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Head-banging, especially when the child is mad or frustrated, is very
common in children. Up to 20 percent of healthy children bang their heads
during a temper tantrum at one time or another. Head banging appears in the
latter half of the first year of life and generally ends spontaneously by
4 years of age. Boys are three or four times more likely to be head-bangers
For some children head-banging is a way to release tension and prepare
for sleep. Some kids bang the head out of frustration or anger, as in a temper
tantrum. Head-banging is an effective attention-seeking maneuver. The more
reaction children get from parents or other adults, the more likely they
are to continue this habit.
Parents of children who bang their head worry that their child's habit
will cause brain damage or that it is a sign of
Head-banging, head-rolling and body rocking are each far more common in
autistic children. But these rhythmic motor activities are also normal behaviors
in healthy infants and young children. Any child who is still head-banging
beyond 4 years of age deserves further evaluation, especially if there
is an associated speech problem.
Fortunately, children who bang their heads to gain attention, do not injure themselves
from this habit. The pain probably prevents them from banking too hard and
at their young age can not generate enough force to hurt themselves. Studies
have shown that most of these children are actually above average in
Most children will outgrow the habit on their own. Parents can speed
up this process by using the two "I's" of discipline... Ignore or Isolate.
Pretend not to notice and do not give the child what he/she wants to stop the
head banging. It is simply part of a temper tantrum. If you can not ignore
it, simply put the child in another room and walk out, allowing him/her to bang
away without getting the attention he/she wants. Once the child realizes that
he/she will not get what he/she wants or the attention from his/her habit, he/she
will outgrow it and stop on his/her own.