The child beats his head: reasons, what to do?

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

No matter how hard parents try to prepare for the birth of a baby, it is simply impossible to be 100% prepared for various situations. And therefore, when a child begins to behave strangely, it sometimes causes panic and misunderstanding of what is happening.

Often such a nuisance is the situation when a child hits his head against various objects, be it the floor, sofa, wall or anything else. Finding the reason for this behavior can be difficult. Together we will try to understand why the baby behaves this way, and what to do in such a situation.

Things to remember

No need to be afraid of what is happening. Remember - a child will never harm himself consciously. A scratch and a bruise is the maximum that can happen to a baby if he hits his head on something.

It is also important to remember that there can be many reasons for the appearance of such behavior, therefore, an individual approach is needed for each baby.

Let's look at the main reasons why a child hits his head.

Manipulation attempt

Every parent should remember thatsooner or later, the child begins to test his parents for strength and observe their behavior. The most difficult age in this case is from 1 year to 3 years. The child may begin to bang his head against hard surfaces in order to achieve something. Don't want to eat soup? Do you want to play with knives, but your mother won't let you? Dad doesn't buy the toy he likes? All of these can cause the child to start behaving strangely and seeking to harm himself.

Some children try to scare their parents with a warning that they will scream and beat their heads before starting "self-punishment".

What to do in such a situation? The most important rule is not to succumb to provocation. You should not follow the child's lead, otherwise the habit of banging his head on hard objects will remain with him until you wean him from this peculiar method of manipulation.

Emotional breakdowns in public places

It happens that a child starts a tantrum in a public place. He falls to the floor, screams, beats his head and hands on the floor. The situation is quite similar to the previous one, however, there is another reason why the child, freaking out, beats his head - auto-aggression.

Psychologists call this term the desire of the baby to throw out his aggression and discontent on the parent, in the case when he cannot get what he wants.

In this case, you need to deal with the child in several ways. If the child threw a tantrum in a crowded place, it is necessary to pay minimal attention tohis behavior and pretend you are leaving.

How to respond correctly?

In this case, the most difficult thing is not to react to the behavior of others and the words of grandmothers about what a bad mother you are. Everything is quite simple. When the child sees that his methods are not working for you, he will calm down and quickly run after the parent.

When the baby stopped hysteria and was able to calm down, try to talk to him. Explain that you understand his desires and feelings, but you cannot always fulfill his requirements. Suggest an alternative. For example, if your child is banging his head at home, wanting to go for a walk when you can't, offer him another task to play with toys, watch cartoons, or draw.

Gradually, the child will get used to negotiating with parents and stop throwing tantrums.

Attempt to get attention

Behind the hustle and bustle of everyday work, we do not notice how sometimes a child lacks attention. Therefore, the ritual of “banging” the head on hard objects can be a kind of attempt to attract attention. At such moments, the baby may not be upset, not cry and not try to throw a tantrum, but on the contrary, smile and look at the parent with interest. Thus, he again tests the reaction of his loved ones.

Sometimes a child may punish himself in this way for any faults that he is aware of, trying to attract the attention of parents who may feel sorry for him.

Your task in this case is again simple - do not pay attention. ATin such situations, the child does not knock on the back of the head very much, which will not bring him any harm. But still, if you notice that the child is banging his head against the wall, distract him - play toys with him, hug, kiss and stroke him. Children are very acutely aware of the lack of attention and this needs to be replenished.

Desire to sleep

But not always attempts to hit the head mean the baby's selfish goals. It happens that after a busy day, the child beats his head on the floor. So he tries to relax in order to fall asleep.

Also, this behavior may signal that the child has increased intracranial pressure. In such situations, the baby will not always have a headache, so he will be able to tell you about poor he alth only in a peculiar way.

Pay attention to the baby when he starts to rock. Usually such movements have a strict rhythm. This helps the baby relax and fall asleep faster.

To cope with this problem, you need to help the child relax. Take a warm bath with soothing herbs and oils. 15-20 minutes of bathing will be enough for the child to calm down. After water procedures, massage, tell a fairy tale - all this contributes to a good sleep.

