4Yr Old Twirling Hair

My daughter who is now 10, did this when she was about the same age. She was almost bald on one side of her hair. We cut it all short and as it grew out, she no longer did it. She has sucked her fingers and now bites her finger nails. She is a great well rounded, Social kid. We tried to pony tails and all that, nothing worked. When she sucked her fingers we talked and tried to yucky tasting stuff. She stopped when she was ready.
Just keep an eye on her. :D

maybe keeping her hair (if long enough) in a ponytail or pig tails might help...possibly finding the source of her twirling wld be my first step...if its from figetting, being nervous, afraid, etc etc...try to sway her into using her hands on something else. perhaps a baby doll, coloring, play dough...something that takes her mind off the situation...just my thoughts

Try distraction and redirection. Offer her other things she can fidget with. Notice the times of the day it is happening and other things that are going on around her. Some children tend to do these sort of things when they are tired or bored.

My 5 year old daughter has been twisting her hair for a few years. Her hair is very thin (she's on medications that thin her hair, unfortunately) and we have had the same issue of chunks coming out. I finally just layered her hair, and it looks full from a distance, but you can see the thin areas if you really look.

She primarily twists it at night when she's asleep so it makes it difficult for us to control. I do think it might be similar to thumb sucking as my daughter started it shortly after she stopped using the pacifier.

Good luck with pulling your niece's hair back. I hope that stops it!

Hi L.,I had a similar problem for most of my life. Itwas embarassing especially if someone called attention to it.
I think my problem was a vitamin D or calcium deficiency. I started taking calcium magnesium for another issue and realized one day that I no longer wanted to pull out or twirl my hair. It took quite awhile, but it would be extremely unpleasant to me to do that now.
I use Shaklee vitamins. You can check them out at http://www.shaklee.net/healthforlife. The children's vitamins have vitamin D or you can get chewable cal-mag.
Good luck!
Victoria

Give her a shorter hair cut, sounds like she has anxiety, is anyone picking on her? Maybe ask a child psych, becasue she is doing it to the point of pulling out her hair. Spend time with her for comfort if you see her doing this to herself. On the other hand she could just be board, which I hope is true.

I did the same thing as a child. I don't know how it started but everyone in my family thought it was a nervous habit. But, as I got older I realized it was a comfort thing not from being nervous. Just as thumb sucking or such. My parents tried everything to get me to stop. Nothing worked, and to this day I still twirl my hair. Of course I don't pull it out now!! Good luck!

From what I've read, this is not a "nervous habit" as you would think. It's an actual disease with a name. She should be able to talk to her doctor about it and get medication or direction on what to do.

Put her hair up in bows, pony tail something
2) when she starts hand her a tissue paper/kleenex to twirl
3.) have her rub her leg or give her a koosh ball
4.) take her to an occupational therapist who specializes in senory issues