14 month old frequently hitting herself in the head...

[fi1980]

DD has always been a bit full on - a very loud screamer when she is unhappy and tantrum thrower from an early age. Basically, if she is unhappy then the whole world needs to know about it!!

A while ago she started banging her head on the ground occassionally during her tantrums. I tried to stop her from doing this as much as possible while at the same time trying not to make a big deal out it (so she wouldn't see it as a way of getting attention). She still does it occassionally but not very often these days.

Recently she has started hitting herself in the head when she is upset. She does it quite frequently and often it seems quite hard. Initially I thought it would just be a short lived phase and not be an issue but it seems to be getting worse. My guess is she is just frustrated as she does it when she is upset, can't have her own way etc and doesn't quite know how to express herself. But just now I've been starting to get worried that maybe there is something wrong with her and am finding her behaviour quite distressing. Is it normal for little ones to hit themselves in the head like that? I don't know if I should talk to my GP or CHN about it?

Aside from the tantrums and head hitting she is an adorable little girl - very clever, affectionate, social, outgoing etc. Doesn't stop for a minute! So I don't see any other behavioural types issues that I am concerned about and she has always been ahead with her milestones... it's just the frequent head hitting!

Has anyone else experiecned this? Did it last long? Should I be concerned?

Thanks,
Fi

[Salad]

First of all big hugs to you because I know how horrible it is to watch this.
My DD started doing this around 12 months of age, her tantrums increased, during the tantrums she would throw herself on the floor and bash her head into the ground, didnt matter if it was carpet or concrete. She would even get up run to a wall and smash her head into the wall. Sometimes I would just break down and cry because I couldnt get her to stop and it was horrible to watch.

Turned out for us that is was an additive Annatto or sometimes written as 160B on food labels, that and she reacts to grapes. We found out that it could be this by accident and elimated it from her diet, within days she was a different girl, no tantrums happy no headbutting etc. Now she only needs to have something with 160B in it or a handful of grapes a couple of days in a row and she is headbutting again and a real horrible little girl to be around, it then takes about 4 days for it to leave her system and be back to normal.

The sad part is that Annatto is a natural additive but many kids have horrible reactions to it.

Its found in "plastic" cheese such as you singles among other products.

Not saying this is the solution to your troubles but could be worth looking into, who would think someone would react to grapes hey.

Best of luck xoxoxo hope it gets better for you soon.

[Visitor8]

Ashton did it for a while. He's stopped now but I was worried and my MCHN said that some kids will throw things, others bite, Ash just used to hit himself. Put it in perspective for me.

[NaeNae]

DO we have the same child?

DD has always thrown herself backwards when she has chucked a tanty whacking her head. Then she started doing it forwards. Now she goes one or the other I have noticed recently that if she accidently whacks her head on say a wooden chair, we get over it then before we can blink she is right back at the chair deliberately banging her head harder and harder.

I would say its a phase ... maybe learning cause and affect ?

If you get an answer let me know what it is

Nae x x

[fi1980]

Thanks girls I am glad I'm not the only one that has a head banging / head hitting little one.

Salad - I read your post and starting thinking about all the things that DD eats that may have 160B in it. Mostly I cook all her food for her and try to stick to whole / natural foods as much as possible. BUT.... lately she has been having a lot of those rafferty's garden fruit bars and they have 160B in them! I couldn't believe it. DD has been a shocker lately and totally getting worse. Last night she hit herself in the head most of the evening, this morning the same thing again and then I realised that she's been having 1 (occassionally 2) of those bars almost every day lately!! They are so handy to just throw in the nappy bag when we go out or to add as an extra in her day care bag. She used to have one every now and again but they have become a regular lately, and so has the head banging and head hitting.....So now I'm thinking is this just a coincidence??? I'm certainly not taking any chances - from today she won't be having any more of those bars and I'll be checking the labels of everything else I give her to make sure it doesn't contain the same thing and see what happens.

Wow - I can't beleive that her behaviour may be influenced by this natural additive

I'll give it 4-5 days then report back!

Thanks so much everyone

[angelaartsstudent]

I can't help with the head hitting but I know that if DD eats something very processed and unnatural/sugary/both that she turns into a violent freaky little cyclone, so the additive thing is very possible!

[meow]

Let us know how you go with the diet. I've never worked out why my son hits his head and he hasn't grown out of it yet. I think he has sensory integration issues.

