hitting himself
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hitting himself
| Wed, 12-14-2005 - 8:51am |
Hi! DS (14 months) has just started hitting himself in the head. I have seen him take his toy hammer and hit himself in the head and I have also seen him make fists and hit his head. It doesn't look like he is doing it hard, but it is bothersome to me. Jacob is not officially dx'd anything although I think he will be...eventually. So, my question is...do I stop him from doing this or is it normal 14 month old behavior? Sometimes he just does it and other times I think he does it after he has been told no or is frustrated. How do I handle this behavior?
Thanks
Sonya
Thanks
Sonya

My DS does it. The key is to understand the underlying reason and address *this*, rather than the hitting per se, because if you make an issue of it, and it wasn't an attention-seeking thing, it may become one (this happened to us).
It could be sensory. If he has an OT, have a chat with him or her about it.
It could be attention seeking behaviour. If you think it is then *completely ignore it*. (unless he does seem to be actualy hurting himself). If he does not get the attention, he will stop self-injuring and try another attention seeking method. Also, pay him more attention during those non-hitting/non-misbehaving times. If he is seeking attention, he probably needs it.
Sorry, gotta fly. HTH
-Paula
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