show too much of a reaction.

[SomethingAnonymous]

I think it's just self soothing, my baby does it too. It probably feels good to her

[Backwoods Mama]

My oldest child used to whack his head on the back of the highchair. We were perplexed by this odd behavior. We have since realised that he has food sensitivites. Primarily to food additives and preservatives. If your baby is just beginning to take solids this might be a really easy thing to track. (Most canned baby food does contain additives). You can easily make your baby fresh food and see what happens. Good luck!