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Why Does My Baby Pull My Hair? and how to stop it

by Alivia Nyhan
Published: Last Updated on

If you have a baby between 6 to 8 months, you will see how wonderful it is that he begins to explore everything. The change is so abysmal that it is making in just a few weeks. How you go from lying down to sitting to crawling, from crawling to standing and exploring everything around you, first with your mouth, then with your hands and mouth, etc. The changes that it is making are impressive, and especially if you are a father or a mother, you will feel enthralled by each advance that your little one makes; it is normal and natural.

But sometimes, some of those discoveries are somewhat painful, like hair-pulling. Although not all babies pull their hair, others do it whenever they can. In this FastlyHealarticle, we will see what this behavior is due to answer the question about why my baby is pulling my hair , something that he will surely also do to other people and even himself.

Why does my baby pull my hair?

Some babies pull their hair to communicate with that person, their mother or their grandfather. They can stretch the hair on the head and any part of the body on hand, such as the hair on the chest, if the father has and goes shirtless.

If you yell or say no to him, you will be causing a reaction to an action that he carries out with you. Therefore, it will be attractive to him, and he will repeat it as many times as necessary to repeat that pattern of pulling the hair accompanied by a moan or a not resounding.

He has fun, yes, but whoever stretches it hurts. And to better cope with that pain or discomfort, it’s good to understand why you do it. Let’s look at some possible causes of why a baby pulls hair :

  • Explore: Your baby is learning to explore the world around him, and all his eagerness to experiment causes him to pull your hair to see what that is and what happens if he touches and removes it. Will you scream? Will it stay the same?
  • He likes the touch it has: there are times when they pull the hair, they take a few, and they get tangled in hand. If this happens, you will see how they stare at their hand in amazement, discovering what makes it feel like something strange in their hand. They may thank you and laugh while looking at them, or they may not like that touch and cry or complain to get them off.
  • They want to interact with you: it can also be a way to start an interaction with you, and in this way, they get your attention. “Listen to me!” or “look at me!” maybe some of his translations.

How to prevent my baby from pulling my hair

The first time a baby pulls the hair on his head, it is hilarious because he makes an expectant face, and just the fact of seeing him discover something excites us as parents or relatives of his. This means that, at times, we make it easier for him to pull his hair down by lowering his head or even putting his little hand on the head.

These gestures are counterproductive because when we want the child to stop doing this act, at first, it will be a contraindication for him, and he will not understand the situation. As they are too small, they still do not know why we want them to stop doing it if until now it was funny to us.

It is better to teach him from the beginning that you can play by touching the hair but that it is not good to stretch it with force, whether it is the hair of Mom, Dad, or whoever it is. This, sometimes, they come to understand very well the first time when they finally do it to themselves.

If he has already learned to do it and does it very often and it even hurts, the behavior must be corrected since, in addition to the fact that the older people who are with him can hurt them, it will be worse when he starts doing it in nursery or school. Park other children, since apart from breaking them, they can get into a fight, and the other child decides to return the gesture. Therefore, the best way to correct and teach your child not to pull his hair is that from a very young age, you make him understand that there are better things, more fun, more interesting, and so on. For example, gently remove his hand from the hair and direct it to his face or head but make a caressing gesture and tell him that this gesture is better; let him know with a soft tone of voice and a smile.

Anyway, although you have to be patient and understand that it is natural, this is a behavior that can last a few weeks or a few months but that in one way or another changes, since it discovers more exciting things or, finally, they occur to realize that it hurts, either because they have done it themselves or someone else.

This article is merely informative, at FastlyHeal .com we do not have the power to prescribe medical treatments or make any type of diagnosis. We invite you to see a doctor in the case of presenting any type of condition or discomfort.

If you want to read more articles similar to Why is my baby pulling my hair , we recommend that you enter our Pregnancy and baby health category .

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