Toddler hitting

Is he in daycare? Unfortunately my son picked up the hitting from another kid at daycare. I addressed it with the centers director and was told I’m not the first parent to say something and the teachers have witnessed the child it’s stemming from. Was told she was going to have a talk with the parents about the behavior but I doubt that ever happened. I have yet to find a way to correct the behavior but think he’s too young to fully understand especially when he sees other kids doing it at daycare

Something that has helped us was to tell our daughter (same age) what to do instead. So instead of “we don’t do that” or “be gentle,” we talk about how to be safe and direct her to hitting a pillow or “give us a high five as hard as you can” - basically giving her the tools to express her frustration or excitement or energy in a safe way that acknowledges her feelings & helps her move forward in a productive way. We have a family member who’s a pediatric psychologist and this has been one of the game changing pieces of advice they’ve shared with us.

What triggers hitting/hair pulling? How's his communication? Usually stuff like this is a sign of frustration cos they can't communicate what they want.

@Dana no he isn't in daycare yet we weren't sure about putting him in one @Kelly I'm definitely going to try that! I know he usually does it the most when he's excited or playing or trying to grab our attention so redirecting him to do other safer things sounds like a good idea! @Natalie usually when he's super emotional like excited or playing and stuff like that. He does it everywhere though like to the point I'm anxious about taking him out because I don't want him whacking other kids

The thing that helps me when it comes to unwanted behaviour is telling them what they can do not what they can't so instead of saying we don't hit/pull hair telling them we use kind hands, we stroke hair and then model that.

Thank you I'll definitely try that too!!