jenmcadams
12-15-2003, 06:32 PM
Well...that may be overstating it, but my previously sweet and kind almost 16-month old child has turned into a hitting machine. To make it all the more charming, most hits are accompanied with a loud "Mine." Now we're not sure where she got this -- I'm her primary caregiver and beyond a small group of other great moms and their kids who are all about the same age, she's not around other kids (or older kids) when I'm not supervising. We do Gymboree and a music class, but both are small groups and I've never seen any of the other toddlers hitting her. Also, she only has avergae verbal skills (15-20 words) and I have no idea where she learned mine :)
Anyways, regardless of where she learned this, I'm not sure what to do about it. I generally gently grab her hand and push it down and say something like "We don't hit...that hurts" and if that doesn't work I'll get up and move to a different part of the room and say something similar (hoping she won't like that I've stopped playing with her and that she'll get the hint). So far neither one of these strategies has worked and I'm not sure what to do (it's particularly frustrating when she thinks my grabbing her hand and talking to her is funny and starts to giggle).
This onset of hitting combined with the full-on screaming, flailing tantrums has made me hope (and pray) that we're just getting some piece of the terrible twos early. Any advice from parents who have been through this? I'll also post this over on the Toddler Board, but thought I'd try here too.
Thanks in advance for your help!
Anyways, regardless of where she learned this, I'm not sure what to do about it. I generally gently grab her hand and push it down and say something like "We don't hit...that hurts" and if that doesn't work I'll get up and move to a different part of the room and say something similar (hoping she won't like that I've stopped playing with her and that she'll get the hint). So far neither one of these strategies has worked and I'm not sure what to do (it's particularly frustrating when she thinks my grabbing her hand and talking to her is funny and starts to giggle).
This onset of hitting combined with the full-on screaming, flailing tantrums has made me hope (and pray) that we're just getting some piece of the terrible twos early. Any advice from parents who have been through this? I'll also post this over on the Toddler Board, but thought I'd try here too.
Thanks in advance for your help!