6 month old pulling hair and clawing.

[Bron]

Hamish is six months old and pulls my hair constantly. Not just gentle tugs, he grabs whole fistfuls and gives a good yank. It hurts. A lot. He also claws faces, digs his little fingers in and pulls, it hurts. He does it usually as a sign of affection, not when he's hungry or cross, just because it's there. He does it to others as well, and this morning he pulled a girl's hair at playgroup. He was being sweet and playing with her, not being nasty, but it hurt her, poor love.

How can I stop him? He's too little to really understand, but we do gently detach his hand and say "no" - very gently. Doesn't seem to work.

Will he grow out of it? Can I do something else to encourage him to grow out of it? Or am I destined to have a bogan baby?

[Cordelia]

You'll get used to the pain eventually!! Get used to it - it's only going to get worse!! He's too young too understand "no" etc... he just likes the feel of your hair. I can reassure you that your pain threshold will improve :thumbsup:

[Seekrit]

:laughing: Contray to the "get used to it" advice, Cobes (and probably every baby on the planet) went through this stage. I got through it (and consequently a lot more as well as he grew) by taking his hand, opening it and rubbing his palm on the part he pulled/pinched/clawed/hit and said "Gentle touches. We touch people with gentle hands." he got the point and - while sometimes his "gentle hands" got so over-enthused they'd be a slap - it's still a method we use now.

(OMG HE'S 6 MONTHS ALREADY AWWWWW)

[the_queen]

It'll quicken your reflexes too :yes: :laughing: You're going to get very good at deflecting those little hands.

:hugs: repeat after me: this too shall pass, this too shall pass, this too shall pass.... :D

[Tam-I-Am]

We did pretty much what Nikki said - but added some facial expressions in. Ie "Ouch! That hurt mummy!" (accompanied by a sad face), and then took Claire's hand and opened her fist, and stroked her palm across the affected area saying "Gentle! You have to be gentle!".

She got the message fairly quickly :)

Until Hamish learns - tie your hair back, lose the jewelery and cut his nails short ;) :laughing:

[Pixie]

We taught Eliza gentle we still let her touch our hair just stroking it. so the word went with the action.

[mim1]

It is just a stage, but it won't pass in a few weeks, it's something that will last for a few months ... but other babies do it too, so don't worry! You should see all the babies in my mother's group - we spend the whole afternoon stopping them poking each others eyes out, pulling each others hair, socks, clothes, toys, etc.

My hair is very rarely out of a bun these days and necklaces are a thing of the past (for now). One day I'll wear necklaces again and have my hair out.

I do say 'gentle' when he's going for other babies hair, etc, but I doubt that he understands at only 9 months of age.

[AquaDevil78]

My Ds is doing this right now too, and i have long hair OUCHIES! Yes it annoy's me but i understand that it is just a stage of development. So i dont get annoyed at him IFYKWIM. I just gently pull his hand off, or unlock hos grasp of my hair. I also 'teach' him to be gentle by showing him what to do with his hands, i know it probably does not do much but i am sure it will help in the long run.

He just wants to grab, pull an kick anything in sight, including hair, and faces.

Oh and my poor cats tail LOL. Luckily my cat is timid so he doesnt swipe at bubs just lays there and takes it while i come to the rescue.:laughing:

[Seekrit]

I do say 'gentle' when he's going for other babies hair, etc, but I doubt that he understands at only 9 months of age.

Don't think like that! Remember that you're educating an impressionable young tot... who will understand what "Gentle" means a lot sooner than one who only gets told it when they begin to understand. :) :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[Bron]

Thanks lovelies. I will try Nikki and Tami's strategies. I'm sure it is just a phase, but I do want him to learn not to hurt others.

Oh, and he's a clever little sausage. I wear my hair up, but he tucks his fingers into strands of hair along my neckline and yanks, pulling them out of my pony tail. Ouchy.