Mom of a 14 Month Old Concerned That Her Boy Is Hitting His Head

My son likes to bounce his head off of the wall. If he is doing it for fun, let it go. If he is doing it for attention just ignore him and walk away. That is what the doctor said.

M., My almost 4-yr old still does it. He seems to do it less when I ignore it altogether! Good Luck!

yessssssssssssssssssss! and it so gets on my nerves. i've resorted to ignoring it and he does it ALOT less. he started around a year or so. he has teenage cousins and i think they laughed at it so he does it for attention. its ALOT better now, but he still thinks its funny to do.

sometimes he will hit his head with his hand, sometimes he will bonk the back of his head on the wall, edge of couch, etc. but you're not alone. my only advice would be to ignore it & redirect his attention to something else.

hope that helps.

rah

Hi, M.. I agree with Tera. It may or may not be something. Have him evaluated by a doctor you trust. If it's nothing, your mind will be at ease, and it if turns out to be something, you'll be able to get him appropriate treatment or case early and maybe avoid some greater problems in the future. Having my son evaluated by his doctor gave him a three year headstart on speech and physical therapy. He still struggles a little, but he is not frustrated like he might otherwise be and he is able to keep up with his peers on most things.

I'm the mom of four, and this is very common and nothing to worry about.

M.,

It can be a sign of sensory issues. I'd recommend getting him evaluated by an occupational therapist who specializes in sensory issues in young children. If you are in Las Vegas, I can recommend a really good one. My older child (he's almost 5 now) has autism and sensory issues. Not every child with sensory issues will have autism but pretty much every child with autism has sensory issues. And actually, something like hitting himself in the head may be a sign of something or nothing. All kids have "quirks" and the quirks are only a problem if they are severe enough or there are enough of them to interfer with the kid's ability to function. An evaluation by a trained professional will tell you if it is a problem or just a quirk.

:-)T.

My child hit himself in the head alot when he was frustrated. It started at 3years or so and went till about 81/2 to 9. He is now 10 yrs old and just stopped doing it recently in the past year or so. It seemed to just be a phase that is finally phasing out. It was never for fun. But I am sure this will pass, as does most things eventually that really throw us mom's for a loop!

Hi M., LOL!!!! My son did the same thing at this age and I also thought it was a little strange but I get this e-mail every week about how my child is developing and it said that children do that. He out grew it though, I know it seems weird but it's totally normal. God Bless you!

Mine did, they are twins (now 21 mos) and one would hit himself in the face/head frequently. Sometimes it was when he was angry and sometimes it just seemed part of play, like he thought it was funny. I, too, was worried and mentioned it to my ped at his one year appt. The Dr. didn't seem too concerned & seemed to indicate it wasn't uncommon. In the absence of other more major behavioral problems I think it's somewhat "normal" for that age. My son has grown out of that phase and now but it went on for several months.

My 16 month old does it and has for several months. He actually does it and says "ow" at the same time. And when I play the "where's your...?" game and ask him to point to nose, eyes, ears, etc.. he points nicely to everything but then when I say where's your head? he slaps it and says ow. I think it is just normal boy behavior. They find very strange things funny. :)

If you're sure that he's hitting his head "for fun", then I think he's doing it for the attention he gets from you. He also might be doing it because he's enjoying the sensation of hearing it and seeing what it does to his eyes. I remember myself rubbing my closed eyes and enjoying seeing the little lights move. Weird, huh? And I was a typical developing kid.

If he's hitting his head out of frustration rather than play, I would watch it and model words for him to help release tension. At that age he probably won't be able to say a nice little sentence like "I feel angry"- but he will listen and learn the pattern.

