There was a nytimes article written by someone who banged his head when he slept. I don’t remember what his conclusion was, but parents could find it by googling, I’m sure.

Both of my kids kicked the crib hard with their foot, and moved on to kicked the wall hard with their foot before they fell asleep. Their bed is put alongside the wall. I didn’t need video monitor, but I could hear from downstairs. My oldest has stopped doing that by 3, and my 2 year old still does this.

I did the headbanging until about age 5.

I have a brain AVM and can't sleep feeling it pumping in my head. That's why I did it.

My child has ASD and has banged his head from time to time. He's non-verbal so he can't tell me why he does it, but I came to find out it was related to pain (mostly GI) and sometimes frustration. When he's feeling well and there are no GI issues, the headbanging is gone! You're son's toe walking is interesting. I've read somewhere that that can be from high oxalates in the diet?? Perhaps you could consult with a really good nutritionist like Dana Laake.

My son is 7 yrs old he had head banging since he was very little leg banging and any type of movement when he was tired
When we found out he needed tonsils and adenoids out I told them everything about his sleeping patterns they told me he has sleep apnea and how we had been coping was beyond them he is also ADHD he does toe walking and still head bangs not a lot of it but it's there he even does teeth grinding as well certain foods always made it worse especially high sugar fruits

Anonymous wrote:I disagree with those who think you should ignore that much head banging. I would consult with a top-notch neurologist and developmental pediatrician.

I completely agree. I've worked with the severely autistic and this is classic autistic behavior. My ASD son (high-functioning asperger's) was also a toe walker. If your child is autistic, the sooner you find out, and the sooner you begin therapeutic treatment, the better off your child will ultimately be. You really need to rule autism out NOW.

My 6-year-old daughter did this from age 18 months till she was 5. She was diagnosed at 4 with Sensory Processing Disorder. She did it to help herself fall asleep. She never did it to the point of breaking the skin. After talking with her about it gently for a long time (months and months), we finally got her to switch to either rubbing her lips on her nubby blankie or rocking back and forth on her hands and knees to help herself fall asleep. We explained in very basic terms that her head was really precious, and that the banging wasn't so good for her. She is bright, well-adjusted kid, doing well in school and life in general (with some sensory challenges.) Her pediatrician assured us that it was common and okay. I still think she bangs her head from time to time to help herself fall back asleep, but she has a soft mattress, and does it much less than she used to. Good luck to you, I was really worried about it for a long time, so I get where you are coming from.

Im 16 years old. ive actually been doing this my whole life. i have a great social life. i work well with others, and i make great grades. i just now decided to see why i do this and it seems i have this rythmic movement disorder. i know for a fact i dnt bang my head all night. but i do when i lay down to try and sleep. i literally cannot sleep of i dont do it. ive always felt uncomfortable at sleepovers and things like that to this very day. but it doesnt take an effect later on obviously because im a typical teenage girl with a bit of a strange sleeping ritual if you will.

Hi - This is the OP - I just saw that this thread had been revived. Just to provide an update - my son is now 3 1/2 years old (he was 20 months when I originally wrote). As of 3 weeks ago - he has stopped head banging and fingers crossed that he won't start again.

When we was around 2 years old, I took him to two different pediatric neurologists primarily because I wanted to make sure that he wasn't permanently hurting himself by banging his head repeatedly for long periods of time. One of them told us that 10-15% of otherwise "normal" children will head bang - usually boys - for self soothing purposes - similar to twirling hair or sucking a thumb.

We took his pacifier away 3 weeks ago - I had delayed doing so because I feared his banging would become worse if it didn't have the stimulation of the sucking of the pacifier. Much to our shock - he actually stopped banging and has told us he no longer bangs because he doesn't have his pacifier.

We'll see - my hope is that he really has stopped for good. Time will tell.

FYI, this thread is two years old and was resurrected today by someone supposedly reminiscing about their own experience as a child. Not sure why they revived this thread. I was one of the PPs with a child who had a serious problem with headbanging, but his problem is long since resolved. Presumably the same is the case for the OP.

Ask yourself why you are not willing to accept the judgment of your pediatrician and apparently several specialists that your kid is fine. I realize the headbanging is disturbing to you, but at some point you need to let go of the need to find a diagnosis.

Either Ferber or Weissbluth has a chapter on this - it is totally normal. If your ds has no other signs of trouble, then I wouldn't worry about it. I would say that it is now more about your own anxiety than about any issue with your kid.