Pulling out hair at night

[LOATer]

My 6 year old ADHD daughter has been pulling out head hair at night for past 3 weeks. I was hoping it was a phase and would stop. There are golfball sized balls of hair every morning in her bed. She is going bald and I want to cry. She said she wants to stop but can’t. I tried giving her more sensory things to sleep with like her dolls with hair, more pillows to sleep with etc. She does have issues falling asleep and takes a long time, no matter if I give her focalin booster at night or not. Trying to help solve this and maybe it will solve the hair issue. I put in a call to some places this weekend but not sure who will call me back to say they can help with this. Her psychiatrist recommended a place but I left a message a week ago and no response. Tone is of the essence. Has anyone experienced this issue with their child? Advice please!

[Birdwatcher19]

Hi. I’m sorry you’re going through this. I don’t have personal experience with it, but I have worked with some children with trichotillomania. Some things that have helped have been using items to keep hands busy (e.g., putty, modeling wax) and keeping the head covered. Sounds like you have already tried the former, but maybe she could try wearing a sleep cap if it’s comfortable for her (they make silky ones) to serve as a reminder when she reaches for her hair. Also, you could try having her listen to some progressive relaxation exercises at night when she’s lying in bed, which may help her to fall asleep more easily. You may want to check out the TLC Foundation for more resources at bfrb.org/?fbclid=IwAR0B2F5R...

Also, Natasha Daniels is a child therapist who specializes in OCD, and has some YouTube videos on trich that may be helpful. Here’s one: youtu.be/GKdwwSNrycs(Not working as expected?)

Good luck, I hope you’re able to find someone who can help soon. Maybe reach out again to your psychiatrist to see if they can refer you to someone else since the first place didn’t get back to you?

[Onthemove1971]

Have you tried meletonin 30 min before bed.. I would think getting into bed tired and going right to sleep might help, idle time for our kids is so hard. Meletonin is an Over The Counter medication and many children with ADHD need it to help with sleep. Their mind keeps racing and this could be what is happening.

Good luck

[mommalamma]

Hi. My 8yo son, also on Focalin, pulls on his hair constantly. It started when we increased his morning dosage to 20mg. Every time we have an increase, it gets worse. Falling asleep at night is a big issue in our house. We use melatonin at night with intermittent success. We have brought up both issues with his Neuro and the school psychologist. No one has any answers.

[LOATer in reply to mommalamma]

Thanks all. I want to try to avoid melatonin and instead focus on ways for her to relax and go to sleep herself. Concerned about dependency and increase in nightmares.

We don’t think focalin causes this hair pulling do we? Is it just a result of having ADHD and not the drug itself?

[Birdwatcher19 in reply to LOATer]

Trichotillomania (hair pulling) is a separate issue from ADHD; it is considered an impulse control disorder, under the umbrella of OCD. There isn’t a lot of research on the connection, but certainly there is some overlap. However, it does appear that stimulants MAY contribute to the behavior, so it’s definitely worth researching that and discussing it with your psychiatrist.

[Onthemove1971 in reply to LOATer]

There are many strategies that could help: weighted blanket, ear plus, no electronics 2 hours before bed, white noise machine, fan... The list could go on and on.. but you could do more research on getting to sleep and staying asleep. Many children with ADHD there brain is constantly going and this making sleeping a challenge.

[Hidden in reply to LOATer]

Melatonin is a natural substance the body is suppossed to produce anyway. There is no need to avoid it, since that would be t like saying we want to avoid giving our child a multi-vitamin.

For those who do use it I strongly recommend the extended release form and that one take it for 3 months before deciding if it works for them.

(While that may help your daughter sleep, it will do nothing for the trichotillomania of course.)

[MNmom99]

From one parent to another, I'm so sorry to hear that you and your daughter are going through this, I can only imagine how hard this is for you both and my heart goes out to you both. Although my 5 year son has ADHD as well we haven't had this issue arise nor taking this medication, however he has always had a VERY hard time falling asleep on his own until we started him with melatonin, I was against it at first but he is taking the Olly kids sleep gummies and they are very gentle and work great for him, I hope if you reconsider the melatonin you will try these, I think they are very much needed for my restless son and he sleeps better because of them. I hope you and your daughter find a helpful solution, hang in there.

[Ma_ma_mommy]

You might want to see if your daughter has OCD as well. The two diagnoses often go hand in hand and is often the cause for ADHD behavior. My son also had ticks in the beginning and once pulled out all of his eyelashes. This is a nervous uncontrollable reaction to being overstimulated. We started him on Prozac at 10 years old and it has helped. Good luck.

[Hidden]

My son tugged his hair for a long time - we were able to get him to stop by having him wear a beanie, and keeping it pretty short. He still engages in similar behaviors though. He really likes the sensation of coming his hair, so we have a wide-tooth comb on his bedside table that he uses at night when he's relaxing. Maybe one of those beanies with the yarn braids dangling off that she can play with? They also make like 'head scratchers' which actually feel pretty nice on your scalp.

But he also goes through phases of pulling out his eye lashes, biting nails, and picking cuticles, etc.

So even if you actually stop the hair pulling out with a beanie or even a shaved head, it's the condition that's the real problem. I would keep pushing your pediatrician or other available experts for answers.

For the nail biting, we use Malava Stop (I think that's the name, it's on Amazon) which is absolutely FOUL if it gets in your mouth. And just gentle redirecting - covid has helped in that we're all working hard to keep our hands away from our faces.