Bashing Head on Things

[LadyRaven]

Hello all,

Have an 11month old that has bruises on his forehead and I don't know what to do! I've taken him to several doctors who say he'll grow out of it but he will repeatedly bash his head on things and won't stop. One doctor said it was probably because of the ear infections he had and now it's habbit, I tell him NO and grab him away from what he's hitting his head on. It's a once a day sort of thing, he may fall or not look what he's doing and bump his head accidentally, then will repeatedly hit his head on it over and over after he's accidentally done it. It is learned behaviour from teething and ear infections? It's only been the last 3 months its started,

Any advice would be appreciated

[AnyDream]

Not sure what to do about the behaviour but there are these soft helmety things you can get for bubs to wear...not sure what they are called, but it might be helpful in the short term (for your peace of mind) and help him to get past the repetitive behaviour? Just an idea...hang in there.

[LadyRaven]

I might look into those thanks for the suggestion. I think I've worked out why he does it and I don't know why I didn't see it before. He bashes his hands on things and things together and dances and sings to music and I noticed today when he tried to hit his head on the cupboard he was shaking his bum to the beat. I think it's the noise that intrigues him because he was slapping the tiles as well. He has enough toys that make noise why does he need to use his noggin as a drum!! Arg

[AnyDream]

Given that he's had some ear infections, it might be a good idea to ask for a referral to get some specialist hearing testing and maybe a check with an ear nose throat person if there's any sign that there might still be a problem. If his hearing is muffled in other ways, then it would be a bit like the noise you get when you're underwater and you hit your head (kwim?). I'd be following up on this because hearing is so important for speech development, you don't want to take any chances with it.

[LadyRaven]

Yeah he has an appointment I made back in August, they couldn't fit him in till November, he is seeing a specialist and getting hearing tests done so just have to wait till then. All his infections have been in his left ear and had a perforated ear drum but they seem to think it healed up really well but you never know until they do the tests. Hopefully if there is something wrong it's only in the one ear even better if he's perfectly fine of course!