I have a 3 yr old who has congenital hydrocephalus. When she was younger, she used to bang her head on the side of her crib rails. she is now in a toddler "car bead" and will bang her head on the sides at night. It doesn't seem to matter how many blankets we roll up or small pillows we bury on the side. She always manages to dig her way to the side!!
1. Has anyone else experienced this?
2. Does anyone have a resource for secure padding on the side of a toddler bed?
thanks for your help
My son was born w/ congenital hydrocephalus, and he always does the "head-bang" thing when he is frustrated. He is now currently 26 months old. I've just attributed it to the terrible twos.
But lately he's been talking more, and has been less frustrated since there is a better line of communication, so he hasn't stopped completely - but the head-banging has subsided some.
I think your daughter will probably just outgrow it. My son hasn't completely outgrown it, but it has gotten a lot better....except for the temper-tantrums :)
Hi. My 18 month old son does the same thing. He has always banged his head out of frustration. The PT is not very worried about it(his first PT was), but I am afraid that he could damage the valve part of the shunt. Very slowly we seem to make progress on him stopping the behavior, then he resumes it. Although, we try not to draw attention to it-but intead substitute it with using words or marching. Any other suggestions that helped your son to do less head-banging? (My older son did it too, but he was older and stopped when he could "use words" better).
I'm not a mom. But I wonder if they are doing it because they are hurting. I have had quit a bit of pain the past several years. I rub my head alot trying to release the tight pressure feeling.
I have a 4 yr. old with hydro who did bang his head a few times when littler more out of tantruming. He does thump his foot against his bed when he is trying to get to sleep or go back to sleep. He also hums (mmmmmmm) a little loudly when he is trying to sleep and needing to block something out (music, outside noises, etc.) and always has. Is the banging a self-relaxing to get to sleep? Could you help to replace it with thumping a foot or rubbing something soft with hands or something like that?
Casey rocks her head from left to rgiht for several minutes she usually stops when i call her name or distract her from what she is doing. We thought they where seizures but after viditing DR. Gallentine @ Duke Children's Hospital in NC he advised us that it was behavorial. He however did an extensive blood work and other several test which have come back negative have an APPT. on the 23 of march we will see what else is going on then
Thank you all for sharing your stories and suggestions. We do put soft music on at night as part of the bedtime routine. we may try not to have the music and see if that has anything to do with it. She rocks at different times during the night. She's never cried or held her head, so we figured she may not be hurting. She'll be 4 this year but has yet to be able to express through her words if anything actually "hurts"...we can't wait until the day that she can verbalize it if needed! We're trying to figure out if there is a padding out there that we can use in the meantime. if anyone has any resources, it certainly would be appreciated!
Debi; Adora's Mom in Alabama
This can be a symptom of sensory issues. Our 2-1/2 year old son, who does not have hydro, does this. He also spins and puts his head on the floor and pushes himself around. He recently started OT for sensory issues and this behavior has lessened. If you don't have OT services available near you or screening, you can read more about this in the book, "The Out of Sync Child."
mithrilros...thank you for the input. we will check out the book and in the meantime, get a referral to OT Services. she receives OT at school, but it's very limiting
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