Advise Needed: Question Regarding 14 Month Old Son and His Banging His Head

Well now this IS something up my alley. I'm a former head banger myself! Didn't get my way, WHAM, BAM! And you know what? I'm 54. I obviously survived. And 2 years ago graduated magna cum laude,with a 4.0 GPA, Dean's List 3 times.
I grew out of it.
But if it makes you feel better, get some sort of helmet, hard or soft, and make him wear it to prevent any cranial injury. Or potential injury. If he doesn't like it, TOO BAD. Quit the head banging or you wear it till you quit.

My son use to rock himself to sleep. He is 18 years old now and still does it. It is his way to comfort himself to relax so he can fall to sleep. You may want to find a soft helmet for him to wear and let him know that banging his head is dangerous and he had to wear a helm for his protection.
C.

I got a chuckle from your dilema because according to
my mother--I was a headbanger, like you described, when I was a toddler too! If it brings you any relief, I am now a healthy 37 year old mother of 4 boys! She used to always tell the story followed with her trusted peditricians response. I would bang my head horribly on the crib, wall etc at bed or naptime--or other times that I want'd my own way. The Doc asked her to notice how I never would bang my head on the cement, or brick, or sharp corners etc. Basically he said it was about control--I wanted it! And being the self proclaimed control freak that I am--I'm sure he was right. He said that I possessed above average intelligence and recognized this shock and awe method of attention getting as being highly effective. You said your son is very intelligent--he probably figured it out as well.
Her doctors advice, (which must have worked since I don't bang my head anymore-ha,ha!)was to IGNORE the tantrums and behavior. By acknowledging the behavior, even to place him on the floor and tell him "no", is still indulging his goal which is attention and control--he's still getting you to respond in some way! You must pretend to be completely immune to what he is doing when he acts that way. If it's bedtime, just close the door, walk out and STAY out. As soon as he figures out that he's not getting the response from you that he wants, he'll probably move on to a different method. He's not a fool--he's not going to hurt himself needlessly if hes not getting his desired response. I actually have very early memories of banging my head on my locked (doctors advice) bedroom door, (because of course I had climbed out of my crib), and then laying on the floor to look out the crack under the door to see if my parents were on the other side--they were of course, my mom crying at the "brutality" of the situation but of course since she was there and i was still getting a reaction, I kept banging until I fell asleep on the floor at the foot of the door! Talk about stubborn and spoiled and I wasn't even two!!!
Anyway, good luck with your son. And remember the quicker you stop responding to his behavior, the quicker this phase will be over--but you must be consistent!!

Hi There,

I have a 17.5 month old and she does the same thing. She probably started around 15 months conveniently just after her 15-month check up. I've read a lot of information and it appears that this is a normal process for some kids and can actually last for years. In the content I've read there really isn't any concern of autism unless a member of your family has this disorder. Some articles actually tote that your child may be more intelligent that the average child. And, some say that if you've done something different in their routine it could cause this type of outbreak. When she first started exhibiting these "skills" of head banging we were transitioning her from bottle at night and her nightly routine was getting shaken up with a few other variables. The largest portion of her head banging was only at night and we've since subsided by trying to keep to the same bedtime routines.

When she does exhibit the head banging, we try to monitor it and don't let our daughter do this continuously. Initially, she'll bang her head but we'll then go in and intervene and attend to her needs versus letting her continue. Again, it is often trying to find out what we did different in her routine and address it. That is how we are dealing with it. Her 18 month appointment is later this month and I intend to bring this topic up to her pediatrician. I'm not sure what more I can offer other than I am right there with you... it's rather scary to see your child act like this. Yet, from my perspective, she's developing all of her motor skills, continuing to be very happy and outgoing, and progressing as she should so I'm not as concerned as I once was.

One other thing I forgot to mention... when this was occurring at bedtime, we decided to start her routine a little earlier than we had been. Instead of 8:00, we bounced to 7:30. This also made a big difference and may be something worth trying.

I hope I've been able to help you out.

Take care,
K.

My son did this as well (and still does, but rarely, at 2 and a half)... I saw a lot of it when I worked in day care as well. It is a perfectly normal thing, and will stop on it's own. Most kids bang their head/arms/legs against things out of frustration, or as a comfort mechanism, to my knowledge (though I don't know how comfortable it could be!). He won't do it hard enough to cause serious injury, in 90% of cases, so I wouldn't worry much.. it looks scarier than it is!

Have you ever heard of sensory integration therapy? I am a pediatric occupational therapist and have a lot of kids on my caseload(usually short term) that need their sensory systems tweeked a little due to seeking too much input from their environment (hyper-active or seeking input)I know a lot of people say they are "previous headbangers" but your son it seeking input from his environment- not just in the crib but all around him throughout the day. If he gets some sensory integration therapy from a pediatric occupational therapist, you may have a happier kid who is able to calm and regulate his body a little better on his own - without needing to use external means. A great book to get at Borders would be "The out of sync child" by Carol Kranowitz.You could also just get an evaluation from a pediatric occupational therapist who may or may not recommend some therapy. I really think you would be pleased with the results!! Hope this helps -L. K.

I would get a second opinion, from a pediatrician who is going to take your situation seriosly. Your son could be unintentionally hurting his brain. I wish you the bast of luck with your little guy!