Stupid Question, But. . .

In my opinion he is way too little for any kind of discipline, he is a little bity baby:) I think every time he does it saying "ouch!" in a high pitched voice and putting him down immediately will help. I don't think you have to walk away or anything but put him down. Then if you pick him up and he goes for the hair, put him right back down. This should get his brain to realize that the action of grabbing your hair equals no fun for him. Maybe even say ouch as you are touching his hand to get it out of your hair, just to help with the correlation. That is what I did when my little guy started chomping on the breast. I said ouch and ended that feeding, to get the message that biting the breast equaled something he didn't like. Worked pretty well. I would definitely not let him pull your hair though, too painful!! Good luck!

Shriek every time he does it and immediately move away from him. He'll figure it out. That's what I did when my nursing daughter would bite. It took her three times before she stopped biting.

The other option is to wear a close-fitting hat with your hair tucked up for a while.

Good luck!

Hey there,

I totally hear you on this one. I love my hair. I will never cut it short. EVER. I have before and almost had a nervous breakdown!

My best advice to you is to begin lightly, gently disciplining him for this. Thats what I did with mine. Can I please emphasize -lightly & gently- please do not start whacking your 6 month old with a paddle or something insane!!

When mine did this I would tell them "No" in a very low and stern voice, but NOT in a loud voice. I would look them directly in their eyes and tell them, "No no, ouch!" and they would almost immediately cry just because of that. But it worked.

In my opinion at 6 months they are old enough to understand that you are displeased. Its a good time to start teaching "No" for biting while nursing (OUCH!) pulling hair, and hitting at the face intentionally. When he is a bit older, I'd say around 10 months, you could also give a slight tap on the hand that pulled your hair, and give the same scold.

Just don't over-do it. He is very tiny, and won't understand if you do anything more than scold right now. As a matter of fact, its going to take him a few days to understand the direct relation with your disapproval and his yanking of your hair - but he'll get there.

Hang in there!

Just take his hand away and tel him "No-No Ouch"...every time. He will eventually get the idea. This will probably be your first look at how persistent your lil' guy can be :) If he doesn't get it right away you will have just have to put him down.

This might be something that you will have to do for awhile if he is that attached and using it as his "lovey" almost...I had a nephew that every time he was sitting with you he wanted to hold and squish your ear...which just gave me the serious willies!

This too, shall pass!

~I had to respond to your post because I was always taught their are NO stupid questions...only stupid answers.

I had to cut my hair short...

No you don't suffer. He is not allowed to hurt you at any age. Teach him that is wrong.

Sounds mean but have you tried giving his hair a little tug. Not enough to really hurt but just enough to let him know how it feels. Of course if he doesn't have any hair then this won't work. Sometimes you have to let kids know how stuff feels or otherwise they don't know that it really hurts. Also a little spat on the hand when he does it might give him an idea that it is wrong to do that.

tie it up in a bun. It's a temporary problem and that will solve it until the baby grows a bit.

don't let him grab it. keep it on the opposite shoulder. keep talking to him about it- "no no, that hurts mom." it doesn't have to be yelling or anything but a 6 month old should start understanding facial expressions such as happy or sad. He'll get used to the idea of you taking his hand off your hair before the damage is done. sorry about a bald spot- that's no fun. Use Nioxin shampoo system to fix it :) email me if you have questions about it- I'm a licensed Hair dresser & mommy ;)

Hi Megan,
This might be "normal" baby behavior only because the adults in baby's life allow this sort of thing to go on. As far as I'm concerned you are allowing your baby to control you. It will be hair today and more serious issues tomorrow if you don't get a handle on this. I would get a small switch and each time he begins to reach up for a good yank you give him a smile and a quick, stinging switch with a firm "no pull". You will have to go through this a couple of times to break the bad habit but if you are consistent it won't take long and you and baby can enjoy each other without "pulling your hair out". Blessings, L.

he will grow out of it.
Many babies do this... its their grasping reflex/new motor skills/new textures interesting them etc. and he does it when he is near you because also their vision is developing too... and it is sometimes soothing for them and you are his Mommy.

Is he pulling it, or running his fingers through it? My son uses my hair as a security blanket. Still does at 2 years. I still let him know when it hurt, and would remove his fingers after saying OUCH. Even at a young age, if his seemed to be using it as a handle, usually when distracted, I could ask him to let go, and he would.

At 6 months, he's not too young to be told "no" or for you to react to hair-pulling by putting him down immediately and distancing yourself from him physically every time he does it. Explain to him - "That hurts mommy." It may take a little while, but if you are consistent, he will learn to understand. In the meantime, for occasions when that method might not be possible (out in public, at church, etc.), wearing your hair in a french twist will keep it out of reach. I know because that's what I did for the month it took to convince my own son that hair pulling was not okay.

You are doing the right thing. Wear a ponytail and constantly redirect him. Also, he likes the reaction he gets from it, he enjoys the discovery and learning how his hands work. Also, say "ouch" that hurts, be gentle" and show him how to rub gently. Children don't understand they inflict pain, but learning the words and meanings, they can begin to understand behavior.

So, this is one of the best articles on why it happens and how you can minimize it (though it's mostly geared towards toddler age):

http://www.babycenter.com/0_hair-pulling_11553.bc

(also to Jennifer, pulling hair back, even softly, and swatting the hand will only give the child confusing messages and won't stop the hair pulling long term (or anything else for that matter) because it doesn't teach any other discipline and training behavioral tactics. read the spanking chapter in this book, it can cause a lot of emotional upset and anger...
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0316779032/jamen )

ponytail. boring, but effective.