Why does my daughter eat her hair?????

Question

My daughter is now 20 months old. Just a little history: she rolled around until 11 months when she finally started crawling. By 15 months she was walking. From the time that i can remember, she would always eat fuzzies off of the carpet. About the time she started walking, she still would pick things up off the carpet and eat them, no matter what it was. Then it moved on to her own hair. She pulled her hair out so much on her right top side that i had to start combing her hair to the side to try and hide the HUGE bald spot. She doesn't seem to pull it as much now, but she still does it, especially in the car. I always give her toys to distract her, but that only works for a short time. Not only does she pull her own hair, but if she finds any hair anywhere in the house (hairbrush, carpet, even the broom) she immediately puts it in her mouth and eats it. She even has hair in her poop :/ i am extremely worried about this issue causing some sort of health problem for her (ex:bowel obstruction). She also eats things like paper, paper towels, or toilet paper. she will tear little pieces off of it and put it straight in her mouth. I have talked to her pediatrician about this and they say that it is just the way she is and have suggested things like cutter her hair or making her wear a hat, which doesn't seem effective to me since it is not just hair that she is eating...and she hates hats. Any suggestions or advice would greatly be appreciated!!!

This discussion is related to Hair Pulling and eating.

chelsy111 · Answer

My daughter will be three in Jan and she does the same thing. She always wants to play with my hair and anyone who will let her. When we are inthe car i find her putting it in her mouth and playing with it. She refuses to go to bed with her hair up. I find that she only does this when she is sleepy. I talked to our family doctor told me she would grow out of it. But i havent seen any change so far and it been like this since befor she was a year old.

eborose · Answer

My daughter just turned 2 in Dec. and we were having the same problem.  She was pulling her hair constantly and eating it, it can cause major stomach problems that my doctor told me could actually result in a surgrey.  I tried cutting her hair short but she could still pull it.  Over the weekend (after I spent like 30 mins trying to calm her down while she pooped out a big hair ball) I finally just shaved it and took away all of her babydolls with hair!!! And she is FINE without having the hair there.  I thought it may tramatize her but she looks at herself and thinks its funny.  Im just going to hope that this helps her break the habit and see what happens when it grows back! I def. reccommend doing this if she is eating her hair because it can be very dangerous to their health!