Hitting themselves?

OakTreeMommy

DS is a happy, good natured little boy who doesn't really even have tantrums but when it comes to not getting his way he does one of two things. He will either throw himself down on the floor or hit himself in the head. I always tell him to not do that and then explain we're not mad at him but he can't do such and such. Sometimes he's serious about it which I worry about and sometimes he does it with a little smirk on his face because he knows we react to it. I'm curious is this a normal phase? 

KateC1029

DS does this too. He is also very good natured and rarely throws tantrums. I asked the pedi at his 18 mo apt and she said it is totally normal and just a way for him to express his frustrations. She said to ignore it for the most part (unless he is going to hurt himself in some way). Im hoping it passes soon! I hate seeing him hit his own head.

jobiann

J went through this stage too. We simply ignored it based on the advice of our doctor and our friend. It worked and he stopped doing it. 

spainy17

DD does this too, especially if we say no to something.  The most I do is encourage her to express herself in some other way and give her hugs.

ReeceFamily

DD does similar. I try not to react to it too much, but the one thing I do is try to help her identify/label her feelings (I can tell you are feeling so frustrated/angry!  It's okay to feel angry when mommy says no) or whatever.

ConstanceGoodspeed

DS bangs his head on a table or the floor. I've been ignoring it, so I'm happy to hear that works.

==N==

Dd did that for maybe a few weeks but it stopped. She'd hit herself in the head if you said no to her. I always just said "don't hurt my baby! Be nice!"

Luckily it was short lived. Now if we say no she gives a sweet smile and a hug like she's trying to make us not upset or something.