My two year old has this hair obsession....Normal?

Question

He won't even go to sleep at night if he can't rub my hair..it was ok when he was months old, but now it's to the point that he is making my hair shed. He loves hair so much that even when he is drinking his sippy cup he walks thru the house pulling his own hair. Sometimes he'll just walk up to us and yank our hair for no reason. When he was youger he tried to eat hair. In every other sense he is a perfectly nomal 2 year old.Anyone have experience with this or know what's the deal?? thanks

Answer 1

Before I had my daughter, I saw a doll completely made out of hair advertised in a magazine with the tagline "For babies who love hair." (Note: it didn'y say, for babies who are OCD or Autistic) And I thought, what the heck? But then I had my daughter and I realized what the heck. Hair for your son is no different than a blankie or lovey for other babies. He gets comfort from it. It makes him think of you. And yes, he's two, but if he had a favorite blankie or lovey, you wouldn't wonder why he still carried it around at two...or three or even eight.

Oh, and, disclaimer, I'm not a student of psychology, just a mom of a two year old who likes hair. I am a student of this weird thing called commen sense, so I won't recklessly and ignorantly diagnose your kid with OCD or autism.

Answer 2

I tend to agree with the 1st answer you got.  Of course, he may have OCD, (obsessive/compulsive disorder), and hair is his thing.  I have a 10 yr old daughter who has to smell her hands after she touches ANYTHING.  Other than that, LOL, SHE is completely normal.

Answer 3

It's hard to say w/o oberving your childs behavior (4rth year phsyc major). And asking some qustions is your childs comunication (verbal) skills on target? how well does he engage scocialy with others his age? have you noticed any other behviors? He could just be a 2 year old pulling hair becuse he knows it gets a reaction out of people and he enjoys the reenforcment of the attention. or it could be a complulsion lending to possibly OCD (not common in a 2 year old) Or depending on other symptoms possibly austism (affecting 1 in 4 babys born today) if it dosnt improve though typical paranting techniques id suggest talking to your pediatrition on your next visit who will be ablle to do a bassic assesment of the behviors and who could then refer u to a phsycologys/phsychiatrist depending on his opion.

!!!DISCLAIMER!!! while i am studing phsycology i am not a licensed phsycoloyst my answer is only a sugestion based on education and expicence with elem developmental classroom all medical and paranting desions are to be made by you and ur physicion

Answer 4

When my brother was a baby/toddler, he had to hold on to the hair of whoever fed him. We think it was a security thing. He eventually outgrew it. I hope your son does, too. If it's really bothering you, I'd ask his pediatrician. Good luck! =)

Answer 5

Very normal!!

My 2 yr old does the same thing. Never ate it but he goes around the house and he will run his fingers through his hair. Mostly when he is tired will he do this. If we are sitting on the couch he will snuggle up to me and play with my hair. Doesn't bother me, unless he pulls or it tickles my face in any way. :)

When he has slept with my husband and I, I will turn over just so he can play with my hair to put him back to sleep.

No worries, very normal!!

Answer 6

yep they can get fixated.  He will probably pull on his own hair in times of stress forever.  I rubbed my eyebrows as a kid.

And still do unconciously when stressed.  Just be sweet, but firm with him when he is doing something you don't want done to you.  You won't really be able to modify his own hair rubbing/yanking.  It is a soothing mechanism.

Answer 7

maybe he likes the way it feels, or looks, or that some hair is strait, or diffrent colors. or maybe u dye ur so he thinks its magical it turns colors, i mean hes 2!

Answer 8

My daughter was obsessed with her own hair til she was 3. She has pulled out every hair on her head at some point in time. First the whole right side then the back then the left. Now the left side of her head has curly hair and the right side is straight. She started this by accident at night when she would go to sleep. She would twirl her hair around her finger whenever she had a bottle in her hand. If her finger got stuck, she would just pull it out. Hair and all. try to give him something to rub in place of his hair. Like a blanket with silk on it or something soft. I had to start punishing my daughter to ger her to stop. I had to take toys away if i saw hair on her bed in the morning.

Answer 9

My son does something similar. He's a hair-twirler. When he was a newborn it was him scratching at his head but as his hair started coming in it turned into twirl and pull. Only with his own hair though, and only the hair on top of his head. He's 3 years old now.

I think for him it's his comfort habit. He mostly does it when cuddled, bored (like when he's been in front of the TV too long), or when he's tired and trying to fall asleep. I think it's normal. I'm not sure if he really knows when he's doing it, he knows to stop when we tell him to but his hand eventually sails back up there... He's a thumb-sucker too he's just a creature of comfort habits. We know we have our work cut out for us with trying to break his habits. I suggested shaving my son's head (not totally bald, just super super short) so there's nothing to twirl but my husband said no. LOL