Hair-twirling

[Dandylion]

My dd, who is 4 and a half has always twirled her hair around her fingers. I never made a big deal out of it, but I have recently noticed that she is making big knots and subsequently pulling out chunks of hair. It may be my imagination, but her hair overall seems to be thinner. My only course of action at this point is to talk to her about how she is pulling it out and reminding her to stop when she forgets and starts twirling. It's certainly not a huge problem, but if anyone else has encountered this and has some other advice to offer it would be greatly appreciated.


Stephanie

[prairiemama]

I just have to add that my ds (3 yo on thurs!) has done this for a couple of years!!!! He started with mine and dh's hair, at night that drives me bananas. I have nearly completely weaned him to his own hair.

At times, he will knot it up and I just trim it out. No hair loss yet, but I imagine that will be the first place he loses hair as an adult male.

He does this primarily when he is tired (over-tired) or if he is nervous, unsure about a situation. I take it as a cue for assistance.

I don't know what you could do to help your daughter except to pay attention to when she does it (i.e. for help, tiredness, confusion...). Best to you.

jen

[Mommiska]

My daughter (2 1/2) does this also, although she hasn't pulled hair out yet. She can twist it into complicated knots, though.

It drives me nuts. She started very young - maybe 15/16 months. She stopped for awhile, but has started again. I just try to distract her when I notice that she is twisting her hair into knots. Smooth out her hair while I start doing something else with her.

It's better some days and worse on others. I have thought about just cutting her hair VERY short (boyish) if it gets too bad...I was told that often that works (no hair to twist - and by the time it grows out again, they've lost the habit?).

Someone also suggested to me that I get her a doll with real hair and get her to twist that, but I could never find one...

Good luck...wish I had more helpful advice,
Carolyn

[serenetabbie]

Someone suggested to me too to get a doll with lots of hair for Ds. It didn't work. He pets my hair....or his to fall asleep.
He has been doing this since he was a tiny baby. He was born with his hand on his head, so I guess he was doing it in utero. I cut his hair short partly for this reason, but he still finds enough to twist. He makes big knots in it if it is long. When it is short, he just makes dreadlock sort of things. I guess you may not want to cut your Dd's hair tho...I know I want my girl to have long hair! He makes knots in my hair, which is a problem, and gets his hands stuck in the mess. then he YANKS .....ouch!!!
I wish I had advice for you. My ds also sucks his thumb (he's 4) while he does this. I guess they will out grow it.:

[mom at home]

My dd also did the hair-twirling thing and was pulling out big chuncks. It first started shortly after she weaned, about 2.5. I was able to get her to stop by reminding her. Then about a year later it started again. Reminding her wasn't working and I was worried she was going to get bald spots on top. (My sister's ds did this as a toddler and had a huge bald spot. She finally gave him a buzz cut and that took care of it.) I didn't really want to cut my dd's hair that short, but finally got it cut shorter so it might be harder to twirl. It didn't really help, but she did want long hair so she ended up making the decision on her own. I think by age almost 4 she was able to understand the long-term ramifications -bald spots. She mostly did it when she was watching TV and I would give her a bandana or something else to twist while she was watching.