Chewing Hair?? | Autism PDD

Sharlet has started doing this a LOT. She just walkes around with a clump of hair in her mouth all day, and her hair is always full of dried spit. If I try to take it out or tell her to stop she finds it a game and does it even more. She isn't good with leaving anything in her hair like a band or clip and I don't want to cut her hair really short, I'm worried about her getting hair building up in her stomach

Anyone else had this problem?

Also does anyone else find that their child LOVES being told no and finds it a game and gets excited. The grumpier I sound the funnier she thinks it is : (

my 7 yo NT daughter does that. she started doing that before 2 years i think but not so severe as last few months... we always warn her that we will cut her hair very short but sitll haven't done that :-)

This sounds sensory in nature. If she has an OT I would talk to them about this.

Karrie

karjab3039085.2893981481Allegra, Evie (DD2) started doing that a few weeks ago. We just stayed on top of it, and after a few weeks of telling her to get her hair out of her mouth (about a million times a day), it seems to be fading. Maybe it'll just be a phase that she'll pass through.I do it all the time. It's a classic stress reliever. DS scratches at a spot on his scalp. Personally, I feel that this is NT behavior. We all have stress, even little ones. Thanks again tzoya. Do you think that it could damage her health. I have heard that our stomach can't break down hair and that kids have made themselves very sick from doing it too often, and even in some cases have had to have a hairball removed from their stomach

Hair chewing is a stim and stims exist to relieve stress. Stress is not always negative. Joy can cause the brain to react as to stress. Any sudden emotion can cause a stress response. Nail biting and hair chewing are classic stims that exist frequently in the NT population. YOu've discovered the power of positive reinforcement. Your paying attention to Sharlet's hair chewing is rewarding to her, so your paying attention to it only makes it worse because you're actually rewarding it. The classic advice behaviorists give for reducing stimming it to choose a place where the child is ALLOWED to stim. Her room, the bathroom...a certain chair, etc.. Then direct her to that location with a smile on your face (this is not supposed to be punishment) and say "Chew hair here." Reward her for chewing her hair in the CORRECT location. Lots of adults who are trying to break the worst NT stim -- smoking -- do this with themselves. They allow themselves to smoke but ONLY in one location. It reduces smoking but still gives them that stress relief when necessary.

Another, more drastic but totally effective way to stop hair chewing is to give her a pixie cut. They look cute on many girls and it will be impossible for her to chew her hair that way. Or grow it long and put it in pigtails so that she can only chew the ends, which will make it at least LOOK neater (but short hair is easier for kids with sensory problems). Of course, by taking away the opportunity to chew hair, you'll force her to develop another stim for stress relief, but it might be a stim you'll be better able to control. Frankly, if it were me, I'd ignore it as much as possible, distract her and provide her with TONS of sensory toys. Sensory input relieves stress. My son calmed down as much with PlayDoh as with Ritalin.

tzoya39086.1783912037

My 7 year old DD has been doing that for a few months. I dont know what to do. I will ask her to stop, then she tried to hide what she is doing by holding up a hand over her mouth. LOL that just makes it MORE noticable. She also is chewing on her shirts and jacket. Not sure what to do.

I am thinking of cutting her to shoulder length. Its finally grown out some, but she gets the worst tangles while sleeping. I tried to braid her hair night so its tangle free in the morning, but she said its a fake hair do and wont leave it in, lol.

So true Karen,

Sometimes, I notice all of the little things that I do (sublte rocking when talking on the phone, biting my lower lip, yawning, pacing, biting my nails) and think that the ASD kids are just under a big microscope with these stims!

Allegra,

I used to chew the heck out of my hair when I was younger. It was something I did...well, pretty much all the time. And I did it until I stopped myself.

One thing you might want to try if you want to get your dd to stop is physical correction without any verbal reinforcement. Just take the hair out of her mouth and walk away without saying anything whenever you see her doing it. That should help. You could also try setting a timer, and for every 30 seconds she goes without chewing on her hair she gets an M&M or a rasin, or something small and desired like that. After she does 30 seconds a few times, move it to a minute, then 2, then 5, etc. A lot of kids are entertained by this (especially if it's a digital timer, you can get one for a few bucks in the cooking section of walmart), and it works for quite a few behaviors.

JessicaO40581.9296643519Thanks everyone,

I wasn't necessarily saying I don't think it's a NT thing to be doing. But what isn't NT is they way she responds to discipline. Thats what makes it a bit different when dealing with things of this nature.
My daughter is the same way anytime I tell her no she seems to think its a game and will do whatever it was over and over again. Shes 2 1/2 and I have no idea how to get her to stop. Its my son that has issues with hair. He LOVES it! He doesnt feel pain so he will pull his out to eat it. If anyone gets their hair close to him he will immediatly stuff it in his mouth. I figured out that when hes upset or not feeling well if I dangle my hair in front of him he will stop crying and giggle. Luckly he's a boy and I can cut his hair short to stop him from eating it. Sorry, no advice on the hair chewing but the discipline thing and telling them no, I TOTALLY get. My ds thinks it's HILARIOUS if I tell him no and try to punish him. It's been VERY difficult finding a punishment that's effective. Mine does it. He has a short crew cut, so he doesn't chew his own hair, but tries to chew MINE!

Hi Allegra,

My DS used to chew on MY hair when he was little. He wouldn't just chew on it he would rip it out and wrap it around his finger and then suck his thumb and the hair! It was just one or two hairs but his daycare used to joke that I was going to have to give the kid petramalt(hair ball remover for cats)LOL. He out grew it and never had any health issues. Talk to your ped but I am pretty sure that hair chewing doesn't cause any major health concerns.