self harm in 10 month old?

animeme

Mon, Sep 07 2015, 12:56 am

I would get a medical and developmental evaluation. There might be a sensory or developmental issue, or something physical. I had an eighteen month old who cried every time I picked him up for weeks. Turns out he had a mild rib injury.

Start with the pediatrician. (It's important to have this visit on record that you report she is self injuring, in case someone suspects otherwise.) Have a workup, blood, etc. If everything is fine, get a developmental evaluation. Pay attention to things like eye contact, and how she accepts touch from people.

You can also try to add in something like a blankie, using it when you soothe her and teaching her to use it to. Don't know if it will work or not.

Dolly Welsh

Mon, Sep 07 2015, 1:17 am

Above advice is very good, do follow it all, all the posts.

She is distracting herself from the feeling. She wants to feel something on her skin. It is a connected-to-the-world feeling that turns her mind away from the bad emotional feeling.

Her nails may be too long.

She should NOT BE lonely or scared. Why in the world is she feeling anxious, lonely, or scared? An occasional twinge of such things is normal when Mom is at the other end of the room or out of the room (you're safely in your crib) or talking to other people instead of you, or in the bathroom. In fact you have to get gradually used to living through that, as it is part of life. But so much?

She should be in company almost all the time, company that is at least mildly interested in her, looks her in the eye, and chats companionably with her, all the time when she is awake.

Obviously she is center stage and wonderfully important some of the time. But even when it's not entirely about her, she should feel the dial tone is operational. A friendly look directly into her eyes is often enough if mom is too busy to manage any more than that. It's still a connection. Eye contact is powerful.

A kid will check for the dial tone. That's all she needs. Once she's sure it's working and on, and she is part of the family, she will run back to what she was doing.

It's like being connected to an iron lung survival machine that only works if the telephone is live. You would check the dial tone frequently too, if your survival depended on it being live.

Now that we are in cell phone era perhaps nobody knows what I am talking about.

Fine. The kid needs to frequently be reassured, just with a little thing, not a big complicated thing, that she is indeed a member of this family. She knows her survival isn't happening any other way. This is universal and normal.

Last edited by Dolly Welsh on Mon, Sep 07 2015, 1:23 am; edited 1 time in total

amother

Magenta

Mon, Sep 07 2015, 5:26 am

I have a family member who did this as a baby. He has aspergers, is autistic and has lots of anxiety issues. It took them years to get him diagnosed. Get help as soon as you can and even if no one will diagnose, make sure you keep following up and reporting anything unusual. Don't force your child into social situations that are stressful for them, even though they might be normal for other babies.