15 Month Old Who Thinks Its Funny to Hit....

This may not sound like great advice, but my daughter did this and I tried everything to get her to stop, and nothing worked until I ignored her when she did it. After I ignored her when she did it, she stopped within 2 days or so. Hope this helps!

My son was doing the same thing, we had to get very serious about Time Outs. He gets an automatic Time Out for hitting. 2 minutes in the crib, or if we're in public, we have to turn a chair towards a wall, and I'll sit him in my lap and lock my arms on him for 2 minutes. At first he likes being held, but he doesn't like being LOCKED in my lap. He sees a developmental pediatrician, who recommended the book 1,2,3 Magic to us, Quite Good. It's a good book, and we haven't even finished the whole thing! He has backed down from hitting significantly, and when he does I don't often have to go to three, but there are other behaviors we still have to Time Out.

Whatever you choose to do, be consistent every time! When he hits, you need to do the same thing every time until he gets it. This may take a zillion times to do, but the minute you acknowledge it as a 'funny thing' or 'ignore it', then the reinforcment is that "hitting is okay".

It's a phase, just keep saying NO and tell him it's not nice to hit and eventually he'll catch on.

It's normal. They do it to see what kind of response they will get. So, very calmly and firmly hold his hand and tell him "we don't hit"; "it hurts when you hit me".....

My 22 month old still does this every now and then, but she's getting the concept of time outs, and I've recently started using 1-2-3 Magic, and usually when she slaps and I say "that's one", she will start petting my arm, and we very seldom get to "two".

Hang in there. Be consistent above all else!!!! It'll pass.

Thanks for asking this question! You are not alone. We are going through the same thing with our 14 month old daugther.

I had almost the same post when my daughter was around 15-18 months!! However, she would hit strangers, my friends, etc! It was really bad for about 2 weeks. We did lots of timeouts, and I left a story time once (which she was NOT happy about). Once she hauled off and hit me in the face while I was changing her diaper. I told her no and she did it again. So, I gently "hit" her face. She hit me harder. So, I tapped her a little harder (still not enough to hurt... but enough to get my point across), and I think it really hurt her feelings. She hasn't hit out of spite or frustration again... yea!!!! Good luck... be consistent and this will pass!

THANK YOU for posting this because I was just about to. My 17 month old son is doing the same thing but just to me and his sisters. I've tried the stern NO voice, the gentle voice, the hurt voice, the normal voice, etc. And nothing phases him. He just thinks it's funny so I just do the best I can to curtail it and hope it ends soon. On top of the hitting, his sister, also 17 months, loves to bite. She's nailed me, her sister and her brother. Again, we've tried everything to curtail it and so far nothing works. Oh and did I mention the other sister likes to push and pull everyone? We're definitely hitting the "terrible" stages early and times three! Good luck to you!

My son just went through this a couple of months ago, he would get "slap happy" (literally) right before bedtime and hit me and my husband. We kept telling him no when it would happen and repeating that we do not hit. If he got really wild we would have to hold his arms by his sides for a few seconds and repeat again that we do not hit. After a week or two he stopped. We tried saying "ow" and that it hurt when he did it, but then he would hit himself in the head and say ow...we gave up on that tatic. Although every once in awhile he does randomly walk up to us, hit himself and say ow before laughing hysterically at himself. Good luck!

My 15 month old daughter does the same thing. When she does I will tell her "oh no, lets use our nice hands. Be nice" at the same time I am saying it I am taking her hand and nicely rubbing my arm or face or where ever she hit. Then she will rub by herself and say "nice" "nice".

My son used to pinch and it really hurt. One day we were sitting at the dinner table and he reached over and pinched me -- for what felt like the millionth time I told him, "no, that hurts mommy, we don't pinch." I pulled up his sleeve and said, "you pinch your arm and see what it feels like" -- surprisingly, he did and with as much force as he did to me.

After he pinched himself, he reached over to pet my arm so gently as if to say he was sorry. He hasn't pinched since. It was the strangest thing and I never expected him to pinch himself so willingly. There was no yelling, I didn't react to his pinch with a yelp - it was more matter of fact than anything.

You got good advice already...just wanted to add WELCOME TO THE TERRIBLE TWOS! This is it...not the 2 year old age! They ALL go through something that appears aggressive like this, but really they are just being physical and learning cause and effect, so like the others say, just be consistent with correction to teach what is and what is not okay. 15-22 months was VERY hard with my second who had a strong personality, but somewhere around 22 months he became a very nice boy almost overnight who likes to share, play nice and be considerate!! :)

I do as I did with my dd. I tell my ds "hands are for holding, hugging, or clapping. Let's be gentle." And then show him what gentle is. I also make sure he has plenty of opportunities to hit things for fun, he has a drum he loves to bang on. If he is hitting out of frustration I show him how to hit a pillow or the couch to help get his aggression out. It worked for dd and seems to be working for ds.

I just remembered another thing I do when he hits for fun while on my lap, I redirect him to do a "high five" and we do it over and over til he is bored of it.

My kids don't listen as well. I try and be consistent and tell them "No hitting. Nice" and then show the petting movement. This age is so hard ;) Hang in there.

Oh this is a fun age, isn't it?? I have a 14 month old who is doing the same thing. He things its fun to hit me and his big brother!

We do the same thing as Toni. When he does hit, we say "oh no! you have to be niiiiiice" while taking his hand to show nice touching. But yes, it might take a gazillion times, but slowly but surely we will get there.

Its also developmentally on track for them to be doing this at this age. Make sure your reaction doesn't make it any more "fun." My older son, also does this with his baby brother (mostly because he is often the victim!), but I think its good for all members of the family to show how to be nice. We also do it when he is not hitting, just as a friendly reminder.

This too shall pass. Best of luck while you are dealing with it.
B.