Bad Habits

Picasso has been showing some signs of Trichotillomania.  We first noticed him twisting and pulling at his hair a month or so ago.  We'd ask him to stop, but didn't think much of it.  Then I cut his hair.  He had a visible spot of thinning hair.  We were shocked, as was he.  Turned out he had been pulling his hair out.  He said his head was itching and so he would pull at it, which made it feel better, so he started pulling it out.  Finding out your child is pulling out his hair is a bit distressing!  It was late so we sent him to bed and I started researching hair pulling.  I was able to find some really good information on this website. 

I made sure to tell Picasso that there was nothing wrong with him, he just has a bad habit and everyone has bad habits.  My bad habit is chewing my fingernails.  I have a really hard time keeping my fingers out of my mouth!  Picasso and I decided that we were going to work on our bad habits together.  He would work on not pulling his hair and I would work on not chewing my nails.  For the first couple days Picasso was still rubbing at his head a lot.  We'd decided if it was itching badly that he could rub, but not pull.  Next step was getting some anti-itch shampoo.  We decided to start with Head and Shoulders (T-Gel is our backup should we need it).  So far the H&S shampoo is helping the itchiness a lot.  He says it still itches some, but near as much.  We'll continue using it and see how it goes.

We also got Picasso these pencil toppers.  The soft rubber of it is nice and stretchy.  Picasso has one of these that he can keep on his pencil or in his desk at school.  When the urge gets strong to pull at school he pulls on his topper instead and that has helped a lot.  For at home we got Picasso a Monstaz from Ty.  He LOVES his monster.  When he is home he keeps him with him and can play with it's hair instead of his own.  He's also taken to wearing hats more often and has asked that I keep his hair short.  

Picasso has had a couple moments of fingering his hair, but has not pulled it at all in a week!  SO PROUD OF HIM!!!! 

I on the other hand have not been doing so well.  :(  I've chewed on my nails twice in the same week.  I've been chewing my nails since I was a kid, so it is very ingrained.  I told Picasso today that he is my hero when it comes to breaking habits.  He is being so amazing with it.  He checks in with me every night to see how I am doing and to let me know how he did.  Today when I told him I had chewed my pinkie nail he just gave me a HUGE hug and told me that it was okay, everyone makes mistakes.  That's for sure!  He is a wise boy. 

For now we will continue to take it one day at a time.  We'll both keep working together to break our bad habits.  It really is easier doing it together.