Head Banging - in children

Pediatrics for Parents, July, 1999

Some children, for reasons yet to be found, are head bangers. With a rhythmic and repetitive pattern, they hit their heads against their crib side rails, the wall, or other hard surface. Doctors at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh evaluated 28 children whose head banging disrupted their daily activities at least once during the day.

All sorts of studies were performed on these children: video records, head MRIs, a full developmental assessment, and more. The parents kept a detailed diary of the head banging behavior including severity, frequency, and types of surfaces.

The head banging children fell into two categories: young children with normal or mildly delayed development, and attention seeking behaviors and older, severely disabled children with communication and sensory problems.

Many of these children had sleep problems. Although some of the children hit their heads with considerable force, only four suffered more than superficial injuries from this behavior. The MRIs didn't show any brain injuries.

Most head bangers have no significant medical problems and develop normally.

Pediatrics Notes, 5/27/99, pp. 82-3.