Why does my stepson bang his head?

Question

He will bang his head on his pillow & when sitting in the car on the head rest. He will bang it if he is sitting or laying down. Not on anything hard. Rocking and banging his head. My husband says he has always done it since he was a baby, but I personally do not think it is normal. Especially seeing as he is 8 years old and still does it.

Answer 1

This is perfectly normal! It is not automatically a sign of autism or other mental problems. If there are no other symptoms of problems, don't worry about head banging. There are various theories as to the cause of this habit, but it is generally accepted as normal and hereditary. My great-grandmother did this, and did I, and one of my siblings. It began as babies for us all and continued until stopped by will. Not that it was ever uncontrollable, but merely felt good and relaxing. I continued, nightly, until was a teenager and only stopped more out realization it would annoy others than anything else. It is a relaxation technique which comes in many forms. It was not, in my case, indicative of any social or intellectual problems, and certainly is not a cause for concern.

Answer 2

Bang My Stepson

Answer 3

My brother banged his head on the headboard everynight to get to sleep when he was growing up. My parents took him to the doctor and they didn't find anything wrong with him. Don't freak out about it, my brother is now 40 and happily married with 2 sons, with a great job. His wife says he still is a very restless sleeper. He didn't even know why he did it and tried several ways to stop but nothing worked. Maybe a mild antidepressant may be in order.

Answer 4

It may or may not be autism or Asperger's...there would be more things going on than just that. One thing you might want to look into is sensory integration disorder - when kids don't percieve things the way most people "normally" do. They might like to swing, or twirl around, or bang their head for the feelings they get. Occupational therapy will be helpful. Get him assessed by his school. Good Luck!

Answer 5

well is he actually banging his head or aggressively rocking. My daughter is 6 and she will be sitting still and you will see her start rocking for no reason .It comforts her, that is how I use to calm her when she was a baby so she rocks all the time and no she is not autistic.

Answer 6

It may not be any thing serious. But i would assume that it is something nueligical (i may have spelled that wrong). I have Tourette syndrome and bang my head all the time. He probably does not have tourette syndrome if you are not noticing anything else unusual. He probably just has a nervous tic.

http://members.tripod.com/tourette13/

Answer 7

I don't know the answer but get help for him.
I have a friend who's son did that from the time he was a baby. As he got older he still did it, it was awful to watch!!! They just ignored it.
Personally I think he needed more attention than he got. He seems to be a nice young man now but had many problems growing up.
Get him help, please!

Answer 8

People all have different habbits. Some are not healthy, some are. This doesn't sound liek something you should be concerned about. It is the equivelent of someone sucking their thumb for comfort. Have you seen grown people do that? They're out there.

Answer 9

That's a sign of mild Autism commonly called Asperger's Syndrome. I strongly suggest that you talk to his physician about this. Especially since he doesn't appear to do it only when he's having a "tantrum". he does indeed need medical attention because he could have a very serious problem!

Answer 10

I would say that if he does it when he doesn't get his way or something goes wrong, then he is probably spoiled and needs a good spanking with a switch from a tree or something, but if he isn't your kid, I wouldn't then. Just my opinion though.