HEAD-BANGING

HEAD-BANGING 

                                                                                                                                    

              Head banging usually begins during a baby's first year of life and most kids stop by the time they are about three to four years old. Unlike head banging that can sometimes be associated with autism and other neurological disorders, children with simple head banging typically only do it at night. On the other hand, when head banging or another rhythmic movement is a sign of autism,you can usually expect that the child will often do it during the day too.                                                                                      

Treatments for Head Banging

Since it is not harmful and typically goes away on its own, no treatment is usually required for head banging. Since may children do it as a form of comfort at bedtime, any efforts to try and make your child stop head banging may increase his anxiety and make him want to do it more.

If you think that the head banging is disrupting your child's sleep, your pediatrician or a pediatric sleep expert might offer some suggestions on decreasing this behavior, such as:

• making sure that you don't reinforce the head banging by providing negative reinforcement, such as nagging your child to stop.
• offering an alternative bedtime comfort object, such as a blanket or stuffed animal.
• sticking to fairly strict routines for bedtime and naps.
• make sure your child is in a safe environment when he goes to sleep and can't hurt himself while banging his head. Although this may mean padding his crib, this usually isn't necessary.