Stop Finger Sucking and Hair Pulling - 2 Yr Old ..Help

Get the stuff for nail biters and put it on her fingers. See if she doesn't like that taste. Can you get her something to suck/bite on? Like a teething toy or necklace? Talk to a therapist...may be a sensory issue?

I would ignore the hair thing and keep her hair very short. It's obvious it's a comfort thing for her.

My son did the nail biting thing for a few months and stopped. It sounds like this has become a habit. If the pediatrician is not worried about it, I would not worry about it.

I'd do some googling about anxiety in toddlers. I think your best bet is to deal with her fears rather than the actual behavior.

My oldest used to suck her thumb and twirl her hair (or anyone else's who was nearby) when she was tired or needed to soothe herself. The hair twirling eventually stopped on its' own. The thumb sucking finally stopped when she fell on her front teeth and they were too sore to suck her thumb. Nothing I'd recommend but it did make it stop. As a child, I used to pluck the fuzz off my blanket and roll it around in my fingers. My very first memory is of me plucking a blanket in my crib as I was waking up and someone moving the blanket so I'd have a fresh area to pluck.

The way you describe it doesn't sound like Trichotillomania but I'm no expert. My niece had Trichotillomania and would shave her head. She moved on to plucking the hair on her forearm, eyebrows, eyelashes, etc. To me, it sounds like your daughter is absent-mindedly doing it rather than compulsively pulling out her hair.

I would try to redirect her right hand to a blanket or stuffed animal or doll's hair or something else. You will probably have to search around to find the perfect texture. I'd even take her to a fabric store and see if something there appeals. I've seen stuffed animals made of rabbit fur or from old mink coats.

As for the finger sucking, I would try to not make a big deal out of it and instead redirect her. When you see it happening, talk to her so she has to answer you. Tell her you cannot understand her when she speaks with her fingers in her mouth. When you read to her, have her hold the book so her hands are busy. Look for ways to keep her hands out of her mouth and hair without saying, "Stop sucking your fingers".

I would avoid shaving her head at all costs and instead cut the other side so it looks more balanced. Shaving her head seems like a punishment rather than a solution but that's just my opinion.

My son was a thumb sucker. The first suggestion we got to stop this habit may have worked if he was younger (by the time we tried it, he was old enough to remove it). We were told to put an ace bandage around his elbows. It makes it uncomfortable to bend...so sucking is harder and so will the hair twirling. It may be worth a shot. We weren't able to stop the thumb sucking until he was four. It took a thumb guard, bribery and a lot of patience!

Good luck.

Im 40+ years old and I still twirl my hair when I'm focusing on something. My stepsister did the same thing your daughter is doing ... Sucking thumbs and all. She's 25 now and fine. She, too, still twirls her hair when focused.

Let it go ... It's likely a way for her to focus her energy when she's learning / doing something.

My daughter was a thumb sucker, she is 6 and I didn't get her to quit sucking until a few months ago. She didn't have the hair pulling so it was not an extreme thing to get her to quit.

What I did was every time I caught her I would threaten to put hot sauce on her thumb. She thought I was playing until I finally forced her finger into the hot sauce jar. She didn't try it bc she knew it was hot. She has not sucked her thumb since. I know it sounds mean but it's what worked. My husband was also a thumb sucker and my mother in law used black pepper and had the same effect.

I have a niece who has always done this! Not so much pulling out her hair, but the sucking of the 2 fingers, and twirling her hair. She is 5 and still does it, maybe not quite as much now...only when she is tired. I think her mom just figures she will grow out of it. I sucked my thumb until I was pretty old myself. Not sure the age, but I know I was over 5. My parents got some sort of "stuff"...like a liquid or something they painted on my thumb...tasted horrible and I ended up quitting. Not sure if that's recommended on a 2 year old though. Sorry not much help, but thought you should know it's not uncommon! Just keep in mind, it is a comfort thing....maybe if you take it away, you can offer something in place? Good luck mama!!

When I sucked my thumb as a child I always rubbed the satin part of my blanket. Have you tried to give your baby a blanket to rub? Or maybe a soft stuffed animal? Something she could carry around with her. It may help stop her hair pulling.

The more you focus on this the more she's going to do it. She probably needed a pacifier when she was little so she could suck, now all she can suck on is her fingers.

My daughter did this because I weaned her too soon and took away her pacifier too. So she found her fingers. Your girl is going to continue to do this until she's much older. I suggest you learn to deal with it so she's not constantly feeling stressed out and doing it even more.

Each of us do something when we're stressed out, I used to twirl my hair. I'd put huge rats in it. My mom would beat me with a belt or a switch and guess what, I only did it more and added to that was the guilt of doing it. So I started hiding it and crying about it. The whole thing just made it worst.

So you focusing on her doing either of these is only going to make it worse. When you see her doing the hair thing give her something to do with her hands "Sweetie, would you like to play with some Play-Doh" or "Sweetie, would you like to get the lego's out"...by not saying anything but redirecting her you might be able to get her unfocused on what she's doing and she might outgrow it sooner.