Does my daughter have Trichotillomania?

[JStolls21405]

Hi Everyone,

I just joined this group and feel like I need some advice, I'm feeling very sad for my daughter, though I'm not really sure if she has a problem or not, and don't know where to turn.

My daughter is 3, I noticed her pulling at her eyelashes about a year ago, but let it go, I figured it was a phase, that she was curious about her eyelashes and wanted to see what they were...Last night I was talking to her as she laid in bed and she started pulling her eyelashes again. It was the first time I had seen her do it in a while - though that doesn't mean she doesn't do it out of my sight. I asked her how she feels when she does it, and she says, "It feels ouchy"...I didn't want to push her further, or plant ideas in her head so I left it at that. She still has eyelashes, it's hard to tell if she's really pulling them out...I did notice that there are very short ones and very long ones.
Her father used to pull his eye lashes out. He was abusive to me, and I left him when she just under a year old. She visits him for 3 days every 2 weeks. I asked her if she sees anyone else do this and she said "No".
I'm worried that something traumatic or emotionally damaging has happened to her to cause this behavior, or that I've not given her what she needs.
I'm also afraid that I'm over reacting. In my teens I was a "cutter", so I'm worried that my self mutilating genes might be passed on - especially with her father's genes too....
Not sure if I'm making sense here...I feel quite lost as to what to do next...any help would be greatly appreciated!

[JStolls21405]

*bump*

[allthatjazz251]

Wow I don't know... I'm not sure how young of an age they can develop Trich... Mine didn't start until late middle school I think... I don't know if it's necessarily genes that carry it on... I'll try to find some site on the web that may help!

[JStolls21405]

thanks...from what I've been reading it seems that even one or two year olds can show signs of it....

[amyred75]

My daughter started right before she turned two. She's three now. It can happen this young. And most of what I've read/heard recently is that it is a gene mutation. 20/20 did a special on it the last week of March. You can probably find it online. It was very informative. Hope that little bit of information helps. BTW, we've been taking her to a child psychiatrist and a play therapist for about 9 months now. Still doing it.

[brandi_rebel]

I'm wondering the same thing about my daughter. She turned two in July..and for the past several months, if she saw a stray hair, she'd eat it. I figured this was just the result of her still being little and putting things in her mouth.  However, last week, I noticed that she was pulling a strand or two out at a time and eating it.  I'm not sure if I should take her to her doctor, or just wait and see if this is a phase and if she will quit.  I've been telling her not to eat hair, that it's "yucky," but that doesn't seem to help.  Tonight she did bring a hair to me though, and I praised her for bringing it to me and for not putting it in her mouth.  Any suggestions?  I didn't think anything of this at first, until I realized this was a condition with a name, and now I'm really worried!

Also, there haven't been any changes or stressful situations in our household...so there shouldn't be an anxiety issue there.

[nuskin0818]

if its a gene i am petrified now...i have it, and i dont want my daughter to. she is so beautiful, and i dont want her to struggle the same way i have. its a very difficult thing to deal with.