What to Do with a Head Banging Child

Why do toddlers sometimes resort to head banging as means of coping with anger? Do you have a toddler that bangs his/her head up against the wall and you have no clue how to deal with this behavior? Perhaps you want a second opinion on how you are handling your toddler's behavior. Let's take a look at why children tend to bang their heads against the wall and why.

According to The Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, Jul 1983, experts say that head banging is very common and somewhere around 20% of all children head bang at one time or another. So to answer the big question why; children head bang as a way to relax. Believe it or not it is a calming and relaxing. Many children head bang themselves to sleep at night. This is the problem I was faced with. I was placed with an eighteen month old foster child that never had a mother to rock her to sleep at night so she would bang her entire head and back up against the crib or wall or whatever she could find when she got sleepy. There are things you can do to help with this head banging behavior.

In an order to help with the head banging issue of my foster child, I would remove her from the crib and sit in a rocking chair with her. I would rock her for as long as it took to get her to fall asleep. Even with rocking her in a rocking chair, we still had other issues throughout the day.

Another thing I did when dealing with my foster child's needs was I purchased a child size rocking chair. Every time she would start banging her head against the wall I would go to her, pick her up and take her to the rocking chair. She learned to rock and get the same sense of security from the rocking chair that she did from head banging.

I began to set time aside during the day when the head banging was the worse and spent time with just her. This was to make sure I was giving her as much if not a little extra attention. Since I had other children in the home, I wanted to even out special attention with each one.

Upon the first visit to the pediatrician I mentioned the problem. She explained to me that children head bang for a number of reasons. She said under the circumstances I was doing the things she would recommend, but it is always a good idea to ask your pediatricians whenever you have an issue you are unsure about. If you have a child that head bangs, call the pediatrician and ask advice.

Head banging can also be done if a child is in pain. If you child starts to head bang out of the blue, consider taking their temperature and monitoring their every day behavior. It is possible they may have an ear infection or some other ailment that needs medical attention.

If you notice your child head banging you can also let them know verbally in a voice that is stern yet loving, that you do not approve of that behavior. Try positive reinforcement or substitution. Substitute one behavior for another. Pick the child up and try giving them a toy or playing a game.

You may also choose to ignore the head banging of your child. Some experts say this can be effective if the child is using head banging as a way of throwing a temper tantrum.

Find other ways to stimulate your child. Try soothing music or a white noise machine. These are just suggestions but when you are at your wits end, suggestions sometimes help.

Children are not likely to do something that hurts them so don't worry too much about your child getting hurt from head banging. It is important to try and stop the behavior as quickly and painlessly as possible.