Head Banging?

littleredfish

DD has been rhythmically banging her head for about a week now. Everything I can find online usually is in reference to toddlers, or hitting their heads with their hands, or doing it out of anger or frustration. This just isn't the case with her.

Often she'll be sitting on our laps and toss herself backward and smash her head against us. I don't know how it doesn't hurt her because it really hurts us! She'll do this if she's sitting on the couch but everytime she seems to be fine and happy and just does it over and over. Are other babies doing this at this age, and is it ok? I don't want her smashing her tiny baby brain around and what would be the cause?

fanofanne

i'm glad you asked this question, b/c my dd does this too...i'm curious what others have to say.  we asked the pedi about this and he didn't seemed too concerned.  his response was, "when she hits her head on something hard and it hurts, she'll stop." 

okay.  thanks dr.

 

kkchisholm

Dd does a lot of rocking which results in her banging her head... a lot! Dr says normal.

littleredfish

kkchisholm:

Dd does a lot of rocking which results in her banging her head... a lot! Dr says normal.

I'm hoping it's normal. I didn't know if it's a result of her developing nervous system, but it doesn't seem like she rocks and therefore bangs her head. She really winds up for it! She leans forward and launches herself, that's why I'm more worried. It's so forceful I don't want her to hurt herself (head OR neck).

jeffsjayme

My LO did this too for a while.  He seems to have outgrown it.  He never caused himself any damage...it seemed to be his way of working out the fact that he can make his body do what he wants it to.  After he did the head banging thing, he starting banging one of his arms really hard - like when drinking a bottle or sitting up.  That passed too.

Then when he was able to get up on his hands and knees, he started rocking.  But that's passed too now that he's figured out that he can move his hands and knees at the same time and actually get somewhere by crawling.

In my opinion, it's just one of those things babies do, then outgrows.  I wouldn't worry about it unless it seems she's causing herself harm or does it for a really long time.

mben1119

janniep:

i'm glad you asked this question, b/c my dd does this too...i'm curious what others have to say.nbsp; we asked the pedi about this and he didn't seemed too concerned.nbsp; his response was, "when she hits her head on something hard and it hurts, she'll stop."nbsp;
okay.nbsp; thanks dr.
nbsp;

Your doctor is right. Ds laughs his butt off when he bangs his head on his crib slats. His pedi said it is completely normal.

buzzbee24

my ds does this too and Dr. said it's normal. He wears a helmet to correct a flat spot, so I'm not too worried about hurting himself. reason number 34 why this helmet was a good idea. lol

jennyelf

Glad someone else asked as my DS is doing the same in his high chair. We aren't sure what to make of it, but figure it can't hurt him that much as he keeps doing it and doesn't act in pain.

lizby

Okay, this may seem far-fetched, but I had recently heard this from a friend and then read about it online.. 

One theory is that they are doing it because it releases certain chemicals in the brain (as a response to the pain) that give them a "high."

mkflower3000

DD bangs her head whenever she's on her belly - she does it the most when she's excited. I also kind of worry about this, especially because I'm afraid of her hurting her face once she's on a hard surface...