Head banging is common for babies and toddlers
By Lee Ka
@kaka135 (14931)
Malaysia
September 27, 2010 10:54am CST
I just read an article, saying head banging is surprisingly common for babies and toddlers. Up to 20% of babies and toddlers bang their head on purpose, and boys are 3 times more likely to do it than girls.
My son did hit his head to the wall, though not very hard. It seemed like he enjoyed doing it, and as if he was experimenting something. Now only I know it's actually very common. Also, I see there's no harm for my son to do that, as he's not frustrated or wanting to get attention when he's hitting his head to the wall, so I think it's fine.
He's now 19 months old, though I don't see him hitting his head to the wall, he does like to lie down on the floor and roll his head.
Did your kids bang their heads when they were young?
The article I read can be found here: http://www.babycenter.com/0_head-banging_11554.bc
4 people like this
15 responses
@celticeagle (168721)
• Boise, Idaho
27 Sep 10
Kids at this age are just challenging their surroundings and checking things out. And our job as parents is to not become alarmed and show this to the child. You don't want them to think they can do this for attention or anything else. Just hang in there and all will be fine.
1 person likes this
@tammytwo (4298)
• United States
28 Sep 10
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@ANTIQUELADY (36440)
• United States
27 Sep 10
NO, my sons never banged their heads. I would have been very concerned if they had. There is times i have thought about banging my own head, lol.
1 person likes this
@06MLam (620)
•
27 Sep 10
When I was young, I was taken care by my aunties and they tell me that I hit my head to the wall when I was young, like before 3 years old.
I remember myself doing this as well. I did this on purpose, when they were scolding me or forcing me to something which I did not like to do and they worried about this and stopped scolding me and so on. Therefore, I did not really hurt myself while hitting my head to the wall but could get the attention from the adults. I think I learnt this from the scenes broadcast on TV.
You might not believe me about this but this was my experience while I was very young.
1 person likes this
@existwithme (122)
• United States
28 Sep 10
I know a little kid who banged his head; but he was about two when he started. He only does it when he is upset though, like when we tell him he can not do something. He does it to get a rise out of us because he knows we don't like when he does that.
1 person likes this
@tammytwo (4298)
• United States
28 Sep 10
My oldest son used to head butt me every time I picked him up. It got to the point that I learned to protect my head and face. He was just under a year old when he did this but I always felt it was because it was taught to him by my brother and my son's father. They always thought it was funny. So of course I figured he just continued to do it because they laughed and encouraged it. That's very interesting information to know 20 years later! 
@34momma (13882)
• United States
27 Sep 10
I am a mother of three kids. two boys and a girl. None of my children did this. It may be common but i don't know if i would be ok with any of my kids doing this. seriously they could get hurt or something. i am not sure how ok i would be if one of my children did this
1 person likes this
@salonga (27775)
• Philippines
28 Sep 10
I've never had that same experience with my son but I know a friend's son who bangs his head a lot and I am quite alarmed. You see our head consists of very tiny and sensitive nerves that easily rapture when our head is hit or when we bang it. So I believe headbanging should be discouraged for it will somehow brings some side effects later in his life.
@Ramaditya (1227)
• Indonesia
27 Sep 10
Wow, that's scary. I mean, I never paid attention to babies banging their heads before. But if this is an academic research, then it's safe to let it that way.
Fortunately, I haven't got any kids yet, but I have a little niece, 8 months old. She does not bang her head on the wall, but rather hitting everything she can find if she wants something or attracts other people.
1 person likes this
@doormouse (4599)
•
29 Sep 10
when my eldest was a toddler he used to bang his head against the wall if he got cross,i just ignored it and after a year or so he stopped
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
29 Sep 10
If I recall correctly, my son was a head banger when he was little, however my daughter wasn't. Instead, my daughter was one of those children that was relatively sedentary and seemed to be taking the whole world in. If I was allowed to speculate as to why boys do more head banging when they are little than girls do, I think it is because of the fact that boys are genetically programmed to be rougher than girls are.
@bounce58 (17385)
• Canada
1 Oct 10
There were some head banging with my kids when they were babies. But I don't think they were experimenting, or their choice.
I think the head banging were mostly my fault, when I accidently hit their heads on something.
I think their OK.... so far.
@Sreekala (34312)
• India
28 Sep 10
Hi Kaka,
Thanks for sharing the information. Kids are doing many things unintentionally and we have to observe them very closely to find out all those. According to studies they are doing ‘yoga’ without knowing about it. God has given special powers to kids and they are doing many activities to keep their body active. In fact it is a kind of exercise they are doing.
