Daughter Is Pulling Out Hair !!!!!!!

Hi. Just wondering if you have considered Trichotillomania? I don't know what can be done about it; however, I do know that there is much information on the web about this. Her pedi may be able to help. Good Luck.

Hi S.,
I am sending you a website so you can be aware of some causing factors of your daughters hair pulling. She is still very young to classify the problem as what I am sending you. However, I would gain a little bit of knowledge from the info. and definitely call your pedi. so you can get this under control before it can become a habit that is very hard to break. Praying wisdom and knowledge your way! http://www.trich.org/about_trich/

This is called Trichotillomania. My daughter is now 16 but started pulling her eyelashs/eyebrows in Jr. HI. Google the info and read it. I got scared of some of the info on the site (they said it could lead to cutting). The best thing was we talked with her, got her rubber tip fingers (like in office work) and kept directing her to other habits. Round rubber balls to squeeze, etc. All the ideas came from websites. With her being so young, hopefully she will outgrow this. But I do now grown women who still pull their hair in clumps so educate yourself. Talk to your pediatrician/counselors, etc.

S., sometimes our children respond to the stress that we feel, especially when they are so young. If you're repressing any anxiety, it could be coming through loud and clear with your daughter. Do an honest assessment of your life, where you are and what you think and feel about that.

About 15 years ago I was working in a day care and came across a little girl who was pulling her hair out. The parents brought her to a child psychologist to get help. I know one of the steps we did at the day care was she had to wear a sun hat that tie around the neck. It help control the issue. I remember the little girl didn't like it but it eventually worked because all of hair did grow back. I was very young and I don't recall what else the doctor told the parents to do at home. Good luck!

Hi S.,

My daughter started doing the same thing (at about the same age as your daughter). It started a couple of months after the birth of my son. First I noticed she was doing it with her stuffed animals and then she started on her own head.
It is called Trichotillomania. Her pediatrician didn't know a lot about it. Although he did keep telling me she will grow out of it, my fear was what if she didn't and I had done nothing. I tried to find a therapist in the area, but had a hard time. (about the time I found someone in Houston, it stopped). I read alot on my own to try and help her (and was successful after a few months).
As ironic as it sounds, it is a soothing mechanism. It tends to happen more with girls.
In my daughters case, I think it was because right after my son was born (she was 18 months when he was born) our schedules changed completely. So the first thing I did was try to get back to a schedule and reduce some of the stress.(ie making sure naps were at a certain time and tried to keep things calm).
I also noticed she was pulling out her hair more when she was tired or sitting idle (watching tv, riding in the car).
I read to get her things to keep her hands busy and things that feel good / soothing. So,first I got her a stuffed lion that had a long mane, so she could put her hands in the fur and pull that if she wanted. If I saw her start to pull her hair, without making a big deal about it I would put her hands in the fur. I made sure she went to bed with him and had him if she was watching tv. In the car I made sure she had things to keep her busy; books,toys to keep her fingers busy (see and say, things with buttons to push, etc), the lion, etc. At home I used things to keep her hands busy ( Playdoh, you can get those big cards that have holes in them and they put a string / lace through the holes, puzzles, refrigerator magnets, etc). Something else I read was to give her silky ribbons to hold.
I also read to put socks or mittens on her hands (although she didn't really like that).
Keeping hats or headbands on her seemed to help as well.
Not sure why, but I resisted cutting her hair for a while (which don't ask me why because she had literally pulled out most of the hair on one side of her head). Once I finally had her hair cut, it not only looked better, but she couldn't pull it as easy.
Be careful if you start reading about it; as always there's a lot of information that will make your heart sink. I just tried to focus on the things / techniques to help her.
I'm sure there's more I can share with you. It now seems so long ago (my daughter is now almost 10 and has no clue she even did that). In our case it only lasted a few months, but while it was going on it was heartbreaking.
Please feel free to contact me directly if you would like to talk.
I'm thinking of you and your family.
Michele

I went to a wonderful program on hair pulling at the Monarch School. It was presented by a local therapist who works on this. You might try calling them to see if you can get her name--it was over a year ago, but they should have a list of past presentations....The phone number for Monarch is ###-###-####. I would also contact your pedi to see if there are other factors to rule out.

Good luck!

S.,

This may be a long post, because it is a subject so important to me. I have a daughter that started pulling her hair out at 15 moths of age. By two months later, she was almost bald. She has what is called Baby Trich. When we told my mother-in-law about my daughter, she informed us that my husband did the same thing at 15 months. This opened up a whole new world for us. I then got a team of therapist to help me. The leading "baby Tric" therapist is on the East Coast. She was the head of out team and developed the treatment plan. I was living in Postland at the time and had a a Trich therapist in Portland and an ocupational therapist as well. Baby Trich CAN also have sensory issues associated with it in some cases. They developed a plan for my daughter and my "mom intuition" knew it was worng. I could not due to my daughter what they recommended. It was not right for her personality. If it had been my older daughter, it might have worked, but I knew I would lose my younger one if I follwed the plan. My daughter and my husband have Trich. The experts will tell you it MAY go away, but I do not believe it does. Before my husband and I understood his Trich, we had a lot of problem that I just could not get a handle on. Understanding his Trich and the sensory issues that come with his (he had baby Trich), totally changed my marriage. So much about him suddenly made sense. I am very passionate about Trich and about the idea that Trich sould not be stopped, just altered. My daughter still pulls, but I behavor modified her to pull on her "pull dolls." We keep a box full of strawberry shortcakes, little ponies, etc and she pulls on one of those. I could say so much more about the subject and I would be happy to give you my point of view and experience. I must say, that I did what was right for us and not what was recommended by therapist. I believe that my daughter (who is 3 1/2) is happier and feels good about herself. You can contact me at ____@____.com if you have any questions. Sorry this is so long, I could go on forever about Trich. Best wishes to you and your little girls.
On the other side, she a dermatologist before you assume she has Trich. She might have a fungus or an allergic reaction. Her head could be itching or she could have someother skin issue.
T.

I have no experience with hair pulling but I do have some experience with a self soothing child. I was just wandering if this may help. What if you cut her hair short so she would have trouble gripping it. This may help her from pulling while you and her doc incorporate other treatments such as the hair pulling doll, etc. If it is a self sooting action it may help her to learn a different way to self sooth.

Hi S.,,,
that is a nerves disorder youneed to take her to a Dr ASAP this ia very seriosshe will pull all her hair out Please get her to the Dr now
good luck L.

i did that when i was a kid, i just stopped once i realized it was unattractive, but i have bitten my nails ever since

There is an actual disorder out there where you pull our your hair, eyebrows, eyelashes, hair arm and leg...etc...it is called triocelenemia (sp?) I would look into that and see if that is what it is. Not a bad disorder just strange.