Mama Anna Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 I haven't encountered this before and am not sure what to do. Here's the story: Dd2 began to show thinning hair on top early last fall. I thought her sister was pulling it out (it had happened before) until she greeted me after a rest-time with a hank in her own hand. From time to time, I would find balls of wadded up hair around her bed. A friend suggested that she's somehow undernourished, her hair is weak (vitamin deficiency), and therefore comes out too easily. I've researched this and she doesn't show any other signs of vitamin deficiency - sores in the mouth, etc. Besides, the thin spots are only around the crown of her head, not in back where her hair is the thickest and gets brushed the most. And I don't find hair on her brush in large amounts. She doesn't do this in a temper, in fact it seems to be more boredom-induced than anything else. We haven't been through any huge changes, the baby that we're expecting isn't very real to her yet (I'm just beginning to show), and I don't think there's a negative emotional cause. I did notice this beginning about the same time that she stopped (pretty much of her own accord) sucking her thumb. Could it be some type of replacement comfort motion? I've read some stuff about early OCD that makes me worry. My biggest question is . . . should I take her to her doctor? Her next checkup will be in about 6 months. Is she likely to grow out of it by then? Will she ever? Should we try to nip this habit in the bud? I've dealt with it so far by talking to her about how pretty her curly blonde hair is and how lovely it looks when she leaves it in and it grows out nice and thick. She'll stop for a week or so and then I find the next wad of hair. Anyone BTDT? Mama Anna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catherine Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 He was less than 2. It continued, off and on, until he was 11. That year he had a serious depression and we started homeschooling. Not sure if your child has shown evidence of a strong personality, intensity, drive, but in my ds it was clearly evident by the time he was 3 months old. He has remained a challenge but a joy, now that he is older we can talk-it's much easier. After our round of medical intervention for his depression, I've got to say (as a medical person myself) it helped little. He is certainly wired uniquely, but what helped my ds, when he was much older and struggling, was forging stronger bonds within the family. When I asked our pediatrician about his hair pulling around 1 year of age, he had no helpful ideas but said it didn't mean anything about his later personality. Yeah, right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama Anna Posted March 13, 2009 Author Share Posted March 13, 2009 Thanks for the insight, Catherine! Anyone else have experience to add? Mama Anna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kokotg Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 My son started hair pulling when he was 4 (although when I look back at pictures of him from earlier, I can see that he was always playing with his hair--twisting it while sucking his thumb, etc.). There's a name for it, which I can never remember--trich-something or other. We talked to our ped about it, and her response was pretty much, "I'd just keep his hair short. You're lucky he's a boy." So we kept his hair very, very short for awhile. He's 7 now, and he seems to be over it; we've let his hair grow out and it's been fine for months now. He still sometimes twists his hair, but he's able to keep himself from pulling (most of the time; occasionally I see him pull, but I remind him about it and he stops). The reading I did when it first started indicated that the younger it starts, the more likely the kid will grow out of it. ETA: DS has some issues with anxiety, too, which we've seen big improvements with lately (i.e. the hair pulling has gone away as the anxieties have). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharon in MD Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 It is common for kids, even adults to have some sort of behavior like this, in my very unprofessional opinion. the thing that would concern me is she's pulling it so hard that she is pulling it out. There was a little girl I knew years ago, when we were stationed in Korea. She was pulling out her hair as you've described and I am pretty sure she was about 2. You might not like this potential solution, but it worked for this family. They shaved her head for a couple months to break the habit. I know it is drastic, but it did work for them. Even if it is a sleep pattern habit, it might break the pattern? Just a thought...not a real pleasant idea though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty ethel rackham Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 When my younger sister was 4, her hair would come out easily if pulled. We didn't notice an abnormal amount on her hairbrush brush, but if you pulled it, it came out easily. She was deficient in something - she was a VERY picky eater. That was the year she survived on hot dogs and mac'n cheese. She did better after vitamin supplements until her palate could be expanded. If your dd is pulling her own hair - does she experience pain normally? Does she have a high tolerance for pain? I can't imagine pulling clumps of one's own hair not being painful if it doesn't easily come out. I would get her checked out by a doctor just to make sure she doesn't have any major deficiencies. I wonder if it is a combination of vitamin deficiencies and some OCD tendencies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2att Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 My middle child did this at two. He looked like a Rogaine commercial, with a huge thinning/bald spot on the back of his head. Our solution was just to keep his hair in a buzz cut until he forgot about pulling it out, but that's a little more difficult with a girl. Maybe a pretty hat would help? My ds has always had a very intense personality. I don't know what got him started hair-pulling, but for us it just seemed to be a habit that took a couple of months of short hair to break. