Ask:
The little boy I keep is only 14 months old, but he is quite the handful right now. He doesn't hit ME, but he is hitting his parents constantly anytime he doesn't get his way. They are at their wit's end, and they asked me what to do. I honestly am not sure, since he doesn't do it to me.
Answer:
Each time, I would get down to his level, hold his hand...look him in the eye and firmly say NO! Then explain that each time he hits, he will lose a favorite toy.
Answer:
At 14 months, he doesn't even comprehend what a toy is!!! That is our problem...we can't explain the "rules" to him!!! He is so little to be doing this. He does know what "no" means, but he doesn't seem to care in this instance, either.
Answer:
If he's holding something (a toy) and you take it away, it would upset him. He will get to the point where he puts together the idea that when he hits...he gets something taken away. Well...it always worked for me anyway!
Answer:
My daughter has started hitting and she is 15 months old. I bend down and have her look at me and say no hitting, we need to be gentle. Then I have her give a hug to the baby she hit. My child is jealous of the babies I keep. One of them is sooooo demanding, he is constantly fussy. The mother has been blaming it on teething since 3 months. I hate to tell ya sister, it's not teething. But anyway I would keep reinforcing to be gentle eventually he'll get the hang of it.
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I take their hands and state in a stern mommy voice we dont hit, yes it may take along time but eventually he will get it.
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When my ds did this we would get down on his level, hold his hand and tell him we do not hit. Then we would sit him in his crib/the PNP/the floor whatever was handy and walk away/ignore him for 30 seconds or so. Kind of a time-out. But if you can't do it immediately at that age they won't make the connection. It only took 4-5 times for our ds to stop hitting.
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Mine don't hit but for discipline, I say, 'No' and then remove them from the situation if necessary.
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My oldest was a hitter/hair puller at about 12 months, which is early for that behavior, but she did it. I was told by a consultant (who came to the childcare center I worked at at the time) that it's a way of communicating something. At that age they aren't able to completely verbalize their thoughts, so they'll do whatever gets their point across.
I used to get down to her level, and say, "Gentle hands" to her, while putting my hand on hers and stroking whatever it is she hit, gently. Or if I thought she was trying to say hi to a friend, I'd say, something like, "Are you trying to say hi? Let's say hi to ___. Or Let's wave to ___" If she full-out whallopped another child, I would FIRST go to the other child and ask if they're ok, then do the gentle hands thing.
Prevention is the key, though, even though it's towards his parents (I have a girl I watch who is 20 months and does the same thing to her parents, but not to me!) if they can try to figure out what he is trying to say, and kinda prepare him for the situation before hand, it might just work. HTH
Answer:
i tell my ds no, and if he does it again time out. he learned real quick that when he hit either one of us he got to sit in the corner for a bit. he didn't like it so he stopped hitting. now he only moves to do it when he is really mad or frustrated but he usually catches himself before he actually hits. he is 3 now, and started to hit at about 14 months old. the key is consisntency.