My son did the same thing, nit to worry, he'll grow out of it. I'd keep telling him not to do it though so he learns to stop.

my daughter does it (shes 16 1/2 months) they can do that for a wide variety of reasons like to see what it feels like or they may be in pain somehow, it also could be a comfort thing too. i looked up head banging on babycenter.com.

my son is two now and it seems like they go through stages of doing 'special' things, he slapped his head, beat it on the floor and there was nothing i could do to stop him, he would actually have bruises on his head from hitting it so hard, then he would bite, not just me but himself.then hje discovered himself, oh we are still going through that one, he has not only discovered himself but discovered everyone else, now he waqlkes up to people and trys to grab their privates, yeah weird huh... i think i would take head beating anyday!!!!! what im trying to say is that they have stages and before you know it he will find some other crazy thing to do,i guess thats just having little boys ....good luck!!!!oh if you need to talk....im at ____@____.com

It wouldn't hurt to talk to the doctor about it. If it is just for fun then there should not be a problem... ignore it. If it is continuous and repetitive then you should tell the doc.

my now three year old did this quite a bit around the same age as your son and I was also worried, but everything else was normal and now he almost never does it. I would say never... except he did do it once last weekend when another child was crying and it seemed like maybe he wanted to join her.

Both my children went through a phase a hitting their head. It usually was when they were teething or bored. My Dr. said it was normal. If it continues, sometimes it can be whe they have an ear infection.

It's perfectly normal (as odd as it seems). In fact, when my son was one year old, he would get so frustrated when he woke up that he'd bang his head on the side of the crib (hard)! Of course I freaked out and tried everything in my power to get him to stop, and his doctor said not to worry and he'd grow out of it. Guess what, he did! If your son isn't hurting himself, don't worry, he'll grow out of it and develop a new strange habit soon enough. :)

My daughter did that too a couple months ago, at that age, but has since stopped. It's just a phase, I think. I initially tried to get her to stop and that made it more appealing. When I stopped making a big deal of it, and only asked her if she was frustrated or angry, as that often seemed the case, she stopped doing it. Hopefully your boy will stop quickly too!! It lasted for about 2 months, and poof, gone....on to throwing tantrums;-)

Hi M.:

My grandson is 10 months old and has been hitting his head for about a month now. I thought it was a strange thing to do but his Ped said it was normal. He also has a habit of being in his mothers arms and then hitting his head on her shoulder, or when she is trying to put him to sleep and is cradling him, he will hit his face up against her boob, Which again we all thought was strange, that being said, the Ped asked us if he liked sleeping in the car and we said yes, the minute the truck goes, with the shaking and the movement, he is out, so he stated that the hitting on the shoulder and boob might be because he is used to the motion of the truck when he is in his chair. Its moves so much that it puts him to sleep and he is trying to re-inact the movement of the car to fall asleep, strange as it may all sound, it's all part of his quirkiness. We don't just cradle him to sleep, we find that we have to literally jump him and swing him hard and move him a lot when trying to put him to sleep, its how he soothes himself. To us the hitting of the head sometimes signals us that he may be tired and wants to be put to sleep, but at times, he is just hitting his head. All his other motor skills are fine so dont worry so much about it. Just keep track of him from afar and make sure that he is developing correctly and eventually the hitting of the head will stop.

V.

Hi M.,
I actually have a 23 month old now but when she was a little bit over 1 yr of age she started hitting her head, sometimes with her hand and sometimes she would hit it upside the wall. I was concerned as well and mentioned this to her pediatrian who told me this is common in children this age and that they somehow find this conforting and fun. I didn't really get how this could be conforting or fun but she got over this little habit quickly. Just make sure that if he hits himself he doesn't hurt himself. Good luck.

Dear M., Yes I have heard of that just recently. I would stop what I am doing and just hold their hand or hands and talk softly and get their attention somewhere else. They will quit, eventually if you don't make a large issue out of it.

C. N.

Hi M.:
This is very normal.Not just for boys but girls as well.toddlers,become more aware of their motor-skills,and what they are capable of doing.Its much like when they are babys,and They learn they can grasp things. As they get older,they learn they have control over much of their body and its movements. On top of that, they feel they are entertaining,and get excited that they recieve laughs or gasps at their new found talents. Don't make to big of a deal out of it.But don't ignore him either,as this is an accomplishment in his eyes.He'll find new ways to use his discovered motor skills and fantastic sense of humor.I wish you and your darlin boy the best.

My 16 month old does this every once in a while and he started when he was around 14 months. It seems to happen when he is mad or frustrated. He does do it and then laugh too. It's normal though so I wouldn't worry too much about it. If he started banging his head against the wall or throwing his head back on the hardwood floor all the time then I would worry. My friend's son used to do this and now he has a speech problem and some other issues. Hope this helps.
B.