9 Month Old Loves to Pull My Hair Out!

My 8 month old daughter loves to grab and pull my hair too. She's actually quite proud of herself when she gets a handful or few strands. Not good. She typically does this when she is tired, or relaxing while sitting on my lap in the glider or even feeding. However, since she's began her hair tugging phase, I continually say to her "gentle." She definitely knows the word now. Sometimes she responds by being just that - more gentle or not (depending on her mood/demeanor). I also take her hand and let her gently touch my hair. She's seems to enjoy it. As long as I don't need Rogain for woman anytime soon, I plan on continuing to reinforce the "gentle" aspect (and hope it is useful with other activities, particulalry with other children). I think it's important to note, for me I don't want to start saying "no" as I think it's a bit harsh, and she's starting to speak (Da-Da, Ma-Ma, hi, etc) so I don't want "no" to be at the forefront of her vocabulary. Best of luck and remember each situation and child is different... there is no exact science to these issues.

My ten month old has been doing the same thing to me. He seems to pull my hair when he is tired or frustrated. I too ALWAYS have my hair in a bun to try to prevent it. It helps but only somewhat. I have been asking him to stop. I use his name and say "Mama says no to that because you are are hurting me-ouch!" It sounds silly but this is what we do for the few things we don't allow him to touch- like the stereo. Half the time when he reaches for my hair (or the stereo) now I say what does Mama say? And he will say back to me "no, no, no" and he won't do it. It works most of the time and I have started leaving my hair down a bit more often lately. I hope this helps because I know it is very frustrating and it hurts!!

My daughter did the same thing... especially when she was tired. She loved to pull and twist my hair around her fingers as she drifted off. I had short hair in one section for the longest time.

Whe she tugged too hard I just pulled it back a bit from her little paws and tried to hold it as well so if she did tug too hard it didn't hurt as much.

BUT... she did grow out of it... I do miss it at times!!

~ T.
www.liasophia.com/tarasamuel

No advice but my son has loved my hair from the beginning, too. By the time he was 12mos I cut it off because he'd pulled out so much I only had tufts left at the base of my neck! You should have seen the look of horror on my face when I came back from the salon!

Now at 3yrs he still loves my hair, although he doesn't pull it out anymore, of course. Just recently he said "Love your hair, Mommy" and I thought to ask him why. His answer? "It's so smoooooth". heehee! Honestly, it's been as much of a comfort for him as it has been a pain for me. I'm glad he doesn't pull it out anymore, but his explanation was so sweet...

Good luck! Hair-pullers are tough!

My daughter loved to pull hair, too- mine, my husband's, even the dog's. For us, we stopped making it a game- stopping whatever we were doing if she started pulling, and pulling our hair away. The dog just gets up and leaves if she did it to him! I would always remind her by saying, "gentle!" and demonstrating by gently stroking the hair, instead, and reacting happily if she followed suit. Now, she loves to just "pet" our hair, and the dog is happier, too!

My son did the same thing. They don't understand that it hurts. So I pulled on his hair a little (not too hard) just so he would get it. And he did. He hasn't pulled my hair since. I said, it hurts mommy and he understood and stopped. Good luck. Don't do it more than once, and only just to make him understand. I think it might help.

Hi. Yes, my son did the exact thing forever--and now at 14 months is finally stopping. I wore my hair in a bun for well over a year! The only thing that helped me was to consistently and calmly/quietly tell him to stop as soon as he got a hold of a hunk of hair, then to set him down on the ground. He would cream because he wanted me to hold him, but I think he eventually learned that hair pulling would lead to being put down...Good luck!!

Hi B.,

I have an almost 9 month old son who loves to pull my hair too. Pulling it back in a ponytail helps, but any strand he can get his hands on he goes for. I'll take his hand gently and say "no pulling Mommy's hair" or "that hurts when you pull Mommy's hair". He'll pause and sometimes stop, othertimes he'll smile and keep doing it. I figure I'll just keep trying and hope for the best! I'd be interested in any useful tips you get. Please share!

Thanks.
J.

He probably likes the reaction he gets. Do you scream when he does it or say ouch out loud? If you just ignore it and remove his hand gently he'll probably give up.

my daughter has long hair and loves to twirl it (or mine) it helps her to relax before sleep. My younger brother did this as well but his hair was short and his fingers would get stuck in knots. I would suggest getting him a stuffed animal or doll with nice think long hair and encourage him to play with the dolls hair and not yours. Try to tell him it hurts by saying "ouch" when he touches your hair and model how to be gently and pat or stroke hair in a nice way. But like pulling dogs tails your son is doing it moslty for the reaction and will soon out grow it.