If your child pulled their hair out as a toddler, did they grow out of it?
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@Tiff thank you for your advice, from my observations my daughter has only ever pulled her hair when she's tired or over stimulated. Which has always been my cue to put her to bed for a nap. The hair pulling out, my husband & I have noticed that in the morning our daughter may have a clump of hair in her hand. Or, found in her bed. My husband has noticed that when he's brought our daughter home from nursery {she goes to nursery where he works so its a good 45/50min drive} that she'll sometimes have a clump of hair in her hand. I know that by the time she gets home, that she's hungry & tired. As far as we're aware the nursery hasn't picked up on this, as it was my husband that mentioned it to them.
When my boy was 4-6 months he’d do the same. Found comfort/sensory help from it. Get a doll with hair and redirect to it
I was told that it is a relatively normal behaviour for small children, when tired or a bit stressed, as a soothing mechanism. So maybe it’s not super common but not totally unheard of or necessarily a cause for concern either. I redirected my daughter to stroke her hair instead of pull, I would take her hand and gently stroke her hair with it, as well as gently stroking her hair myself. By around 14 months she had stopped pulling. She strokes and twirls her hair now when she falls asleep, which is sweet but sometimes she twirls her hair too tight and her finger gets stuck in her hair 😂 We also tried getting dolls/toys with hair that she could pull, but she didn’t take to them. However I did get her a dog plushie around a year that was very soft, we would stroke its fur, and I think having that plushie that she could stroke helped her move away from pulling too I hope this helps with your little girl ♥️
@Sydney thank you, I'll give that a try.
@Rhiannon thank you, this is reassuring. I'll give this a go.
I actually used to do this as a kid. I remember doing it quite young but only ever when in bed when going to sleep. Not an expert in any of this stuff but I found it weirdly relaxing even though it was painful. It could have been related to stress or a sensory thing? No idea if my mum ever took me to the drs about it or not either.
@Poppy I'm not sure, it only ever happens when my daughter is tired. Sometimes she just doesn't nap at nursery or, get enough sleep there. I think its a self soothing thing, as my daughter never used to pull her hair out. She'd just pull/play with it. I've introduced a small teddy bear for her to sleep with (my daughter is 16months) as it just fits in her hands. She does use a dummy as well. Do you remember when you grew out pulling your hair? Was there anything that your mam did anything to prevent you from doing it?
It can be a sensory thing, baby Trich, but it can be normal…hard to tell the difference, they usually do it when they’re anxious, bored or overtired or need some and stimulation or sensory engagement. I’d try some sensory fidget items, I’d ask the workers to pass your baby one to distract when they notice the hair pulling…or see if they need a rest, if it continues to a point where it’s paired with other things, I’d seek the opinion of a dr.