Toddler hitting me! How to stop?

Question

I hate to pop a baby butt for hitting. Seems a weird message. Laughs at "naughty chair" or time-outs.

Answer 1

You have to be smart and wise to solve problems like that and you don;t need to hit any child to do hit or spank and child or yell to the child. You use kind hearted love my friend and it will work. Children that are less than five years old have yet to develop their personality. You got five years to dump all the love and respect and heart warming emotion into that child before she or he reaches five years of age...after that your cooked. The result and behavior of that child after that is a direct hit to the parents that raised that child and to be very honest very few people can love a child like they should as parents because we have too many child bearing Mothers and too many impoverished Mothers and what in the hell can they teach a young baby much less a child anything of value when their values are less than normal so, with all said, learn and learn fast that your responsibility to your child is 100% of your undivided attention if you can;t do that, get your castrated or your wife to get her tubes tied. You don't have any business trying to raise a child. I did pretty darn good for mine and he is in College now...that's my BOY!!

Answer 2

Wow. Don't hit him back; I know it can be tempting, but that isnt discipline, that is showing that hitting is okay if you are angry, and defeats the whole purpose.

Tell him firmly "Dont hit",and firmly hold his hand away, then decide if you will walk away or sit him in a naughty chair. My little one is 3 now, and went thru this too, and laghed at naughty chair. Its not so funny when you stand right near the child and put them back in everytime they get up, until they stop yelling etc. and say ' Im sorry for hitting you Mommy', then a hug and 'I love you's', and be sure to have a very short simple chat about why you dont hit, so that the child will listen and understand.

Consistency is key, always do it the same so the child will know exactly what the consequesnces are.

It will work, even on the most strong willed child, just keep at it.

Answer 3

First of all I would say, some of the answers are a little crazy, (like spraying them with water,isn't that child abuse or something?)and of course the hitting back technique which of course is irrational cause you're sending the wrong message, if you're saying hitting's wrong the he's gonna start thinking you're retarded for doing it.The best thing to do is to be firm, I kinda get the idea from your question that it's happened several times, it shouldn't have happened more than once, and laughs at time outs?,that wouldn't happen if you told him to sit there still if he gets out then 2 more minutes and so on, I don't know about losing privileges cause the best way to stop something is to do something about it right when it happens, then he'll know what he's being punished for....

Answer 4

My little ones hit eachother and bite eachother and I hate it. They are 2 1/2 and 4 years old. I tell them that hitting/biteing hurts people and it is not good behavior and I WILL NOT allow it. I stay firm but I try not to yell. I make them stand in the corner. If they leave, I put them back. One time, I had to keep doing it for about 30-45 minutes until they finally got the message that mommy wasn't playing. I'm the mommy and they will listen. If he laughs at you for putting him in the naughty chair or for time outs, that is ok as long as you make him stay there. And ALWAYS make sure that he apologizes to you for hitting you. Good Luck!

Answer 5

Say this to the toddler... " Oh, you want to play the hitting game, sounds like fun!" Then when the kid hits you, hit them back a little harder. They will hit you again, you hit back a little bit harder. Never hitting too hard, but laugh each time you do it. They eventually will get the message that hitting ISNT FUN. I did this with my son when he was 4 and went through a hitting phase, we played the game like 4 times and he had enough.
Good Luck!

Answer 6

My son doesn't hit me very often, but when he does, I tell him that mommy doesn't like being hit and show him how to be gentle. He is a gently little guy anyway, so I haven't had much trouble with that. I don't think hitting is a way to teach anything, especially to teach a child not to hit. If you're interested, a good book is called "The Discipline Book" and is by William and Martha Sears.

Answer 7

Do you think he understands the concept of time-out - that it's a punishment or what he's being punished for? I've read that time-out doesn't work until 2 1/2 years old. That is about when it began to work for my older daughter. My younger daughter is 19 months and I know she wouldn't get it. Right now I just look her in the eye and tell her no sternly. If more is needed you could put him in his crib or a playpen or something. Things I've read tell you to use redirection, but my daughter doesn't forget and isn't easily distracted!

Answer 8

TIME OUT AND NAUGHTY CHAIRS ARE FOR THE BIRDS , WHEN HE HITS YOU YOU HIT HIM BACK .IT'S WHAT THEY DID IN THE OLD DAYS AND THEY SHOULD DO IT AGAIN . YOU HAVE TO SHOW THE CHILD WHO THE ADULT IS . I RAISED 3 OF MY OWN AND NOT ONCE DID THEY EVER HIT ME OR TRY TO HIT ME AFTER THEY GOT WHACKED ON THE BUTT . THEY ARE NOW 32 34 AND 36 WITH CHILDREN OF THEIR OWN AND THEY PRACTICE THE SAME DISCIPLINE AS I DID . BEST BEHAVED KIDS YOU WILL EVER SE IN THIS DAY AND AGE .

Answer 9

I just went through this. With my son I made a big deal out of him hitting me. I would pretend to cry and rub the area where he hit me. He stopped laughing and started to realize that hitting hurts. After a time .. time out became go to your room. I never locked him but reminded him that when he was ready to come out he could. Try that. Hope it works.

Answer 10

My kids are grown and I never hit them, but then again they never hit me.

I would explain to your child in language he can understand that when he hits someone, he should expect to get hit back. I would illustrate with a not so gentle spank to the rear.

The weird message would be your child growing up thinking it's okay to hit his mother or thinking he can hit someone and they won't hit back.

You have to decide which message you want to enforce.