Does anyone have any suggestions for stopping a 15 month old from hitting? She does it out of frustration and doesn't hurt anyone. She more or less swats at us. I have been trying to teach her a replacement behavior and we also sit her in a time-out. She goes to an in-home sitter during the day. I would like to know of any techniques that have worked for others that we can use and I can pass on to the sitter.
There is an excellent book called Easy to Love, Difficult to Discipline. Barnes & Noble has it. Best book/class we ever invested in. When she hits, sit down at her level right then. Take her hand and have her touch you softly on the arm. Say "we touch soft." If you tell her to stop hitting, she will only hear the word hitting. We used this method and it worked like a charm. The book is fabulous.
Hi. My daughter went through the same exact thing. People told me they hit because they can not verbally communicate. I used time out and it really worked well. It probably took a good month. I did not tolerate any hiting, not even a tap on my arm. I could tell the difference between a tap and that she just needed my attention. She would just test me sometimes and get mad and hit on my hand or in my face and other kids on the head with a toy. It was so embarrasing, especially when no one else's child was doing it. Any..time out worked best for me.
Hello, I have a daughter who just turned two. She has been doing the same thing for a couple months. She also goes to an in home sitter and the lady assures me that my daughter does not do any of that at her house. I guess she saves it for me and my husband. My daycare lady told me that she is testing us and her advice was to grab her hand and firmly tell her no hitting and then try time out. My daughter does not seem to respond to this, because it is still going on two months later. If you find any good advice, please let me know.
Hi J.,
We are going through the same thing with our daughter. We are using a couple of techniques...one is like the first lady responded. We tell her what to do instead of just what not to do. So we do tell her to hug, use her words/signs, or touch soft, etc. but I also have incorporated time out. She has also started throwing toys and kicking, so I am redirecting her to throw/kick her ball. Trying to teach her when it is appropriate to do the things she is doing. As young toddlers we forget sometimes that they do not know by nature how to act so we have to teach them. Hopefully both our angels will move through this stage quickly for our sake :-)
K.
The only thing I can suggest is to always firmly say, "Don't hit ________." Fill in the blank with whomever she hit at that moment. My son has actually responded to this. I also hold his hand so that he understands that is how he is doing the hitting.
My daughter went through this about the same age. I tried the whole time-out and it just was not working. I finally just started completely ignoring her-not even looking at her when she hit me and she finally stopped.
good luck
My son is 16 mths old and does the same. The only thing that has helped to keep him from hitting is really watching his mood and noticing when he is tired, hungry or getting frustrated. If I am able to anticipate his needs then his behavior is curbed. He has been hitting for about 3 months and over the last month it has declined dramatically. I think it just takes time, patience and consistent discipline.
I have to say though, it is nice to know that there are other moms out there that are experiencing the same behavior.
Hang in there...it will get better.
J.
