self-inflictor

[mumofethan]

DS (20mths) has some behaviour issues...

most of the time they are due to fustration over onething or another... but instead of lashing out at someone else... or throwing a tantrum he hurts himself... this can be anything from smacking himself in the head, to headbutting what ever is closest (furniture, walls, floor) and even bitting himself...

i dont know why he does it and i am at wits end trying to deal with it... he does lash out at ppl aswell occasionally especially his half brother when he is here on access visits...

anyone have any clues?:fingerscrossed:

[nemosmum]

Its very common for toddlers to become frustrated especially if their language isnt good iykwim

They get upset when they cant properly communicate what they want, how they feel etc and so they lash out or in your sons case hurt themselves as a way of expressing how they feel.

My son is almost 23mths and he went through a head butting stage and a tantrum "throw myself on the floor" stage.

Now that his language is improving he no lnger gets frustrated and the head banging/tanties have stopped as well.

When he went through the tantie stage I use heaps of different tech.s to try and help him the ones that worked for us:

I ask him whats wrong and remind him to use his words so that I can help him "whats wrong? use your words" in a calm voice

If I dont understand what he wants etc I tell him "I dont know what you want, show mummy" and this way if he cant tell me he can point OR take me to what he wants etc

I also used a crying pillow too for a while, he went through the lying on the floor and crying for attention so I got a nice bean bag and would place him on it whenever he had a tantie, I would pat his back and say "Its ok have a good cry"
This worked great coz when he would start I would say "Do you want the crying pillow?" and he would usually stop the crying:D

I also used the ignore tech. and would just walk away giving him no response at all, this worked well too.

If his biting himself I would just reinforce that biting hurts and tell him be gentle while rubbing his hand.arm or wherever his bitten himself.

I hope things get better:hugs: Im sure it will once he gets a little older:yes:

[reAllytee]

nemosmum has give some great advice & while im not going through any of this or at leat not yet i would just keep an eye on it also & seek help when needed.
My cousin did this as a child & was very upsetting not just for his parents but for us other kids when around him as we didnt understand what was wrong.
Anyways it ended up he was getting frustrated due to not being able to communicate as he had trouble talking. It ended up he had a problem with a muscle in his bottom jaw/lip so had to see a speech pathologist which brought him on leaps & bounds.
So while im sure it may just be the usual toddler frustration just keep an eye on it in case it does get worse.
Good luck i hope its nothing to worry about, your doing a great job :thumbsup: :D