Hitting Child

Hi S.,
I once got this advice for my son when he was 18 months old. It worked for me.
When he hits you - don't react. He hits because he gets a reaction. You can simply walk away. Sometimes ignoring the behavior is effective in eliminating it. (Not all cases) My son hit me and looked at me for my response, when I gave him nothing the game became boring for him. He doesn't hit anymore and stopped that within a 2 days of implementing this.
Hope this helps!
Sincerely,
Marta

Continue with timeouts, my duaghter didnt get it until she ws over 3, but i still tried. mostly for me to cool off too. Make sure they are sorry, she is a totally different person after we get to that point. If we are out in public, i warn her if she continues to act like that OR if she does someting wrong the first time (like hitting or yelling, etc) she will be punished. There are some things that are no brainers, if you do it, there is no warning. If it means carrying her out of hte restaruant to sit on the bench outside, i have done it. Do NOT ignore bad behavior in public. Dont be embarrassed, moms understand. You only embarras yourself if you get all worked up with the kids too with yelling, hitting, etc. Just dont say anythng louder than regular talking and smoothly remove them.

My son tries to hit me but not in an evil way. More of seeing if he gets away with it or not. I sternly tell him no. "no hit mommy". It took a few times for him to realize what I was saying but now if he hits me and I say it he understands what I mean and he stops. He is 18 months and he is starting to understand what no means. I am tempted to hit him back a little hard so he feels what it feels like when he hits but I decided not to cuz i think that may only be showing him that its ok to hit. So I just say no hit mommy and I say it very seriously like it is not a joke.

I would try to teach him sign language. It has worked very well for me and the children that I keep.

My son just turned 2 in April and I have the same issue with him. We will be going for his developmental evaluation at the Phillips Family Care Center on June 15th. I have already done the preliminary appointment with my family care coordinator and was very impressed with the program. My son will also start speech therapy after the evaluation. If you ever have any questions or need to talk to somone feel free to email me. I also just started reading 1-2-3 Magic which was recommended by some of the other mothers on this site and I think it is going to be very helpful.

dont panic yet, he is only 2 and with him not talking that is what makes it hard for him. my 3 1/2 year old is only talking about 25 words and not very well at that a good bit of the time. he can also be very violent when he gets mad. i cant get mine to stay in time out. at school (he goes to endeavour elem in the vpk program) he was hitting me becasue i would not let him run into the road to get to the van and an esol teacher came over (developmentally delayed and special needs teacher)told me to hold both of his arms and keep telling him that mommy loves him and it is not nice to hit mommy or anyone else. then as he calmed down i could let go of each arm until he was down. there is more positive then negative reinforcment like that. then a big hug and all is fine. that is something you can do while you are out as well as at home. you could also call a WONDERFUL place called early steps. they help with behavoir issues, speech therapy and they are awsome. that is how nicholas was able to go to elementary school early. even my twin girls that are 2 are in the program and i could never be happier. they work with your insurance and i have yet to pay anything for their help. the therapists are just unbelievable and if anyone can handle nicholas, then they have patients. cheryl brewer-kemppanion ###-###-#### ext 209. that is the rockledge/cocoa area but they can help find someone closer to you. good luck!! B.

my daughter did the same thing at 18 mo. my nanny said that if you use a time out mat make sure you also have a "travel" mat that when my daughter would act up in public i would show her the mat and then she would stop....of course it is gonna take time i think i put my daughter in time out once in public before she knew i was not kidding and you ex is going to have to do the same thing even though you are not together you have to be on the same page...also for the communication baby einstein has a dvd that teaches children to use sign language to communicate better....IT REALLY HELPS!!! my daughter is 2 1/2 and is able to speak clearly but still uses the sigh language when she gets tired and cranky and doesnt want to use her big girl words....good luck

I do not want to startle you at all with what I am about to suggest, its just more preventitive than anything. Check online and talk to your son's doctor about the possibility of autism. I know that word is scary, but let me tell you, if, if if if, it turns out to be autism and he is this young, they can treat it. If you let it go and find out later, it could be too late. This other lady had a daughter, 2 yrs old, and thought she didnt speak much because she was shy, turned out otherwise. Like I said, its more of preventitive medicine, and if it turns out not to be, then you dont have to worry. But that is a small sign. So look into it, see if he has any other behaviors and decide for yourself. But its better to know than not know or know later.

I know this seems horrible, but I would take the "time out" mat with me, and let him know you have it and make him stand on it in the store if he starts acting up, or I would just remove him from the location. I know it is a pain to get somewhere just to have to leave, but sometimes that is what it takes. My daughter tried it once and we just walked right out of the store and she is now fine, she is almost 3. My sister in law is 6 and throws terrible tantrums when she is with her mother becuase her mother doesn't do anything about it she just lets her lay on the floor and scream, but when she is with me she doesn't becuase I will snatch her out of there so fast, and she hates it, so she is perfect for me. Just what I do, hope that helps.

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My little one started that. We put her in the pack and play for time out and put it in the living room. She does not like that. :) When we are out somewhere, I tell her I'll count to 3 and if she is still doing whatever the behavior is I will take her outside, to the car, home, in the stroller...depending on where we are. Then I do what I said I was going to do. She is 17 months. It doesn't stop at once, but with consistent limits she knows after 3 it's going to be something she does not like. Hope that helps.