13 Month Old - Pulls Hair & Hits

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This is totally normal behavior for a child of either gender at this age, and--PLEASE don't take this the wrong way--but pull his hair back. NOT hard, just enough for him to feel it. He doesn't comprehend what you mean when you say "it hurts". The same thing works for when he starts biting--bite him back.

I think you might want to try showing your sadness rather than anger when he does things he isn't supposed to. Show him that it makes you sad and not angry. Tell him that it hurts etc.

Boys are very physical in comparison to girls. Yes, there is a difference from birth. It isn't too early to put him in time out for a minute (since he is only a year old). I did it with all 4 of my kids and it works! They know that being in the corner is NOT where they want to be.

Fear not - you are not alone.....and it doesn't stop in a hurry. My now 18month old is still doing this, but only to his older brother (5 3/4) and myself. He has a VERY firm grip and it really does hurt!! Obviously when it hurts my 5 year old screams and yelps....which the little guy thinks is extra funny, and gives another tug. I have to literally prise his hands open to get our hair free. He doesn't do it all the time....just when I guess he thinks he needs a "kick" out of our reactions. Try to temper your reactions (as best you can) and reinforce it is not nice to do this. Divert his attention too to something else if possible so he will forget about his TARGETS! Hopefully he will tire of it soon, and get the idea that it is not a good idea to pull someones hair - but beware he'll move on to the next "stage and phase". I guess it's partly their personality, my older boy never did half of what the younger gets up to!

Use what ever words he says when he hurts himself.... when my daughter would pull my hair or hit me I would say ouch and give her a very sad face. I would say you hurt Mommy and now I am sad. Then she would want to kiss me to make it better... but she also understood that it hurt.... that was really the key, choosing the right words that she understood. That wasn't nice did not mean anything - Ouch or Ow that hurt and Mommy needs a band-aid did...

Good luck!

I am dealing with the same thing except my son is hitting our dogs and I fear what their reaction could be. I started formulating a plan yesterday. I know my son is still learning words. He hasn't learned what "hurt" means. I would rather nor resort to having to hit him so I thought as he falls (which he does often enough) that I could incorporate using it there. Then when he hits me or the dogs I can explain we don't hit because it hurts. If that fails then I will try hitting him back just enough to show him it hurts and verbally explaining that hitting hurts. I hope to not have to go to plan b. HTH and good luck.

He has no idea that other people have feelings and can feel pain. this will take a long time to teach! Always react with a very sad face and dramatic OW if he gives a slight pull or hard one. give your daughter some cute caps!