Head Banging and His Ticks...

The head banging started at around 18-months... and still rears its ugly head.

Our way of distracting Roman after one of his head-banging tantrums.

Sounding the alarm?

It's alarming, yes. I was told to ignore it and he'll stop. We tried that. He still bangs his head out of frustration. Bangs it on the wall, the floor, the couch, the fridge the cabinets, whatever he can find in the moment. And sometimes bangs it so hard, he ends up hurting himself.

In fact, he's even bruised his forehead.

While that bothers me, that's not necessarily what I find to be concerning. It's the rhythmic movements that he will sometimes make when upset.

Roman enjoying his nightly bowl of berries, and yes, that's yogurt all over his shirt.

For example, last night after dropping his bowl of berries on the floor my husband picked them up, and took them to the sink to rinse off for a second time. Roman understood that to mean his berries were being taken away from him, and was clearly visibly upset. He chased my husband into the kitchen, and screamed the whole time.

As my husband guided him back into the living room to sit next to me, (I was busy feeding our youngest some yogurt before bed), I noticed Roman throwing his head back and forth, and yelling in a rhythmic pattern that I stopped what I was doing to watch him. After my husband handed his bowl of berries back to him and he sat down next to me, he was fine.

A Moment for Pause...

But it was that brief moment, that made me pause. I understand the head banging is mainly out of frustration, but what about his other behaviors? Behaviors that I simply thought were "just Roman." The head tossing back and forth, looking up at the light and spinning in circles, turning the lights off and on, and repetitive speech patterns when upset.

That baby 'tude though.

These are all things that I thought, were just my son. His "ticks" per say. We all have them. Mine? I bite and pick at my nails and fingers when upset or nervous. Half the time I don't even realize I'm doing it.

Overreacting?

Ugh, that question. Am I overreacting? I don't know.

Are what I see as his "ticks" just him expressing his frustration and excitement in the only way he knows how? Is it him trying to communicate with us and doing so in the only way he can? Or, are they the symptom of something bigger? Something as a mom, I'm not quite ready to face. And at this point, remains to be answered.

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