2yr old headbanging

[mechagirl]

My son (2 years old) had a head injury a month ago. He fell on his back and hit his head on a thick glass, that was on the floor (one can still see an arc on the back of his head). The glass didn't brake (thank God), it didn't even move, so i suppose that he landed exactly ON it! there was a lot of blood. His PD examined him and said that there is very little chance for his skull to be fractured (said there is no way even a thick glass to be harder than his skull), and she advised me not to take him to be tested, because it would be unnecessary radiating. Now I must say that he didn't have any symptoms like vomiting, behaviour changes and so on, not even a bump, only a wound - 3sm. I'm still worried though, that there could be consequences. And I actually don't know how much time it should past with no symptoms, to be absolutely sure that his head is fine, and there could be no complications? Even more I'm worried, cause recently, he started hitting his head on the floor when he is frustrated. He doesn't do it very hard, but he gets bruised, and I wonder, what if he actually had some kind of mild brain trauma and/or skull fracture, could those bangs worsen it? In the meantime I'm trying to stop this behaviour, but it sometimes comes like thunder and I have no time to react. Advisers in parenting forums say that it's a common behaviour in 2-3 year old children, a way to provoke specific reaction in the parent and the best way to react is to ignore it...and I would ignore it, cause it's actually nothing that looks serious (I believe he knows what he's doing), if I was sure that it could not make any hidden problem worse. So could there still be a chance of such a problem after a month, and if, could those bangs make things worse?

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi
Welcome to the MedHelp forum!
Yes, head banging in infants and toddlers can be due to behavior disorder or it can be an attention seeking method. However, it can also be due to ear ache, headache, traumatic brain injury,  etc. Since your son had a history of head injury, this possibility should be investigated. Do not hesitate to get a CT or MRI if need be. Hope this helps. Take care!

[tonicorbin]

i agree

[angel_25_harris]

yes you need to take him to a neurologist