18mo banging head on floor during tantrum

[Kathy]

Hi,

Yesterday for the first time, our DD (18 months) threw a tantrum...in
fact, throughout the day she threw 4 or 5 of them.

This is very unusual for DD...she is an extremely happy and easy going
kid. She's getting some new teeth though, so I'm thinking that might be
adding to her crabby mood.

Her tantrums were not long at all...the longest one might have lasted
about 2 minutes. We're not really concerned about the tantrums
themselves...I think that's pretty normal for a toddler. BUT, I am
concerned that as a part of these tantrums DD banged her head a few
times on the floor, and one time on a door.

Basically if she was doing something I didn't want her to do (say
climbing up on something) and I would move her away from the thing, she
would cry, throw herself face down on the floor and bang her forehead
fairly hard into the (carpeted) floor 3 or 4 times. Another time DH
went into the bedroom, closing the door behind him...DD wanted to go
with him, and when she couldn't she cried and banged her head 3 or 4
times on the door.

Just wondering if this is normal...anyone with similar experiences? Is
it just a passing phase or do we need to invest in a helmet for DD?

Thanks in advance,
Kathy

[Sue]

"Kathy" > wrote in message
> Just wondering if this is normal...anyone with similar experiences? Is
> it just a passing phase or do we need to invest in a helmet for DD?

No, you don't need to invest in a helmet. It's pretty normal.
--
Sue (mom to three girls)

[Nan]

On Thu, 10 Mar 2005 11:39:25 -0600, (Kathy)
scribbled:

>Just wondering if this is normal...anyone with similar experiences? Is
>it just a passing phase or do we need to invest in a helmet for DD?

I haven't experienced it with any of my kids, but I have talked to
parents who have. It's my understanding that it's fairly normal and
likely to diminish as she develops other ways of expressing her
frustrations.

Nan

[hobbes]

"Kathy" > wrote in message
...
>
> Hi,
>
> Yesterday for the first time, our DD (18 months) threw a tantrum...in
> fact, throughout the day she threw 4 or 5 of them.

Welcome to the club.

> Just wondering if this is normal...anyone with similar experiences? Is
> it just a passing phase or do we need to invest in a helmet for DD?

It's normal. Not fun at all, but normal. The key is to do your best not to
react. She doesn't like hurting herself, and if she gets no reaction from
you, she's not going to keep going too much longer. I'm not saying that the
hitting her head is totally manipulative--I think they really do feel out of
control, but they usually stop before actually hurting themselves. The kids
who continue and really hurt themselves are usually the ones who have
parents getting upset and trying to comfort them. Then it becomes
attention-seeking.

But in your case, I'd just step back and pretend you don't see it. But as
soon as she's quiet and done with the tantrum, offer hugs and move on to
something fun.

--
Jodi
SAHM to Oliver (4 years)
and Arwen (22 months)

[dragonlady]

In article >,
(Kathy) wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Yesterday for the first time, our DD (18 months) threw a tantrum...in
> fact, throughout the day she threw 4 or 5 of them.
>
> This is very unusual for DD...she is an extremely happy and easy going
> kid. She's getting some new teeth though, so I'm thinking that might be
> adding to her crabby mood.
>
> Her tantrums were not long at all...the longest one might have lasted
> about 2 minutes. We're not really concerned about the tantrums
> themselves...I think that's pretty normal for a toddler. BUT, I am
> concerned that as a part of these tantrums DD banged her head a few
> times on the floor, and one time on a door.
>
> Basically if she was doing something I didn't want her to do (say
> climbing up on something) and I would move her away from the thing, she
> would cry, throw herself face down on the floor and bang her forehead
> fairly hard into the (carpeted) floor 3 or 4 times. Another time DH
> went into the bedroom, closing the door behind him...DD wanted to go
> with him, and when she couldn't she cried and banged her head 3 or 4
> times on the door.
>
> Just wondering if this is normal...anyone with similar experiences? Is
> it just a passing phase or do we need to invest in a helmet for DD?
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Kathy
>

Not all kids do it, but it's definately common enough to be considered
"normal".

Absent a serious condition, there's no need for a child to wear a helmet
just because they tend towards banging their heads when they throw a
tantrum. I don't know of any kid who has seriously injured themselves
this way.

The trick is for YOU to not be upset by this behavior, and just walk
away from it. I found that part extrememly difficult -- but once I
mastered it, the frequency and severity of the tantrums went way down.

(And if the longest one lasted 2 minutes -- that's not bad at all!)
--
Children won't care how much you know until they know how much you care

[[email protected]]

Depending on how hard your child slams her head against the floor and
door.

In some cases a child that does acts like this tend to grow our of
them fairly quick, in other cases it is a long lasting effect.
Such as with my son, when he was a toddler to the age of 3yrs, he
would slam his head against the floor, and the wall, but not as "Hard"
as he did when he was much younger.

Also, You may want to let you child's Dr. know about this issue as
well.
Reason:
Shaken Baby Syndrom.
When your child;s head hits something with enough force, it can hurt
them badly. If you child gets to where she is crying a lot after these
tamtrums, then she may be giving herself bad headaches.
And these can go on to become Migrans when she gets older.

This message is not meant to scare you in no way.
But to let you know that these things can happen.

Visit your child's Dr. and let him/her know what is going on, and see
what they say about it, and have them to check out here head for:
Knot's, Brusing and the kneck spinal area.
These are the things that we were told to pay attension to with me
son.

Good luck