Inflammation and disease

The situation is more complicated in a situation where a child beats his head against the wall and floor due to pain. It can be a toothache, otitis or colds. Even a slight malaise sometimes makes your child capricious, becausethe child, knocking his head, tries to ease the discomfort and distract from them.

In addition, this behavior has more distant roots - when the baby was still a newborn, his mother rocked him in her arms, in a stroller or crib. All this is subconsciously connected in the child with calming, because he repeats the rocking.

You can only deal with this problem through a doctor. If you already know the cause of the ailment and the disease itself, the child can be given prescribed drugs and sedatives.

Despair

Imagine the situation: a child, assembling a designer or puzzles, starts freaking out, screaming or crying. A natural question arises - why does a child bang his head on the floor when he is crazy?

This is a natural occurrence in case of failure. If a child fails to complete something on his own, he does not understand why he cannot complete the task on his own. At such moments, the baby can hit himself on the head with his fists.

You need to solve such a problem correctly. Sit down with your child, help him complete the task. Explain why he failed to cope on his own, teach him how to do it right. Calm down the child, tell me that even you don’t get it right the first time.

In this case, the child's behavior cannot be ignored, because it will not stop, but will only get worse.

Search for the edges of the admissible

From an early age, a child begins to learn about himself and the world around him. Acquainted with pain, the baby beginsknow its limits. At first, he experiments on soft objects, controlling the force. Gradually, interest may shift to harder objects and increased strength. Such interest may be the reason why the child bangs his head against the wall.

Don't be afraid of it. Remember that the child is just experimenting and learning about himself. In such a situation, he will not cause himself excessive pain, because having reached the point where it becomes unpleasant, the child will stop doing it and lose interest in this activity. Therefore, on the part of the parent, only supervision is required so that the baby does not accidentally injure himself, but you should not interfere in this process.

Tension in the family

Unfortunately, things are not always calm inside the family. And now we are not talking about ordinary quarrels that happen from time to time in every home, but about situations where relations between a man and a woman are getting worse every day.

Such parental behavior creates an extremely unfavorable atmosphere within the family, into which the baby unwittingly falls. Often the child beats his head from helplessness and the inability to change the situation. He sees that something incomprehensible and terrible is happening between his only beloved people, which the baby cannot influence.

If a child hits his head on the floor, this may indicate that he is trying to distract his parents, thereby reconciling them. Such behavior can often be even unconscious. Also, this behavior can be manifested due to excessivemental strain.

What to do if the child hits his head? You must remember that no quarrels and misunderstandings should occur with him, since regular scandals, screams, and what’s worse - breaking dishes and other aggressive behavior excessively affect the baby’s fragile psyche. And if mom and dad can make peace in a couple of hours, then the imprint of what happened will definitely remain on the child's psyche, and sometimes only a specialist can fix this.

A few tips

Summing up all of the above, here are a few basic tips to follow for your child's mental and physical he alth:

1. Never scold your baby for hitting his head against hard objects, whatever the reason for his behavior. Stay calm and reasonable in any situation, because if you break loose, you will not lead to anything good.
2. Always watch your child. Even in moments when the child pursues selfish goals, and you pretend not to pay attention to him, try to follow his actions. To a greater extent, this is necessary in order to understand the true cause of behavior. Some points need to be noticed immediately in order to have time to prevent serious consequences.
3. It is important to understand that this behavior occurs in 20% of children aged one to seven years. Many parents often ask similar questions - "The child is a year old, beats his head on the floor, should I be worried?". At this age, you should not worry about the baby. But if this behavior persists inchild over the age of 7, you need to pay attention to it.
4. If a parent understands that the cause of strange behavior is not whims, then the first doctors to visit should be a neurologist and an osteopath. These specialists can determine the true cause of problems with the baby, since in childhood you can notice problems in the cervical region that affect the flow of oxygen to the brain. This often causes the child to hit hard surfaces.
5. Give your baby more attention. Whatever the true reason for the child's behavior, try to show him more love and understanding. At an early age, children are sensitive to the mood of their parents. Hug your child once again, kiss, say kind words. Spend more time with your family and you will notice how many problems with the child will be solved.

That's it. Now you are quite aware of the problem that every child can face. Do not be afraid of difficulties and remember that education is not an easy task, but any problem can be solved, the main thing is not to let it take its course.