Sunday, February 21, 2010

Getting hit on a lot lately

Ha! I know what you are thinking but you are sooooo wrong.

Jamie has started hitting. A. LOT.

Help! My girls weren't hitters. I could use some advice. How do you convey to a 15-month-0ld that it is NOT OK to hit? We just keep telling him "No hit" We try saying "Please don't hit because that hurts me". We make sad faces. He laughs. We take away whatever he's using as his weapon of choice. He throws a fit. We put him down if we are holding him at the time or sit him down if he's standing. We keep at it but so does he. It's very frustrating.

HALP! How do we teach him it's not nice to hit girls...or boys...or animals...or inanimate objects?

I'm getting black and blue here...


7 comments:

thenextmartha said...

I've had two boys, two hitters. One of them a head butter and broke my tooth. I would take their hand that they hit with in mine and and then put it to their side and say "We don't hit" or "no hitting" about a hundred times a day. Eventually they both stopped. Probably due to the fact that they were done with a phase and not due to my reprimanding.

Corinne Cunningham said...

Both of my kids went through the hitting phase - and it's just that most of the time, a phase. Thankfully!!! Just keep doing what you're doing, be consistent, and hopefully this too shall pass :)

Unknown said...

I have no clue. Perhaps you should try a straight jacket? Kidding. I don't think we're allowed to put children in straight jackets, but if we could...

Anya V said...

Oye. Haidie was a hitter too! She grew out of it. It only took a month or two. We did the same things you are doing. Just keep putting his hand down and telling him no. He'll give it up. "Only a couple months" feels a lot worse when it's in progress but it really will go away!

Irrational Dad said...

My wife and I took different approaches. She did essentially what you did. I, on the other hand, barked loudly at him "HEY!" to get his undivided attention. Then, I told him we don't hit, and why we don't hit. It mostly worked.

What really worked for us was teaching him "nice". We explained that hitting was mean. Then we took his hand and had him pet us or the dog and told him that we should be nice to each other. He hit the dog (not in a mean way) a couple times and we'd say "Tyler, are we mean to each other?"

He'd tell the dog he was sorry then say "Nice" while petting her.

Good luck.

Sunshine Mama said...

Ok, I have the answer you've been looking for. Pull out the play yard, and when he hits you...drop everything you're doing and plop him in the play yard...in a separate room, close the door, and say "we dont' hit". Then leave him in there for one minute...more if you feel so inclined...Then, pull him out and explain that if he does it again he will be disciplined the same way. This also works well, for throwing toys, throwing tantrums, biting, head butting....

Hey, I like your new picture!! At first I thought it was a new person commenting on my blog. Thanks for the congrats. I love you guys!!

Katy G said...

mom i know what you mean speaking as a victim