she keeps smaking her head against the wall

well, the subject says it all....she moves around the room on her belly, lines herself up with the wall, and proceeds to hit the side of her head against the wall. I look at her and ask why she's doing it and she just grins....I'm worried she's really gunna hurt herself, but it's really not like i can babyproof walls...they're walls. I pull her away, and back she goes.....oy.

 

Sounds to me like she's enjoying your reaction!

 

Uh, have you had her ears checked? My sister used to do that as a baby, and it had something to do with the extra pressure on her poor ears. I don't remember exactly what it was, but I was only 4 at the time.

If her ears are fine, it's probably just something new she's figured out she can do
love,
mom

 

I used to do that.

It was because my mind was able to tell my hands what to do, but my motor skills weren't up to speed with my mental processing. My parents took me to tons of specialists before they realized what was happening. Then they put me in preschool a year early and everything was fine

You probably just have a little genius on your hands.

Edit: if she's too young for school, try buying some stimulating toys like plastic flashcards and stuff..

 

Two of my kids were headbangers. One did have really terrible ear problems (turns out they were genetic, my FIL became nearly deaf as a child, due to chronic ear infections (no antibiotics when he was a kid, and the kind kids with this problem get don't go away on thier own) and he also got mastoiditis) and the other kid I have who head banged just did it to see everybody go "NO don't do that!" When we started ignoring it, she stopped. (However, they would both laugh when they did this. Weird.)

 

leane isnt the only one that does this Aiden does this too. he leans against the wall and just smacks his head on the wall or whatever may be behind him. i think it is normal for some babies to do this. He hits his head with toys and laughs. I think that he is exploring and trying to figure hey if i do this what will happen or what if i do this what will mommy do. I think its just a phase that all babie go through and taht sooner or later they will grow out of it.

 

Sage did this once in the NEUROLOGIST'S office! I was there with my dd who has Tourette's, and Sage was a tot, and all of a sudden, she's trying to get the doctor's attention, and he just patted her on the head (she was sitting on the floor) and she looks at him, screeches and goes BANG! right on the CONCRETE floor of the hospital! He looks at her and says 'Hurts on that concrete, doesn't it?" She misted up a little and climbed into my lap and just stared at him, like it was his fault his floor was harder than the ones at home.

I kinda made a joke "Is there something wrong with her?" and he said "Nah, she just likes the attention." When we started ignoring it, she stopped.

But, Moon had horrible ear infections and would bang to ease the pain. A few weeks after her ear tubes were put in, it stopped completely.

 

maybe you guys have something there about the ear infections....I have abnormally small tubes in my ears and my mom said that I used to get awful infections when I was a baby....perhaps she has the same problem...
I always thought that they were supposed to just tug on their ears when that happened. What are some other symptoms of ear infections?
I think in part it has something to do with my reaction, too, though, lol...she keeps doing it, but while looking at me and grinning....

 

Not all babies tug on their ears. Some babies with ear infections never need antibiotics for ear infections, and they get better all by themselves, Sage has had only a few ear infections and we didn't "treat" them. Moon, on the other hand, was in terrible pain, screaming, making a weird high pitched screeching, and not sleeping and having high fevers, so they had to be treated, to the point where she needed surgery to have vent tubes put into her ear drums.

But, most babies don't need antibiotics, unless the tympanic membrane is threatening to rupture, or has ruptured, the baby has terrible pain, or the infection only gets worse and doesn't resolve on it's own. I don't remember the percent, but a very high percentage of regular ear infection will resolve on their own with no antibiotics.

Also, some doctors used to (and some do) see a "red" eardrum (which happens when babies cry, and they usually cry when they are pinned down for exam) purulent fluid (pus) is usually seen in serious ear infections.

I hope she isn't having ear infections. Most babies who have repeated, serious infection are really in a lot of pain. I hope Leanne is OK.

 

my children both banged their heads like that when they were teething. It passed as soon as those pesky teeth popped through!


as for ear infections, our pediatrician says that most ear infections are caused either by food allergies or a virus and won't prescribe antibiotics unless it has gone on so long that a secondary bacterial infection has set in. The only time I took my kid in for what I thought was an ear infection, it was teething instead! You can tell a real infection because it smells funky. I always have and still do get ear infections regularly. I'm sure it's because of food allergies, but I've eliminated as many different foods as I feel comfortable eliminating from my diet already.

 

my daughter rubs her ears, too. they're fine. she just likes the feeling. you can always tell when she's tired, she starts rubbung her ears. it's like an instant response to touching her ears. if she's pitching a freak-out, i rub her ears. totally works.