Pulling out hair and eating it.

[PumpkinZulu]

Is this normal? DD1 not only pulls out her own hair and eats it, she eats hair she finds on the ground, cat hair, she'll pull hair off of my hair brush or she'll try and suck on mine or DH's hair. She will usually find a dummy, stick the hair in her mouth, then out the dummy in and roll it around her mouth, and eventually eat it, unless we get it out first. If we do get it, she will lose her mind 90% of the time. Hysterical screaming, physically violent at times, with herself and us, bawling her eyes out. She does that too if we try and stop her from eating hair. We've tried ignoring it, distraction, telling her it's yucky, or could make her sick, or might hurt her tummy. She does it anyway. She's always had this huge oral fixation, from about 12 months old it was biting and eating the fur off of her teddy bear. Then she transitioned onto sucking on mine and DH's hair when we were sleeping (DH used to have quite long hair). Now it's at the point where we're finding hair in her nappies, and I'm not really sure where to go from here. She hasn't got any bald patches that I can see, but I'm worried she's going to create some soon. Has anyone else's preschooler when through this, and of so, how did you 'fix' it, or did they just grow out of it?

[littlelara]

No idea, but I'd be asking a paed. You don't want her getting a blockage in her intestine.

[Pretty In Pink]

It could be Pica, it's a disorder where people eat things that aren't supposed to be eaten. I would perhaps consult with your gp about her hair eating as it could get dangerous for her digestive system
Best of Luck

[PumpkinZulu]

Yeah, that's what I'm the most concerned about, a blockage :/ Hmmm didn't consider PICA, I had that in both my pregnancies, I'm anaemic and DD1 seems to have low iron too (we unknowingly out her on cows milk too early when my milk went, which increases the likelihood of anaemia ). We don't have a paed, could a GP help at all?

[~TT40~]

A gp could refer you to a paed. It could cause physical problems, I'm also wondering re the psych side? But really have nothing to add, I think you really need a professional. Have you noticed if she does it more a specific times? Like comfort? Control etc?

[Olive]

Sensory seeking is another one to look into

[ElleJay]

My DD (23 months) has just, in the past couple of days, started pulling out her own hair.
XH thinks it's cause she's sick with something (she's also been throwing up after milk products) but I dunno.
Hope you figure out what's up and how to fix it

[PumpkinZulu]

She's been doing it for about 18 months all up, the hair obsession. Eating it about 6. She is very sensory, like she often freaks out if she has to wear shorts, or if her sleeves are still rolled up from eating, she starts pulling and biting at them to get them down. So maybe a gp referral would be the way to go.

[Dansta]

maybe look into a chewy tube - they're like dummy texture but for chewing on - Dj has them. he also has an oral fixation - part and parcel of everything else.
Maybe see if you can see a pead, i can PM you who we used to see in frankston if thats any help?

[JLeigh29]

Start with a GP and get referrals from there. Mention the hair, the oral fixation, the other sensory issues. There could be physical and mental/emotional elements, so it might need a multi-disciplinary approach. With DS' sensory issues, once we thought about it, we realised there were a lot more things going on and a lot more interconnected stuff.

[Mildez]

My friends daughter had the same thing. I would be getting a referral to a paed as soon as you can. My friends daughter although she is well now and had not had any problems for years did suffer some serious complications at the age of 4 as a result of eating her hair.

[lilima]

I think a paed referral would be best. It is hard because many services are closed this time of year.

[PumpkinZulu]

I think a paed referral would be best. It is hard because many services are closed this time of year.

That's what the gp told us So we're just waiting now.

[feeb]

A pead is a good idea, sounds like may be sensory related or even anxiety. Hugs hope you get answers soon.

[PumpkinZulu]

Just thought I'd update this. Didn't end up following through with the paed referral, as it was too far away. We're going back to the GP to get another referral some time this week. DD1 is still doing it, but it's gotten a lot worse. This morning I noticed that she has a bald patch We suspect trichotillomania.

[Artechim]

Good luck getting a soon-ish appointment.

My DD1 has had several bouts of hair pulling/eating. I think in our case it was a comfort thing because as a baby she used to twirl my hair while breast feeding but she kept pulling so I transferred her hand to play with her own hair. She was doing it almost constantly and got a bald patch. I cut her hair short and it seemed to break the cycle. She was then fine for months but started it up again at some stage and when all else failed I cut it short again and it worked again. (BTW, by short I mean a girly bob cut, not shaved off or anything)

[AlligatorsMum]

Just saw this thread. I was going to stay look into trichitillomania, and it is a anxiety based disorder. I work in adult pshycistry and there are some great new meds along with CBT therapy techniques that can help but that is in adults.. Not sure how they would tackle it in a child so young.

Hope you get answers soon.

[PumpkinZulu]

We're seeing the GP about this today.