baby behaviour

[alb0679]

is it normal for a 17 month old to head butt the floor if he doesnt get his own way or is frustrated. eventhough it hurts him he still does it. he even butts the walls and people if there blocking his way? im quite worried.

[MK66]

Hi Alb, my son (now 17) used to do that when he woke up after being driven home in the car. Apparently his 2 year old half-brother does exactly the same!
I would just make sure that you have carpeted/cushioned floors (no slates or wooden floors).
I think he'll grow out of it in time - it never did my son any real harm (though he's grown up to be an ungrateful pain in the rear sometimes) but it might be worth a call to the doctor/health visitor for reassurance.

[Lonnie]

Thats a good and reassuring answer from MK66, but is that all he does that you think is a bit odd, or does he have any other unusual behaviour?.

[annie0000]

Dont worry - My son did that all the time - he used to do it outside on the concrete if you didn't walk in the direction he wanted to go! He is 6 now and still the tantrum king! He is very bright - he reads at least at age 8 level, and very highly strung. We have tried everything to stop the tantrums, but nothing seems to work although they are getting less frequent. However, he did stop the banging his head of things when we just ignored it and he realised that it hurt to much to be worth the effort. He never came to any harm. His older brother had about 2 tantrums which we ignored and he never bothered again, so it is not necessarily the way that we have dealt with them, it is part of his personality. He used to try to engineer a situation so he could have a tantrum - I think he actually enjoys it!

It is just part of being a child - strategies worth trying are:
a.) ignore them
b.) try to anticipate them coming and get him onto something else - "Oh look at that out of the window" etc.
c) watch for what his trigger points are and try to avoid those situations
d.) offer a limited choice of things so tha he feels that he has some control - "do you want the red or blue hat" that will maybe stop him from having a tantrum because you are going outside if you get my drift.

He is just being a toddler and trying out your limits - try to stay calm and not to fuss - if he thinks he is getting attention,he will keep doing it.

[Mamjet]

e) Smack him hard. On head. Why not for sure? He stop tantrums quick then. Aggree.

[zojo]

I'm quite reassured myself reading these 'headbanging' stories. My one year old daughter has started doing the same thing recently. At first I thought it was due to teething and she was trying to get some relief as she headbangs with her mouth (if that makes sense?) She does it when she doesn't get her own way or sometimes just seems to be for the sake of it so I hope, after reading the other posts, that this is fairly 'normal'.