Baby Hits Head on Mattress and Chest to Fall Asleep
And then You've Got a Trivial Headbanger
Some babies and toddlers bump their heads on purpose. Here'due south why and what to do well-nigh it.
Epitome
A lot of parenting questions boil down to: Is this a matter, or is something wrong? We're doing an occasional series explaining why certain things seem to happen to your kid (or to your trunk or to your relationships) as your kid grows. This week, we're talking about babe head banging. Read previous "Is this a thing?" newsletters here . If you accept a question for a futurity "Is this a affair?" electronic mail united states of america .
Q: My 11-month-erstwhile LIKES to hit his head on things. He does it accidentally plenty often, too, only sometimes he purposefully bumps his caput on a window, for example, until nosotros stop him. Is this a thing?
—Josie Curtis, Portland, Ore.
A: Though your son's habit of repeatedly bonking his tiny head against a window may seem pretty bizarre (and maybe alarming), it is a common behavior for babies and little kids, according to the pediatricians and psychologist I spoke to for this piece.
According to Patricia Kurtz, Ph.D., the director of neurobehavioral outpatient services at the Kennedy Krieger Found in Baltimore, "about 15 per centum of young children may bang their heads at some point prior to age two," if they're developing typically. The behavior may start every bit early on as half-dozen months and go along into early babyhood, said Nia Heard-Garris, M.D., an attention physician at the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. Dr. Heard-Garris and Dr. Kurtz both said the behavior is more common in boys than in girls.
So why are they doing it? There are a few reasons.
To get your attention. Particularly for kids who don't take language yet, whacking their heads confronting something is a bang-up way to get mom or dad to come scurrying over. In typical motor development, kids may occasionally bang their heads randomly, Dr. Kurtz said. But if they realize head banging gets you to pay attention, they may make it into a game. What started out as a random accident "tin develop into a learned beliefs," Dr. Kurtz said. (I never had a headbanger, simply I recognized the parent-toddler feedback loop Dr. Kurtz described: One of my kids figured out that licking foreign surfaces reliably got our attention, and then she licked everything, including a window at Southwest Florida International Airdrome, looking positively delighted with herself. We're just lucky she didn't get botulism.)
To discourage the beliefs, move the kid abroad from whatever surface she's banging her caput against; say, "no head banging;" and distract her with a song or a game, said Hugh Bases, Yard.D., a clinical associate professor of pediatrics at N.Y.U. School of Medicine.
To cocky-soothe. Some children will bang their heads effectually naptime or bedtime, Dr. Heard-Garris said, every bit a way to calm their bodies down. "That repetition, that movement, that calms downward their brain and tells them its time to go to slumber," she said. Hearing the rhythmic thump-thump-thump of your child's head hitting the mattress for x minutes might be upsetting, Dr. Heard-Garris said. But do not install bumpers or put stuffed animals into the crib to interrupt your headbanger, she cautioned, as the safest sleep environs for babies is an empty crib with a flat mattress (more than on safe sleep guidelines here).
And don't go into the baby'due south room every time you hear the banging — he will have a very difficult time sleeping if you interrupt his soothing rituals. If yous're concerned, you tin watch him on a video monitor, Dr. Heard-Garris said.
To express frustration. Before children can convey their feelings in words, they may blindside their heads if they are frustrated with a task. In that case, Dr. Bases said, observe the child's behavior. If you lot can recognize the signs of your child'due south frustration, you can aid her before she starts head banging, Dr. Bases said.
When to worry. If your child is regularly head banging to the point of bruising, swelling or cocky-injury, you should telephone call your pediatrician, Dr. Kurtz said. Aforementioned goes for if the frequency or intensity of the head banging picks up. It may exist a sign of an ear infection or gastroesophageal reflux in preverbal kids, because they can't express the pain they're feeling, so a medical workup may be in order.
If the head banging is accompanied by missed milestones, and delayed spoken language or motor skills, it's also something to mention to your pediatrician. According to Dr. Kurtz, if your child has already been diagnosed with a developmental delay or other disorder or disability, make sure to inform the pediatrician about the head banging, every bit it may develop into a more serious problem. Dr. Kurtz suggested closely observing the behavior, noting what tends to inspire the head banging and even taking videos of your kid's head banging, equally information technology may be useful for a pediatrician or other specialist to spotter your little headbanger in action.
Desire More on Baby and Toddler Beliefs?
-
Has your kid ever stuck a pebble or other strange object up his olfactory organ? We're here to aid.
-
You may take heard the platitude that little kids soak up new languages like sponges. That's what Lindsay Patterson thought would happen when she moved her 3-year-onetime to Barcelona, just the reality — and the scientific discipline — turned out to be a bit more complicated.
-
Apparently I don't accept the but lil' licker out at that place: The Oregon City Public Library has a "lick bucket," where you can put objects that your child has defiled (presumably for the librarian to disinfect afterward).
Tiny Victories
Parenting tin be a grind. Let'southward celebrate the tiny victories.
Our 3-twelvemonth-one-time dreaded and fought the nightly application of medications for her terrible eczema. My married man convinced her it wasn't medicine but rather magical body paint — now she excitedly participates in the cosmos of artistic masterpieces every night.
—Asiya Shakir, Atlanta
If yous want a take chances to go your Tiny Victory published, find u.s. on Instagram @NYTparenting and use the hashtag #tinyvictories; e-mail united states of america ; or enter your Tiny Victory at the bottom of this page . Include your full proper noun and location. Tiny Victories may exist edited for clarity and style. Your name, location and comments may exist published, but your contact information will not. Past submitting to us, you agree that you have read, sympathise and accept the Reader Submission Terms in relation to all of the content and other information you send to us.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/16/parenting/so-youve-got-a-little-headbanger.html
Belum ada Komentar untuk "Baby Hits Head on Mattress and Chest to Fall Asleep"
Posting Komentar