DD pulling knotted hair out

DD, who's 4 yo, has had the habit of twirling her hair for a while. A few months ago it started getting bad where she'd actually create small knots which I would then cut off. This past month I realized that she's now been pulling the knots out. Bad to the point that now it looks like she has bald spots on the front portion on her head. The ped just told me it's something I need to have her stop doing, reassuring that the lack of hair was manually done. I haven't read much on success stories of parents who have stopped this behavior. Does anyone here have any advice aside from "mittens" and "ponytails"?

DD pulling knotted hair out

From the looks of your pic, your DD has long hair. I would cut it short if she wont stop

Re: DD pulling knotted hair out

I could have written most of this myself... DD is 4 and at around 2.5 yrs she started doing this. She twirls while she sucks her thumb (which, unfortunately, is almost constant). her bald spots are at the back of her head. 4 months ago or so I got her a really short pixie haircut because her hair was so uneven from the twirling and she was going to start preschool. The shortness of the hair worked for not twirling (there was nothing to grab, she kind of just rubbed her scalp causing no damage) BUT, unless she had a headband on, people thought she was a boy so I've started growing it back out and of course now I'm finding chunks of hair knots all over... so I guess I don't have a huge solution for you.. the pixie cut worked and it looked pretty cute but she "wants long hair like Elsa" so we're stuck in a weird hair limbo. Curious to see if you get some good advice on this thread.....

Re: DD pulling knotted hair out

Sounds like trichotillomania.
You should speak to your ped...
The way I understand it, it's kind of like OCD and responds well to behavior therapy.
A family member did this as a kid & just stopped one day.

DD pulling knotted hair out

She has such long beautiful hair that I would never want to cut (and her either). She's always asking me to put it in a braid like Elsa. If need be, I guess I'll have to though. I can relate to it being OCD related bc I still pick my fingers and know how hard it's been for me to try stoping since I was little and can imagine it'll be the same with her. I was disappointed that the ped pretty much left me to fend for myself, gave me no suggestions on how to possibly stop. Do you think I should bring her to a specialist of some sort or a psychologist?

Message edited 11/24/2014 9:45:33 AM.

Re: DD pulling knotted hair out

Re: DD pulling knotted hair out

Re: DD pulling knotted hair out

I think I'm going to agree with you. Although I initially went straight to trich, after speaking with DD, I think the issue is more the twirling. I think she's pulling out the knots in order to hide them from me. All the hair that I've found in her bed is knotted. She actually just told me she wanted a haircut too so already made an appt for Wednesday. She told me she does it often in bed so I've brought her cabbage patch doll with a full head of hair into bed with her. Told her if she feels the urge, to twirl the dolls hair instead of hurting her own. Seems like she likes the idea. We'll see how these few tweeks work...Thanks all for your input!

Re: DD pulling knotted hair out

Does she like fun clips or hair ties? You can let her know that if she not making knots in her hair you will take her out to buy something new for her hair. Not sure how you can track it but it may just encourage her to do it less.