DS pulling on eyelashes?

junebug105

Whenever my 15 month old son gets tired, he pulls at his eyelashes. He's been doing this for probably 6 months now. He doesn't pull hard enough to actually pull them out, so i thought it was just a strange soothing thing. A few days ago though, he picked up his sister's doll and starting pulling her eyelashes. This was the first time he has ever done it to anyone (or anything) else, and since then, every time he is near my face he tries to pull mine.

I have tried taking his hand away, he screams. I have given him other things to hold, he throws it. I've tried covering the eyelashes with my own hand and he pulls it away. I guess I'm concerned because I've never seen another baby do this, and I don't want it to get to the point where he is actually pulling them out.

Does anyone have experience with this or thoughts on what I should do??

tbone_bride

My daughter does that too!  I personally think it's just a stage & nothing to be concerned with.  As long as your son isn't hurting himself & he is able to soothe himself, let him go for it.  Eventually he will find something else to interest him.  Maybe try to encourage him to hold a toy or a doll when he's tired?  I've been trying that with my DD for months & she hasn't taken to one yet.  But I'm still trying. Good luck!

numeria11

You may want to ask your pedi about it.  I say that because my DH actually used to pull out his hair on his head when he was stressed as a little kid (I guess he was actually getting a bald spot it was so bad) and his doc was actually talking about anti anxity meds for him at one point.  They were telling his parents that pulling out hair on the head or body can be a sign of stress for some kids.

junebug105

Thanks for your thoughts ladies! Numeria, it's funny you brought up the anxiety issue...that's really relevant for me because my daughter, who is almost 6, has severe anxiety and has to take meds for it. Her dr has told me to watch for signs with my son, I just never thought about the fact that this could be an early sign! Thank you for bringing it up, he has a check-up Thursday so I will be sure to talk to the doctor about it!!