head banger???? help!

Believe it or not but this is not as uncommon as you might think! Children can start head banging from the age of 6 months and the behaviour is very often associated with the pain of teething – the baby finds that rhythmic head banging is soothing and takes away the pain of the teeth, or even an ear infection. Children of your son’s age may also find life a little frustrating at the moment as they are unable to verbalise their needs or emotions very well and find head banging a soothing comfort out of their frustrations. Rest assured that most children grow out of this behaviour by about the age of three years old, but if you are worried do see your GP.

Your son is unlikely to do any permanent damage to himself, but do check his cot regularly as the rhythmic movements may mean that screws become loose and need tightening more regularly than usual. Do keep him away from very hard surfaces or rough concrete, corners etc as these are more damaging. The most important thing for you to do is to be very observant of this behaviour, see what is triggering it and if you have concerns about any additional developmental issues do see your GP.

thanks for all ur advice ladies..... x

Totally agree with your comment, if he knows your going to come running every time he bangs his head, hes going to carry on doing it.
My daughter did it too, as the first time it was really loud and i went running up - she was just sitting there laughing, and then carried on doing it thinking i was going to come running again. After about the 5th time that night she stopped as she obviously figured i was ignoring her.
She still does it now, not for attention but cos shes bored before she goes to sleep - sopmetimes she goes at one end (longways) of her cot and flings herself back onto her matress, it doesnt hurt her as its a thick mattress - and she thinks its hilarious.
Most children go through a small stage of headbanging but if hes given attention for it, he'll carry on for even longer. xx

hiya i can't offer much advice on how to get him to stop but what i can say is he's not the only child to do it my friends lil girl used to do exactely the same thing for hours every night and she took her to the drs but they weren't to concerned by it, hopefully he'll grow out of it with time but i'd imagine you should try not to pay to much attention to him wen he does it cause he may do it all the more i know it must be really hard though. good luck xxxx

I really wouldnt worry about this, no offence to your father but it will NOT cause him brain damage. I think you're son is probably just frustrated that he has to go to bed, my son does it too, if he's put in his cot when he doesnt want to go, he smacks his head against the headboard of the cot, im not worried about it. I asked my health visitor if it was dangerous (my son has hydrocephalus, he has a catheter coming out of his brain so need to be extra cautious) and she said its fine, despite the fact that my boy has a brain condition!, so if its not dangerous for him then it's not dangerous for your son. You need to ignore him, he needs to learn that that kind of behaviour wont get a response xx

when I was younger I used to do this, not when I was put to sleep though just during the day if I was having a temper I used to do it in the middle of the street on the pavement and everything my mum said haha! I don't know why your little boy is doing it during the night though have you spoke to a doctor or someone? xxx

I dont knwo about on purpose in the night- my little boy accidentally hits his head off the wall which can wake him sometimes but about the tantrums- my little one tried it for a while off the floor and we gave him no attention and he realised it wasnt worth hurting himself. As you said he got bruised on his forehead or carpet burn! Every so often he tries it now- but wont hit it hard- he looks like he's going to then pretends- thinking we've fallen for it! We just made no fuss and obviously gave him a kiss and cuddle once he'd calmed down cos he really did hurt himself but he didnt do it for more then a couple of weeks and realised it got him nowhere. maybe if he stops it when having tantrums he might forget about it all together? i dont know?!?

hiya, if anyone has any advice on this i would appriciate it! when i put my 17th month old to bed every night he just wacks his head again and again against the matress, this goes on for up to half hour. he wakes up in the night and does it aswell, sometimes hes not even fully awake, and whatever i do he just wont stop! i tried baby massage before bed, waking him up to give him milk to try and calm him, stroking his head but nothing works. its making me worried as my dad told me he could get brain damage!!!!!???? i dont no if this is true! when i asked health visitor she hadnt ever heard of another baby doing it! he also hits his head against things when he is having a tantrum, he does it quite hard and seems to have a permanent bruise on his forhead. sorry for the essay just not sure what to do! x