Conference moira::parenting_v3

    My son is 17 months and does the same thing sometimes.  Usually
    he'll hit me, and I'll tell him not to, so then he'll hit himself!
    
    I think he does it for attention.  If possible I give him some!
    If not I ignore it and he usually finds a more enjoyable pastime!
    
    I don't worry all that much about it.   It just goes along with
    his pretty high intensity personality.  
    
    -ren

    My son is 16 months old and slaps himself in the head when he's angry. 
    He's not hurting himself any, so I choose to ignore it.  I don't know
    where he gets this from as I don't hit him and, the same as the author 
    of .0, I only reprimand him in dangerous situations.  I wouldn't worry
    too much about it, it's just a phase.
    
    Lori B.

    
    My 18 month old has this behavior too.  Now she's included "bonking"
    her head into whatever object is frustrating her, gates, brother, mom
    etc..  If she's hurting me - I tell her to stop, otherwise we ignore
    the behavior.  She's learned that hitting or bonking the walls hurts
    and stopped.
    
    Rochelle

    
    I remember my cousin doing this when he was a baby.  If he didn't
    get his way or something ticked him off, he'd drop to the ground
    and throw his head back and then proceed to bang his head against
    the wall or the floor.  He was never hit and just repremanded when
    he needed it.  My aunt had video taped him throwing one of his fits
    (actually, it was more like he was a cowboy in an old western movie
     and had gotten shot or something. He would give you this face like
     he was in pain and then he'd collapse very slowly on the floor and
     then bang his head.  It's funny to watch now but i'm sure it wasn't
     too funny then).           
     This passed also.

    My 15 month old will stand with his back against the wall and hit the
    back of his head on the wall and sometimes even laugh when he is doing
    it.  He will also go up to his Dad and give him what my husband calls a
    headbutt, where they crack foreheads.  I think the later is some kind of 
    male bonding thing myself, because he doesn't do that to me.
    
    Kathy  

    Well, I'm glad that she's not the only one who does this but I'm
    still less than pleased with this behavior as it's increasing in
    frequency.
    
    Could be the new daycare arrangement, I suppose.  She's been there
    now for six days (still alot of whining while there); how long
    should I expect it to take for her to adjust?

    
    Tara,
    
    I asked our pedi about this yesterday.  He said the intent of this
    behavior is to get my attention - so IGNORE it.  If she hits her head
    too hard and cries - I do pick her up though...
    
    Rochelle

My 14 month old son finds banging his head into things to be very entertaining 
when it produces just the right deep note, sort of like a hollow log. He will
also sort of slap his face, but not in anger. I don't worry about it as long as
it is not too forceful. When he is frustrated by something, he will whine and
grunt a bit, then give up and look for something else to get into. I am not
sure if I should be relieved that he doesn't throw a fit, or be concerned that
he gives up too easily. How desirable a trait is perseverence in a 14-month-
old? 

His teeth have not really caused too much trouble. So far our magic
antidote to inconsolable fussing (twice) has been baby ibuprofen, given to us
by our pedi in TX. I am still not completely convinced the medicine had
anything to do with it, though, because in both cases, in less than 10 
minutes he was his normal happy self; maybe by the time we gave up on every-
thing else and tried drugs, he was over whatever was bothering him. Or it might
just be great stuff! If teeth are a problem, you might want to try it out. It 
requires a prescription (or doctor's sample, like ours was). I know I would 
be cranky if my jaw was aching all the time.

	I've had two sons who went through this stage, around
12-15 months I recall.  They would bang their heads against the
wooden crib head, or against me, or sometimes the pillow.
I consulted the pedi and a child development specialist, 
both of whom drew a blank.  

	What I found worked best was giving them a massage right
at bedtime.  It worked especially well if I did it before they got
going, but as soon as they started I would rub my son's head vigorously,
and sometimes his back.  Sometimes this would also devolve into
a tickle fight too, or leg pulls, but then I would go back to rubbing 
him to calm him down.  

	In fact, it seemed to help to make sure they got some
stimulation before bedtime - running around, horsing around,
banging around, and so forth.  Then bath or story or whatever.
The problem seemed to be that they either need to burn off the 
energy from their meal, or increase circulation, or induce serotonin.  
I don't know exactly, but it worked.