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlessedMom Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 There is a "hair pulling" medical condition called Trichotillomania. I have not researched Trichotillomania to know how early it can show up. Your child may be much to young for something like this to be a consideration at all. I am sure there is information on the web that you might find helpful. Best wishes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom0012 Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 My niece has this and she became critically ill because she was eating the hair. She was in the hospital, unable to eat, and vomiting for weeks before the doctor's figured out what was wrong with her. She started pulling her hair around 2 years old and she was eating it. Surprisingly, your body will not digest hair. It can just build up in the digestive tract. By age 8, she wound up with a huge hairball in her stomach, something like 6 x 8 inches. Even though her pediatrician was aware that the hair pulling and eating had been an issue and my sister had brought it to her attention, it was blown off time and again because "it is so rare" and they just "didn't believe that was a problem". My niece had surgery to remove the hair and she has been doing very well since. She seems to have stopped the pulling since the surgery. I don't write this to scare you or worry you, but you should be aware that there are serious complications that can occur if your daughter eats the hair after pulling. I truly hope she is not doing that. Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mktkcb Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 Hi, my middle dd deals with trich on a fairly mild level, but if you really want info from real parents, go the the parents_ttm yahoo group, join, and then search with the word toddlers. you'll get lots of info, not to mention you can ask anything you want. Trich is a tricky thing :o). Sometimes toddlers grow out of it, sometimes they don't. No one really knows definitively what makes people (of any age) do it. Meaning it seems to be a behavior with an infinite number of possible causes. I have heard, though, that the odds are better for stopping the behavior in an infant or toddler. Anyway, there is lots of info to be had. My dd began around age 11, so it's a different animal than what you are dealing with. Get informed, though. Kayleen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama Anna Posted March 14, 2009 Author Share Posted March 14, 2009 A couple more things about this: She doesn't do this in public. I mean, I've never actually seen her pull it out, only walked in to find her handing me the hank that one time. But I find hairballs on the floor which seem to correspond roughly to the amount the hair has been thinned on top. (So, I don't think she's eating it, LisaTheresa, although I appreciate you giving me a head's up on that.) It's not a constant thing - it's much less frequent now than it was last fall, for instance - one hairball every couple of weeks instead of two or three per week. But it's still there. My parents tell a story of one of my brothers being found around age two, sitting on the bathroom floor drawing interesting designs on his chest with a razor blade. He was furious when they took it away from him. He tends to have a high pain tolerance. (I know my mom does - she traveled to Africa for two weeks on a broken ankle, having been told it was simply a sprain.) Does a lessening of frequency mean that she's growing out of it? Should I take her to the doctor specifically for this, or would that do any good? I've thought of cutting her hair shorter . . . maybe that would be a good compromise . . . I really appreciate your input on this. It's not as comforting as I must confess I was originally hoping, but it's very informative!! Mama Anna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyR Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 Yes, I would take her to the doctor for this. I have seen a few children ( while working at daycare) that have done this. Usually they have some type of sensory ingetration disorder. It is their way of coping with things. The younger you get to the bottom of the cause the better. I know we even had a child that would wrap the hair around her fingers then would suck on it. That's dangerous because the hair can get caught in the intestines. This little girl's mother had a mental disorder so it seems there is usually some type of mental illness that runs in the families. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sassenach Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 Friends of ours had a little girl who was completely bald until she was 4, because of this. It turned out that it was connected with thumb sucking. Once she gave up sucking her thumb, she stopped pulling out her hair. Hth, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KidsHappen Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 It doesn't sound like an OCD issue. Usually OCD people who pull out hair do so one hair at a time trying to shape their hair just so or to make it perfectly even on each side or to remove a stray hair that is not where it belongs. Unfortunately this works like cutting a piece of paper to make it even until you have no paper left. Never let an OCD person cut their own or anyone elses hair. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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