[fi1980]

OMG I just did some quick research into 160B and it acutally says it causes headbanging in small children A LOT of different sources say this - I can't believe it is so widely used if this is such a common reaction

Thanks again salad for bringing this to my attention - I never would have thought of this as a possible cause

[meow]

Hopefully that's it then!

[black_rose]

Dd2 whacks her head on the floor, doesn't care if it's carpet or concrete. In her case it's because she can't communicate what she wants, so she is frustrated. We avoid processed foods so it's not the cause for her. The good news is that now she is talking it's not happening anywhere near as much.

[Frangipani]

OMG I just did some quick research into 160B and it acutally says it causes headbanging in small children A LOT of different sources say this - I can't believe it is so widely used if this is such a common reaction

Thanks again salad for bringing this to my attention - I never would have thought of this as a possible cause

Wow ...thanks for sharing this.

My DS1 used to head bang and hit himself all the time too....I think it lasted a few months (around a similar age as your DD). I use to worry as quite often it would leave little bruises (and I would just hope his child care workers and any body else who saw this understood it was a self inflicted injury). Thankfully he grew out of it....once he learnt to communicate better.

I try adjust his food - which could be tricky if it turns out to be common in alot of things (though he does eat alot of fruits and vegies...but sadly grapes are a favourite too )....and watch for this additive (which I never knew about)...and hopefully I can eliminate the squealing - which is not as bad, but very ear piercing I also have an almost 1 year old, who is possibly likely to go down the same path of frustration communication.

[Salad]

fi1980 - it is amazing what you find the 160B in, and because it is natural it is in a lot of products that are labelled "no additives" etc but like you I would never have thought ever that this could be a problem. DD used to always have huge bruises on her forehead as well from banging it all the time. I thought it was a frustration thing aswell to begin with but after chatting to another lady whos child was doing similiar to mine then researching it online, I eliminated it and my little angel returned. I have given it back to her on occasions only for her to start head butting again and turn into a monster, and it takes at least 4 days to leave her system so its just not worth it.

Please let me know how you go, I would love to know.

[fi1980]

Thanks again - I will definitely be back in a few days to let you know if there has been an improvement. DD has a permanent bruise on her forehead that I would love to see go away!

[NaeNae]

Salad ~ Do you know if its in yoghurt or called somethign else. I looked in the foods we give DD but its no there that I can tell.

[Salad]

Most yogurts are ok as far as I know, some do have other nasties in them but I guess it all comes down to what affects your child/ren It will either say "Annatto" or 160B on the label.

Check out "fed up with food additives" they have a website and a book which are both full of information.

[fi1980]

Well I think it's time to give you a little update.

When I got salad's very insightful information about 160b I immediately cut it out of DD's diet. Monday was the last day she had anything with 160b in it, so it's now the 5th day off the additive.

So what have I noticed during this time....
within 36-48 hours I noticed a significant decrease in the head hitting / head banging.
Thursday morning was the last reported head hitting incident which was relatively mild and short lived. To be honest it was almost as though she started doing it out of habit then realised how silly and unneccessary it was so she stopped! Previously she had been totally unable to stop herself - the more she hit herself the harder it was for her to stop so she would just do it over and over and over again
The last 2 days have seen not even a hint of head hitting!!!

It is still early days but I am very confident that annatto or 160b has been the cultrip for this very distressing behaviour in my DD. This has been a challenging week for DD (return to day care/change of routine), interrupted sleep etc. At times she has been very upset and frustrated and yet she has managed to control her behaviour and not resorted to banging her head. Go back a few weeks and this situation would result in frequent outbursts of head banging.

I am still amazed that such a tiny thing can have such a big impact. But after reading the research and discovering that 160b frequently causes head banging, then removing it from DD diet and seeing her head banging stop, I have proven to myself that the additive is very harmful and not something I will ever give to DD again.

I hope those of you reading look into this and consider removing the additive from the diets of your little ones.

Fi

[Santosha]

That is amazing. So glad you found what was causing it and you've seen such a radical change in your DD. It's really alarming to think that something in common foods can cause such behaviour and (although we don't have head-banging here we certainly have our moments!), I will be very vigilant about avoiding this additive. Thanks for sharing your story Fi, I think the world needs to know about this stuff. Thought of taking it to a current affair program?!

[meow]

That is so amazing. I'm so glad you found the answer for your daughter. How terrible it was in a product specifically made for children too!

I wish we had some 160b to cut out here but my son doesn't eat it. Interestingly though I was researching foods we'll be eating when we move to the states and almost ALL cheese has annatto in it! Poor american kids!