Every time my daughter gets upset she hurts herself. Can you help?

Question

She is 20months old and every time she is upset she hurts herself. If she is upset about being put to bed- she bangs her head against her crib bars. When she gets told 'no' she bangs her head on the ground...I don't know what to do. I can't let her ALWAYS have her way but at the same time...its killing me to watch her do this...Help PLEASE.

Answer 1

she reminds me of the little house elf off Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

Anyway, when she does that pick her up, and look her straight in the eyes and say, "dont you dare do that again."

Answer 2

Walk away and don't let her see you react.  She does it because it has worked for her in the past.  Walk away, close the door, and ignore it.  She is manipulating you.  If she no longer gets the desired reaction she will stop this.

Answer 3

My son used to bang his head or drop to the ground hard when he was upset.  They do it for the attention because if you are telling them not to do something or that it's time for bed, they know that hurting themselves will make you stop yelling and go comfort them..Try to ignore it because chances are she's not really hurt.  Eventually she will see that hurting herself is not a good way to get your attention and it will stop.  My son is 2 now and only did that for a couple of months and I haven't had to deal with it anymore.  Good luck

Answer 4

Its a faze, just don't react to it. When you see her do it, just turn and walk away.

If you've already said no to something, the WORST thing you can do is give in. Your daughter will see that it works and keep doing it.

Answer 5

a lot of kids do that they are just trying to get you give them attention for it and change your mind for what you told her to do just don't pay much attention to it but when she does it you have to reprimand her for doing it.

my kid did that

Answer 6

Hummmmmm...try carrying something that she loves a lot and then when she is upset give it to her so she gets somehow (if possible) distracted from hurting herself.Or u can try making her laugh when she is about to hurt herself.  

Answer 7

When she gets angry try to sit her down and talk to her. Ask her to use her words and ask her why she is upset. Talk to her like she is a big kid - she may be getting overly frustrated because she cannot say what she is feeling. My friend's son did this except he would hit himself in the head. Talking to her will slowly teach her that she can express her feelings through words instead of actions.

Be calm with her and remain patient, it may take sometime but don't give up.

Good luck!