Hair Pulling

Both of my husbands nephews do the same thing when they get sleepy. The oldest on is 9 and he did it until his hair fell out, and the youngest one is almost 3 and he just kinda twirls his. You might think about cutting his hair really short.

Hi A.,

I'm a married mother of 2 boys (ages 8 & 13). My children did not have a problem with hair pulling, but with biting. I did research and find an article regarding hair pulling and other seemingly self inflicting behavior and how you may handle that situation. I hope it helps!

ARTICLE
I have a 13 month old daughter who is just starting to grow her hair [out], but she keeps pulling it out .... Is this normal for an infant to do?
Hair pulling, head-banging, body rocking, thumb sucking and other habits often appear in infancy. Parents who witness these sometimes alarming behaviors wonder why their children do it. Oddly enough, these habits are considered self-soothing to the infant and are often associated with boredom, loneliness, or some other stress. Fortunately, the habits in young infants and toddlers are not usually associated with emotional or development problems, and they often stop after few months without any special intervention.

Many parents become concerned that the child could actually injure himself, especially with head banging, but that is very unlikely. A child who bangs his head against a hard surface rarely gets a bruise or a cut. Some children may develop a callous or thickened area to the scalp. Hair pulling is also concerning becomes some parents worry that a permanent bald patch may develop, but again that is unlikely to happen. Occasionally, if a child who pulls out his hair also likes to eat it, he may then end up with a wad of indigestible hair (known as a bezoar) in his stomach. The bezoar must then be surgically removed. As long as the child does not eat her hair, then a bezoar is not an issue to worry about.

Sometimes one habit is done in concert with another. The child who sucks her thumb also twirls her hair. Eliminating thumb sucking may also mean the end of the hair twirling.

Is there anything a parent can do to help eliminate these habits sooner rather than later?

The best advice to stop a habit is to ignore it.

The best advice is to ignore the behavior. If the child sucks her thumb, resist the urge to say, “Get your thumb out of your mouth!” Instead, consider quietly offering her something else to do that will require her to get her thumb out of her mouth like blowing bubbles or playing a game together, but do this without mentioning her thumb sucking.

The second best bit of advice is to give your child more attention overall. Do not increase your attention only after observing the “bad” habit; to do so would just make the child associate the habit with getting more attention.

Finally, make the behavior less pleasurable. For a child who pulls his hair, consider a short haircut. For a girl who pulls her hair, try a hairstyle that makes it hard to get at her hair like a braid or ponytail. (Be careful not to pull the braid or ponytail too tight because this can lead to excessive traction on the hair root.)

For the child who engages in raucous head-banging at bedtime, pad the headboard or crib. (Remember, even though head-banging sounds anything but pleasurable to you, it is a tension reliever for the child.) Nail biting is another common habit and keeping the nails short and the cuticles softened and trimmed may help.

When should a parent worry that a bad habit like hair-pulling has crossed the line into something more worrisome?
You may need professional help if the child is closer to school aged, if the habit does not resolve within several months, especially if there is a family history of trichotillomania, obsessive compulsive disorder or anxiety disorders. For head banging and body rocking, a parent may worry if the child is showing signs of mental retardation or abnormal language and social development. As always, if you have any doubts about the nature of your child’s behavior, consult your pediatrician.

I agree with the other mom, it's not normal. I cant dignose it but you need to talk with ur ped. more or find another that will evaluate this. I've heard of some disorders...not nessecarily the one she stated but also others that cause children to pull their hair.

A., this is not normal behavior. This is a diagnosable compulsive disorder called trichitalamania. I treat children with this disorder in my practice as a licensed counselor. It is treated by helping the child replace the pulling with other more adaptive soothing activities and helping the child to learn how to cope with anxiety. I strongly urge you to get your son into play therapy with a licensced therapist. You can contact me directly and/or go to www.a4pt.org and look for the option of "find a play therapist" under the tabs and plug in your area of town. I will be happy to help you find the help your son needs if you want to send me an email directly. Your pediatrician is not correct in telling you this is normal. But it can be treated.....the sooner and earlier the better. Best wishes, L.

Try putting a pair of socks on his hands at night since this is primarily when he pulls his hair out - I am not a medical professional by any means but it sounds like he could have some kind of nervous condition that makes him tug at his hair like that - It could be nothing but I would check with a physician just to be on the safe side

well, i would try tube socks put his in them and see if that works.

Hi A.,

Lynn is correct, this is not normal and it is a condition called trichotillomania.. There is an organization that offers support and education about it, they even have conferences. Better to handle it now as it can get to the point where the person ends up pulling out all the hair on their body including the eyelashes, of course this is the extreme and hopefully your son will not go there, but you want to treat it young. I don't have the contact information for the organization but if you google it you should have no trouble finding it. Best of luck, J.

I would check with a child psychologist, just to be sure.

I would say give him a buzz cut, do it for a year and see what happens after you let him grow it out again.
After excessive hair being pulled from their roots it can actually cause perminant hair loss in that spot due to the scar tissue in the scalp.
good luck :)