Kozy carrier problem!

[baybemama]

I've been wearing DS around on my back in the house to get him used to it but he won't stop pulling my hair! It hurts so bad and I don't know how to get him to stop. Arrrgh! Any tips?

 

[toesmom]

I've been wearing DS around on my back in the house to get him used to it but he won't stop pulling my hair! It hurts so bad and I don't know how to get him to stop. Arrrgh! Any tips?

I always carried my son, and anytime he was on my back (up until the time he was close to 2-1/2 or 3 years old), he would always grab my hair (ouch).

I had to resort to wrapping a scarf around my head. It was a nice blue big scarf from the carribean (very lightweight) and anytime he was in the back position carry I had the scarf wrapped around my hair. It was the only thing that helped because it's hard to explain to a 1 year old to stop pulling mom's hair.

Only a few people will make comments

 

[bumbershoot]

Oh, you've reminded me of that, and I so wanted to forget it. This is the eternal reason women cut their hair after having babies, b/c those babies just loooooove to pull hair! (of course, there's a fallacy in there, b/c when I have long hair I can deal with the pulling for longer b/c the force isn't as strong, but when he pulls on shorter hair, especially right at my neck, it hurts instantly)

Ponytail, bun, just get it out from his grasp if you can. Maybe give him a soft, small, toy that he can amuse himself with. And try to get out so he's looking at other things, not just staring at "his" (LOL) hair.

Good luck!

 

[mommy-on-the-move]

I wear mine in low pigtails rather than a pony tail, i find that works best for with headscarfs/wide brimmed hats in the sun anyway and doesn't look too odd. (DH has issues though as he'd look odd with either pigtails or a headscarf LOL but has long hair too)

 

[katie111]

I just got a Beco carrier & I've noticed the same thing with my 9 month old. It really hurts! I hung a toy on it yesterday & that seemed to help some. Although once he as done with the toy he was back to my hair. I'm getting it cut a bit shorter before Disney next week so hopefully that will help a little. He also pulls it when I'm just holding him in my arms so I guess its just better to have him on my back and at least give my arms a rest.

 

[peemagg]

Something that my mother always swore by was teaching the child that pulling hair hurts. The only way to do that was if we pulled her hair, she would pull ours a little bit. If we stopped pulling then she would stop. If we pulled harder, then she would pull harder. It worked with us and I have seen it work with other children as well. Some might think it is cruel, but how else do you teach the child that it hurts when you do that to someone else? It only takes one or two times and the child understands not to do that, because they don't like the consequences of their actions.

 

[PrincessKell]

I made a loop and used hook and latch tape and added a toy on there, I could switch it out for different ones, so she wouldnt get to bord. Worked like a charm for us.

 

[tanyaandallie]

We had hair pulling off and on. Esp. with a 9 mos old it's hard. When they are older it's easier to say, please don't b/c that hurts but with a 9 mos old they don't really get it! The best thing to do is to keep your hair put up/to the side/something so that there are not tiny pieces hanging around. Keeping telling her when she does it that it hurts and move her hands. My ds got over it pretty quickly.

 

[mhaddon]

We use carriers all the time and I agree that adding a toy loop helps, but doesn't eliminate the problem all together. At certain ages some children will tug on your hair even if they are close to you THis was my DS1 so I got him a lovey that he picks on now.

 

[baybemama]

Thanks for the tips! I've tried grabbing his hands and saying NO but he thinks it's funny and does it anyway. I've even tried the lightly tugging at his hair when he pulls it which he also thinks is funny and now he pulls his own hair as well! I think the scarf idea is brilliant, don't know why I hadn't thought of it! When I wore him in the ring sling I would wear my hair in braids which didn't hurt as much but in the back he as access to all those tiny little baby hairs so maybe a scarf will protect them!

 

[bumbershoot]

Something that my mother always swore by was teaching the child that pulling hair hurts. The only way to do that was if we pulled her hair, she would pull ours a little bit. If we stopped pulling then she would stop. If we pulled harder, then she would pull harder. It worked with us and I have seen it work with other children as well. Some might think it is cruel, but how else do you teach the child that it hurts when you do that to someone else? It only takes one or two times and the child understands not to do that, because they don't like the consequences of their actions.

That kind of thing doesn't work for all kids. With my guy, he quickly learned that hurting others was now allowed in our house. The day I bit him when he was biting me repeatedly, I watched the learning process in his mind, that biting was *allowed* since I had done it. Took quite a bit of time to get that learning out of his head.

So your mom is lucky it worked for her, but it doesn't work for all kids.



OP, glad you like the scarf idea a PP gave you!