My Soap Box Part One

In my previous post I commented how some friends and I have been chatting about raising children, their behavior at certain ages of life, and parenting. So here is my first topic toddlers who pull hair. I chose this one because it's one I have been dealing with and although all educated parents understand there are still some that aren't. So here is a little information for you.

This was taken from BabyCenter.com

"Yanking on hair, like kicking, biting, pinching, and hitting, is one of the ways toddlers express themselves and try to exert control over their immediate environment. Mark W. Roberts, professor of clinical psychology at Idaho State University, says there are three main reasons for this behavior. For young toddlers (12 to 18 months), the most likely explanation is the simplest one: They've discovered how to get a reaction, and they want to get it again. "It's like turning on a light switch, or hitting one of those toys where something pops up," Roberts says. "They pull, big brother squeals. This is fun." Another reason toddlers pull hair, Roberts says, is "to make bad things go away. Someone's crawling over them or taking their toys; they reach out and pull hair, and the bad thing stops." Finally, Roberts says, older toddlers (2 to 3) are developing the cognitive skills to reason things out, and may pull hair to try to control the direction of a situation. Roberts gives this example: Your toddler's older brother takes the last cookie, so she pulls his hair to make him squeal. "This has possibilities on two levels," Roberts says. "First, you might step in and make her big brother share the cookie. More important is the likelihood that big brother will think twice before taking the last cookie next time around."

So the next time you see this realize it's not "bad parenting" and your child isn't in "danger" or that you need to worry about the "safety" of your child. If you can't see this maybe you should take time to get your nose out of text books and spend some actual time with toddlers other than your own. If you still can't understand than I feel really sorry for you because remember your child is not perfect and there will come a day when he/she will do something and you know what they say about karma, it's a BITCH!