2 Year Old Pulling Out Hairs

I certainly can't claim this to be any sort of professional opinion [:)], but I wouldn't be worried. My daughter is 2.5 and did the exact same thing in the very recent past. She pulled her hair out (only on one side) when she was lying in bed either before or after sleeping, when bored or sleepy. She twirled the hair around her fingers and rolled it into little balls. It got to the point where she had really pulled almost all of it out on the one side, and that was disturbing, but I really didn't see that it was any sort of "problem" since it wasn't a stress-induced behavior. I never brought it up to any doctor, but she did stop on her own. We went to get a haircut (the first one) to kind of even things out and now we're back to normal again. As long as it's not something that is obviously stress-induced, I'd say your daughter is just learning about her nifty little body and will soon stop. Just keep reminding her patiently!

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THis is probably a harmless habit. hair pulling can be a psychological issue too. I've heard of some people recommending getting a longhaired stuffed animal or doll as part of treatment. The kid learns to transfer the habit to the toy instead of their own hair. Your case is most likely just a toddler being a toddler, but you could try giving her such a toy to take to bed and see if it helps. My 10 mth old son likes to kinds flick the hair on the side of his head with is fingers to fall asleep. Since baby hair is so fragile it breaks off and one spot on his head is almost bald. I'm not worried about it at this age. If it keeps up I'll give him a fuzzy animal when he's older for bed and hopefully rubbing something soft will substitute for the hair.

My daughter, 4 1/2 started doing that when she was 2 1/2 also. I had just had her brother and then we moved from San Diego to North Carolina. I also went from working full time to being a stay at home mom. Our dr said it is just nerves. I now notice she does it when she is nervous around peers. I figure she will grow out of it at sometime!

Trichoillomania!

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/trichotillomania/DS00895