Hi Everyone,
I have never posted on this board (normally I'm on the mothering pregnancy board), but I have a question for you all. I'm really worried about my 3-year-old son (Owen) because sometimes when he is frustrated, he hits himself. Has anyone else gone through this? What have you heard about the cause of this, and what to do? It started some time ago (several months), but has been worse recently. I read up on it on the internet, and the only advice I found was to spend more one-on-one time with him. Well, I already spend TONS of one-on-one time with Owen, and can't imagine how I could do any more!
Recently, Owen has discovered that it is fun to do stuff to annoy me and dh. He especially likes dh's responses to things when he's annoyed or bothered. These are normally small things - like saying "poop" at an inappropriate time. I'm wondering if he does the self-hitting in order to annoy us. He knows it bothers us because we've asked him to stop, and talked to him about it.
He usually does it when something has frustrated him. For example, when he has asked to eat a piece of candy before dinner, and I said no. Or when he is out in the yard playing, and I tell him it's time to come in for his bath. Then he'll hit himself. He doesn't do it really hard - it's not like he actually hurts himself or leaves marks, but it's still disturbing.
Does anyone have input? I'm very worried about this. I plan to ask Owen's pediatrician at his check up next week, but thought I'd run it by you all first.
Melanie
I have never posted on this board (normally I'm on the mothering pregnancy board), but I have a question for you all. I'm really worried about my 3-year-old son (Owen) because sometimes when he is frustrated, he hits himself. Has anyone else gone through this? What have you heard about the cause of this, and what to do? It started some time ago (several months), but has been worse recently. I read up on it on the internet, and the only advice I found was to spend more one-on-one time with him. Well, I already spend TONS of one-on-one time with Owen, and can't imagine how I could do any more!
Recently, Owen has discovered that it is fun to do stuff to annoy me and dh. He especially likes dh's responses to things when he's annoyed or bothered. These are normally small things - like saying "poop" at an inappropriate time. I'm wondering if he does the self-hitting in order to annoy us. He knows it bothers us because we've asked him to stop, and talked to him about it.
He usually does it when something has frustrated him. For example, when he has asked to eat a piece of candy before dinner, and I said no. Or when he is out in the yard playing, and I tell him it's time to come in for his bath. Then he'll hit himself. He doesn't do it really hard - it's not like he actually hurts himself or leaves marks, but it's still disturbing.
Does anyone have input? I'm very worried about this. I plan to ask Owen's pediatrician at his check up next week, but thought I'd run it by you all first.
Melanie
When he was really little and pre-verbal he used to bang his head on the floor when he became overwhelmed/frustrated/angry . . . it seemed like his poor little forehead was perpetually bruised. When he turned 3 he regressed somewhat and started tantruming occasionally again, which also includes hitting himself on the head sometimes.
