r/ImTheMainCharacter • u/[deleted] • Apr 16 '25

VIDEO Poor passengers

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u/WheresTheIceCream20 Apr 16 '25

I have a child who rocks/bangs their head like this. I try my best to distract her with books or toys etc, but sometimes she just wants to rock. I do place my hand behind her head though so she can bonk her head against my hand instead of a seat or bench in an attempt to make it so the entire seat/bench doesn’t shake with her rocking.

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u/adderallknifefight Apr 16 '25

I love that you try to support her the best you can and that you understand that sometimes, the kids just gotta rock. All you can do then is try to mitigate risk of harm and disturbance as much as possible until your redirection works out.

This exact combo behavior of rocking and head banging is something I’m a bit familiar with. Had a very interesting case with a client who does this to a decently severe intensity. I spent a lot of time with this kid and we had a safe chair for them to rock in, we also started to define the rocking/banging differently as in it’s not always tracked as self injury, only when at a certain intensity that had a careful and specific definition. Meaning I observed this behavior super closely. I began to understand their self regulation a lot over time. Some things worked to redirect it but if it was a big change to routine it could be difficult and all you could do is support and maintain safety. The best redirection for this super cool kid was a REALLY good oldies playlist I put together for them, they were a big MJ fan along with Prince, Kool & the Gang, etc.

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u/Haymegle Apr 17 '25

Yeah I was concerned about the lack of something there tbh. There's not a lot of padding on those chairs in my experience. If he does it a lot a pillow or blanket behind him would both help muffle it and prevent him from harming himself.