Child who bites HIMSELF!

My 2 1/2 year old grandson is normally a loving, laughing child.  My concern is that when he gets mad he throws himself on the floor and bangs his head on it, then he will bite himself and can actually draw blood. This is most upsetting to his parents and he often has bruises on his arms where he has bitten himself.  When he chooses to have a tantrum like this his parents have coped with it by ignoring him & walking out of the room.  He will rant for several minutes and then all is fine.  My concern is why would he bite himself?  It must hurt!  Will he grow out of this?  It doesn't happen everyday but it is quite disconcerting as non of my other grandchildren have ever had this problem.  Do all redheads have tempers like this?!!

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

Dear B. Newtson,

The behavior you describe is one variation of normal two-year-old tantrumming. Your grandson will stop doing this, and his parents are correct in the way in which they are managing the behavior. He'll be fine.