Every few days, my little guy won't get his way on something trivial and decides to throw a fit. He lets out a piercing scream, drops flat, then deliberately smashes his forehead on the floor as hard as he can two or three times. It's absolutely purposeful.
He'll do it on concrete. He raises giant lumps and is then so overwrought that I have to put him in his bed and make sure he stays there so he doesn't hurt himself. He doesn't want attention and hits and screams at anyone who comes near.
If I leave him alone on his bed he'll bash his face against the wall. The one time I stepped away and closed the door there was a THUNK and he'd smashed his nose. Blood everywhere.
This has been going on for months now. Most times I see the body language and can keep him from hurting himself. Sometimes I can't quite get there and BANG another lump.
He's a well adjusted and happy little guy 99% of the time. The most common trigger seems to be his older brother taking a toy away. I'm just at a loss about how to deal with the self-harming behavior.
I'm a single Dad. He has one-on-one time with his nanny while his older brother is in Kindergarten. She reports the same behavior.
I tried ignoring it hoping that he'd learn that hurting himself did nothing. That just resulted in more forehead lumps.
How should I approach the problem?