... and it REALLY hurts. What do I do? He's only 11 months old. Does he understand?
He doesn't understand that it hurts, but it's totally fine (and good) to grab his hands and say "no" and redirect him. It won't work to discipline him at this age. He doesn't understand, but he can be distracted and always receive a "no" when he does it. I think I saw someone mention pull your hair back. That is a great suggestion! I've done that often with my son.
I totally agree with teresa C.
Stop the behavior, then say no, then redirect, redirect, redirect. All should happen in a matter of seconds.
It WORKS! :) This is how you develop respect and obedience in a child. If you don't do it now, you will pay dearly when they are 10 through the teens and possibly into adulthood.
The first three years are the developmental stages for a child, everything is so, so crucial at this time.
i agree with every1 here i have a son who is nearly 1 and he does exactly the same, he bites me and other people he also bites himself sumtyms but he makes sure it doesnt hurt when he bites himself.
he also pulls hair and hits, all i do is tell him no and then i occupy him with sumthing else. hes also gt a very bad temper he tenses his whole body including his fists so i just try to calm him down but that doesnt always work do any of you have any suggestions for that as hes doin it more and more each day im a first time mother and i am coping very well but i just need a bit of advice off more experienced parents. thanks
At that age, the only thing you can do is take his hands when he hits or pulls hair and tell him "no hitting" or "no biting" or "no pulling". Then, try to distract him with something else. He's a bit young for timeout and won't understand what it's for, so unfortunately, you can only keep trying to distract him and let him know in a firm voice that it is not okay.
At this age, they don't understand that they are hurting. As far as pulling hair, my friend used to pull her son's hair when he pulled hers. She never did it hard enough to hurt. Then one day, he pulled her hair and knew that she was going to pull his. So he pulled his own before she could. And of course he did it hard enough to hurt. He never pulled her hair after that.
I agree with the other poster. He doesn't understand what he is doing but is starting to understand cause and effect. "I pull hair, bite or hit and Mommy says, no." He can get that.
