Headbanging in crib to fall asleep Both of my autistic children bang to sleep... I think it is somewhat common.... Hi! Katelyn has been banging her head to fall asleep since she was a tiny infant, but her pedi always said it was normal and just her way of calming herself to sleep.  That never made sense to me.  She still does it almost every night.  I just mentioned it to her EI person and she said that it is NOT normal and she disagrees with the pedi.  She said she hates when pedis say that it is normal because it is not normal for a child to bang their head to fall asleep.  Luckily, Katelyn doesn't hurt herself, she bangs her head on her mattress or on her giraffe blanket toy (her lovey).  Now that we are pretty sure she has autism, I'm curious if any of your children do this as well?  Thanks. Okay, this is embarrassing but, I was a headbanger and not autistic. My mother said my crib would actually go from one end of room to the other. I remember doing it to calm myself for sleep, well into my early years. I went from that to foot banging..I guess I should have been into heavy metal music, being a headbanger and all..lol The doc back then told my mother that, as long as I wasn't hurting myself, it was fine. I don't know what they say now but, I am going on 48, and was a straight A student so...don't think it did anything. I think what scares many is that, some autistic do it as well. However, it is also common among NT's. I wouldn't panic but keep an eye out for other symptoms. (I don't headbang any more but, on my many insomnia nights, I consider it) Thank you for sharing that :) It definitely doesn't hurt her and she does seem to enjoy doing it Actually, it is not all that uncommon for a child to do that.  Many pediatricians have seen/heard of it in numerous children, not just children on the autistic spectrum, although incidents of it are stronger in spectrum children.  It is a self-stimulatory behavior and acts as a calming mechanism, allowing the child to eventually ease into sleep.  We all have various calming behaviors that we do without realizing it - many genetically passed on. I banged my head in my crib nightly to the point I would rock my crib across the wooden floor and my caregivers (in a placement home), and then my adoptive parents, would push it back to it's place against the wall.  I also rocked like that in the car - bouncing against the seat until I fell asleep.  I'm not on the spectrum - it was done for stimulation and relaxation. My son, who is on the spectrum, does the same thing - consistently banged his head to sleep, or constantly rocked and banged against the back of the high chair.  Even now, at 4, he rocks and bounces his head off the seat in the car.  He doesn't bang his head every night in his bed any longer, but he does have another "boyish" behavior he now substitutes for it.   AnamCara39758.5555787037Both my auti kids were jumpers. They would jump up and down in their cots till they collapsed and fell asleep/ They split their mattreses doing this. thank goodness they grew out of it.[QUOTE=Kelly4Jesus]  Okay, this is embarrassing but, I was a headbanger and not autistic. My mother said my crib would actually go from one end of room to the other. I remember doing it to calm myself for sleep, well into my early years. I went from that to foot banging..I guess I should have been into heavy metal music, being a headbanger and all..lol The doc back then told my mother that, as long as I wasn't hurting myself, it was fine. I don't know what they say now but, I am going on 48, and was a straight A student so...don't think it did anything. I think what scares many is that, some autistic do it as well. However, it is also common among NT's. I wouldn't panic but keep an eye out for other symptoms. (I don't headbang any more but, on my many insomnia nights, I consider it) [/QUOTE] my brother bang is head he nt .i bang my head im on the asd but the dr told my mom same thing if he not huring himself it ok .i did hurt myself ,i bang my head in vrib an cut my forhead .i aslo rock all time .i think there to much info out there an it getting parent worry .when sometimes it just the baby way of copping .not everything mean there a proublem[QUOTE=Boohbah] [QUOTE=autti34] my brother bang is head he nt .i bang my head im on the asd but the dr told my mom same thing if he not huring himself it ok .i did hurt myself ,i bang my head in vrib an cut my forhead .i aslo rock all time .i think there to much info out there an it getting parent worry .when sometimes it just the baby way of copping .not everything mean there a proublem[/QUOTE] Thank you for your perspective [/QUOTE]    y/w    [QUOTE=autti34] my brother bang is head he nt .i bang my head im on the asd but the dr told my mom same thing if he not huring himself it ok .i did hurt myself ,i bang my head in vrib an cut my forhead .i aslo rock all time .i think there to much info out there an it getting parent worry .when sometimes it just the baby way of copping .not everything mean there a proublem[/QUOTE] Thank you for your perspective My son is 15 and always did this to sleep.   He didn't do it hard enough to hurt himself. I am not sure if he still does it or not.  He also liked to sleep with a thin blanket on his face/head.  He also would get on all four s and rock as a toddler and the motion would skoot him into the wall. He would bang his head.  I would move him because I couldn't make him stop.My son bangs until he falls asleep, it seems to be how he calms himself. His NT sister does not. HarrietThank you for the responses
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