Our two year old son has starting hitting. Most of the time it's done out of anger - we take away a toy, we bring him in from playing outside, his sister takes away a toy. He knows it's wrong, we tell him "No hitting", but he continues to hit. Other times he'll walk up to me or my husband, hit us on the leg, then look at us for a reaction. Not hitting out of anger, more to see what we'll do. This has been going on for about 2 weeks with no sign of letting up. Any suggestions on how to put an end to the hitting? Thanks!
Just be glad he's not a biter.
He'll grow out of it, just be consistent and persistent.
I have an 18-month-old who's started hitting me. Usually he seems to be doing it playfully, but a hard slap still hurts. Since I'm almost always holding him when it happens, I immediately say "no hitting. That's owie" and set him down. He hates being put down, and plus it happens within seconds of the action. I think the reason that has worked well with him is that it's an immediate response and it's something that works for him. He wouldn't really "get" a time out yet. But the "if you're going to act like that, I'm not going to play with you" approach really carries weight. So I think if you can find something that really gets the message to your som specifically, that wil help. Good luck!
Usually 2 year olds hit, bite, and throw tantrums because they're upset or have some emotion going on they donot know how to get out and communicate to you. I would try and use alot of communication when your son is upset. If you take away a toy and he's getting upset ask him "Are you mad?, I'm sure that makes you mad when I do that" etc. They usually just need help communicating and since most two year old's don't talk the greatest that's what they do. For him it's so much easier and faster to just hit than to say something complicated.
I take care of my 2 year old niece during the day 3 days a week. I have a 3 year old daughter. The 2 year old hits all the time in the same way yours does, either anger or reaction. If she hits out of anger she gets a time out, then we talk about how we keep our hands to ourselves and we are a fmily, and in a family we love eachother and don't hurt eachother. This does seem to be working. NEVER let it go, stay on top of it, talk with love and respect. I hope this helps. Every child is different but this is working for me. Good luck.
When my 2-year-old hits I tell him in a stern voice that hitting is unacceptable and I give him 2 minutes in time-out. At 2 he's old enough to understand time-out. When his 2 minutes are up I get down to his level, look him in the eye and tell him hitting is not ok. Then I give him a hug. It works every time, and he hardly ever hits anymore. The little hitting he does do is only done out of frustration and never just to see what we'll do, because now he knows what we'll do. Whatever you do, be consistent. Do it EVERY TIME he hits. He wants to see if you'll do something, and if you don't he'll get the message that its ok to hit you. Make sure he knows its NOT ok and his behavior will not be tolerated.
