Samantha, a registered child minder reached out on social media for help with this issue that she was having with one of the children she cared for who was pulling the hair of other children in the setting.

I have always kept my hair short, but anyone who has long hair and holds a baby in their arms will know how they love to reach out and grab a handful of hair to pull ( and how much it can hurt).

The best way to deal with this is to take hold of the baby’s hand and remove it from the hair while giving them eye contact and tell them “No! in a firm voice.

Toddlers and other children can be discouraged from pulling hair with my general behaviour management tips here

Some children pull their own hair; which can be worrying for parents: I came across a child at a toddler group that I attended who had pulled out so much hair she was almost bald on one side. Her mother was really concerned about this; Luckily when the child grew out of the habit her hair grew back to it’s original state.

When I was a girl I liked to twist my hair around my fingers when I was tired.On a few occasions I twisted it so tightly that my mum had to cut my fingers free with scissors.

A friend of mine used to suck her long hair by putting a strand into the corner of her mouth. Again her parents were worried that she might be swallowing some hair and become ill.

We both grew out of these habits eventually.

I have written an earlier post about stopping children from biting here ( the tips I suggested for that could be adapted for hair pulling too).

As always questions and comments are welcome.

Until next time.

Karen

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