Thursday, September 04, 2008

Mom Advice Everybody

Ok its 12:30 at night and I'm sitting here listening to my son scream in his bed. We've been at it for almost 2 hours. I've taken him out put him in bed with me, played with him in the living room, rocked him , and nothing seems to be soothing him. He's not happy unless he's playing in the living room. What do you do? He's been sick for the past two days. yesterday he was running 101.7 temp, and today he broke out in a rash. I called the peds clinic, but they assured me it was just a virus, and that it would clear up, but I hate seeing him miserable.

Anyways, thats not the point of this post. i'm actually concerned about some other things. When Roman is frustrated at all he beats his head on something. The floor,table, entertainment center. Just whatever is close. Tonite I was getting on to him because he was starting to throw a fit and he walked over to the entertainment center and banged his head. It hurt bad and started to bruise. What should I do? Has anyone else had this happen with their kid?

I know we have to discipline him, but everytime we so much as say something he doesn't like he bangs his head. I'm starting to worry about his head or if something is wrong. Any and all advice would be great.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

My advice might not be that great...but, Cambron did the same thing and still will sometimes. He does this to get my attention and sympathy and my eye off of the behavior. For instance...I tell him that something is bad that he did...he will then punch himself saying that he deserves it b/c he's so dumb to do that thing he did. But, I took him to Ozark Guidance about it over two years ago and they told me that this is a common attention deversion...they do this to stop the "no, no's" and start the sympathy and concern that we give when they hurt themselves. They told me to do time-out for this behavior...you might just try walking away or turning your head and humming as if they aren't there. If he doesn't get ANY attention from doing it- he will probably stop after a few consistant ignorings...

Unknown said...

i'm sorry he's been sick. is he feeling better??
i haven't had any kiddos bang their heads on anything...
you may ask the clinic?? or maybe my friend kristin??

Unknown said...

Head banging is a completely normal way for healthy, happy toddlers to express frustration, anger and stress. When Clara was engaging in head banging from frustration it scared me so i did a little reading about it. In her case I realized that she was upset because she couldn't communicate something she was needing or wanting. We were using sign language with her, so i worked with her on more signs for the new stuff she was doing and wanting and it helped her communicate her needs. Also, if she did it out of anger i would sit down and hold her in my lap, offering her some of her favorite soothing items (blanket, baby and milk. Once she calmed down i would talk to her about her anger. She outgrew the phase before she started tantrums so i don't know exactly how you might want to deal with that specifically. Some good news: the head banging phase only lasted a few weeks, maybe a month at most. If you want any of the info that i read email me and i can pass it on to you.

B said...

Jordan will slap at her face, and pull her hair sometimes when she's about to pitch a fit. I just ignore her when she starts a fit. They throw fits to get attention and if you don't give it to them, they'll see it's pointless. As for him hurting himself, I don't know--I also tell Jordan that it is okay to be upset and cry, but it is NOT okay to throw fits. We've had that talk a lot. I don't know about this child rearing thing, lol--it's a lot of trial and error--good luck!

Anonymous said...

Steph, lots of toddlers bang their heads when angry or frustrated. I've seen/heard of it - my sweet niece did - and she's now four and thinks she's Sleeping Beauty or Fiona, I can't keep up. :) No worries. It too shall pass. You are doing everything right, just being there and loving him.

SIgn language could help. We used that with our first. The rest just pointed. :)
KG

Anonymous said...

Steph,
My advice would be buy a rubber boxing helmet and let him have at it. :)
Love,
Aunt Lisa