18 month old hitting

[mrs_williams]

Xavier has been hitting quite a bit lately and I am not sure how to deal with it. I have been telling him that hands are not for hitting, that we use gentle hands and if he hits me while i am holding him then I just put him down but he just keeps on hitting..I have never had a hitter before I don't know how to deal with it,i get that it is all about attention but still....

[Indigo74]

My DD is starting to hit sometimes. DS wasn't really like that, but with DD, she's had an older brother to learn from I do the same thing as you.....I just hold her hand and firmly say “no, no hitting“ and then redirect her.

[lhastie]

I've heard some have luck with substituting something they can hit, so redirecting to a pillow or couch cushion or something they can continue to hit to get that need out of their system... might be worth a try?

[babyboy1]

we just keep being consistent with DS and would say no hitting and show him what we would like him to be doing and praise him for that. He now for the most part doesn't hit his sister he rubs her head instead.

[EricaMcB]

we also use “gentle hands“ but if it can be ignored then I do this as well, I find that if I call attention to it she will just do it again. When I tell her gentle hands I show her what this means, hopefully this stage passes soon!!!
We've moved onto the rubbing and gently patting most times as well...
Now the throwing of toys is a different story...

[KlingonMum]

have you tried starting time out.. i do it.. my daughter is 18 months old and its a minute per age.. so she sits in time out for 1 1/2 minutes. She is very good after time out and stops the hitting for a while! try it!