My baby of seven and a half months pats his head with his right hand on right side, mostly while breast feeding and other times also. Is it because of on getting teeth thereby feeling irritated and pained or any other reasons. Kindly advise.
Ramesh Hetal replied. hi
1.if baby is doing this repeatedly on one side only, there is possibility that he had a hit somewhere while rolling on ground.babiees at 7.5months rollpretty well or try to crawl.
taking to dr is the best idea to make sure he is not injured or is showing this because of pain there.
2.if his hitting is around the ear area, its a sign of ear infection. let your dr check that.
3. sometimes it is just something that some babies above 4months do when they are starting to sit up more, crawl, walk, etc, because the equilibrium in their ears is learning to adjust itself to a new orientation, it makes them hyper sensitive to each movement and touch - they then over compensate by \";flooding\"; themselves with stimuli (repetitive hitting).it is not dangerous, just make sure that they shouldn't hurt themselves, it actually makes them feel better to throw out that frustrations.thats y when he is doing this, he might not like you to interrupt him.just make sure about the ear infection or ne head injury that might have occurred and is unknown to you.
head injury if ne is often accompanied by more sleeping hours or too less sleeping hours, hyperactiveness and baby being fussy whenever laid straight.often head ache is acute when the human body with injured head is laid to sleeping position.
4.sometimes its the rythmic pattern of patting your baby when he goes to sleep..they try to mimick it ! babies are great monkeys after 7months and onwards.so if she is copying this,just enjoy it and make sure he doesnt make it a habit to hurt himself.
after all this, i am only concerned if he is not having ne head injury.
some babiees just need more loving touch from their parents.
if your baby seems to be showing these signs because of self stimulation in these compulsive ways,,massages can help your baby learn better the boundaries of his body. it can also help him understand that his body is good and should be treated gently as you are treating him gently during massage. reach at his cues, watch him closely,,but if i were you i will rather not wait for all this start, but take him to dr first to check for ne head injuries.
good luck.