What do you do when 14mo old bangs head on floor?

Brittany - posted on 09/12/2012

My daughter has been doing the same thing since she was 7 months she is now just over 1. I usually just let her blow off her steam before I do anything, that's what my mom and grandma both did with me. As long as she's not hurting herself I wouldn't be worried, its just a fit.

Heather - posted on 09/12/2012

Just tantrums. I would ignore it, or pick her up and put her in her crib or play pen and let her have her tantrum there safely, where she can't hurt her head as much.

Elfrieda - posted on 09/11/2012

If it's only a little, I think you should ignore it. My son tried this only a few times, also when he was one year old, but a little older than your daughter. I said things like, "Mommy said no. Be careful, your head will get an owie. The floor is hard." and then I turned away and and cringed where he couldn't see me. We have concrete floors, it was kind of scary. But yes, he learned that his head DID get an owie and mommy didn't change her mind, so it was a very self-limiting thing. But he's not very stubborn, so my "ignore it" plan worked pretty easily. If she's a very independent kid, you might need a different strategy.



Banging her head against you is a different problem, I think. Probably the best thing is to put her down immediately and don't pick her up again for a few minutes. I also had this issue with my son, except he didn't do it when he was mad, he did it for fun because he liked the way my breath got knocked out of me while I was talking and it sounded funny. When he just wouldn't stop, I started moving my elbow so that he'd hit that instead of my chest. He would turn around, all surprised and hurt, and I'd stroke his head and my chest and say, "Yes, that's owie for you and owie for me. No more." He would remember not to do it for about a day, and eventually he grew out of the habit because it wasn't rewarding anymore.

Heather - posted on 09/11/2012

I used to get down to where he was and try to get him to understand he will hurt himself if he does that. Or distracting him with something else. But he'd never stop. So I'd either move him to a place where he wouldn't hurt his head (like the bed) or bring a pillow and put it there. Pretty soon he stopped... I think they all go through that phase in trying to learn ways cope with how they feel.

Phillippa - posted on 09/11/2012

My son is 19 months, he did this for a little while too. I'm not sure how you deal with her in general, but with my son I'm always slow to explain things so that he has time to calm down and understand that he did something wrong. I let him know that his head is fragile with words, i gently stroke it and give it a kiss. I tell him that hurting his head isn't good and that I care. I know they have limited understanding, but the calm way I talked to him always calms him, gets him to focus, and he can see the concern on my face. He stopped doing it after maybe doing that 10 times. He is a pretty gentle guy and not too much trouble so it might not work for you, but it did for me. I hope it can help!