So does your baby "smack" you?

RobynandJason050706

DS loves to do this and we tell him "not nice be gentle" we show him.  But obviously he doesnt grasp its not nice to hit.  any clue how long this lovely phase lasts for?  He was just 11m yesterday.  TIA

Mistress_Seraph

My DS is just starting to come out of this phase (thank God!) and he's 19 months.  I was really worried for a while.  He would come up and hit my PG belly. And I really didn't know what to do if he didn't outgrow it before his sister arrives.  But now he comes up and rubs my belly instead! It's so cute!

~Blondie22~

My son is going through this phase right now as well. He not only will smack me he will pinch my face so hard he breaks the skin! I usually will calmly just tell him, "no, be gentle with mommy" but he will smack me again as soon as I pull his hand away.

I would love to know what other mom's have done to get through this stage! 

 

Toni1019

Everytime I pick him up, along with being pinched and bit. I dont remember my oldest doing this.

Mistress_Seraph

~Blondie22~:

My son is going through this phase right now as well. He not only will smack me he will pinch my face so hard he breaks the skin! I usually will calmly just tell him, "no, be gentle with mommy" but he will smack me again as soon as I pull his hand away.

I would love to know what other mom's have done to get through this stage! 

 

I'm not sure our way was the best way.  It seemed a bit like fighting fire with fire.  It has been working though, but it took a while.  When DS would smack one of us, (or bite, or pinch, or pull hair) we would sternly tell him "no!" and tap his hand.  Then tell him he needs to be nice.  The "no!" and tapping his hand would surprise him and he would kind of pout for a little bit, never more than a couple minutes. And then when we would ask him if he was going to be nice, he would smile and give us a hug, then go about playing.

Not sure if this helps at all.  But GL.

Cyrbia

DS did this for about a week when he was around 10 months old. I put up with it by talking to him calmly and saying "that hurts, no" but it didn't work. It really did hurt though. So after about the 5th time I would just either put him down or walk away and ignore him. I only had to do that twice and he never did it to me again.

He still smacks the babysitter though. She refuses to ignore him though. It makes him scream. I waited until he stopped screaming before playing with him again. It only took a minute or two.

He will grow out of it though.

Daisy77

It'll take some time.  Both of my older kids did that and we were just consistent with taking their hands and gently patting our face/arm/whatever they hit and saying "Nice".  DD#2 is currently in that phase and when we do that to her, she just smiles and watches us.  Sometimes she'll give a good smack, sometimes she'll gently pat (we praise her then).

Mrs.Zweber

we went through that phase a few months back. DS would also hit walls when he was mad. We would just grab his hand firmly and say "no" in a firm way while looking him in the eye. It seemed to work.

LoveEeyore

Ditto Cyrbia exactly.  When she would smack or start throwing a fit b/c I wouldn't let her play with a steak knife or something absurd, I'd put her down, calmly say "Not hitting" or "no, no. Nice voice, please,"and walk away.  It was a matter of days.  Now if she begins to wind up, I give her the stink eye and say "ah-ah-ahhhhh." And she kind of smiles and is fine.   Good luck!

chihuahua26

DS stopped finally about a month ago. I think it started around 10 months old. At first I was telling him no, but then I just started ignoring it or putting him down and walking away. That would usually fix it. He didn't get the attention that he wanted from it and it stopped pretty quickly after that.

springtime81

I'm beginning to sound like a broken record - "NO hitting, NOT NICE" and I grab his hand and push it away.  He doesn't seem shaken by it at all, and also doesn't seem to be doing it for attention.  I just don't know, I hope he outgrows it soon.

AugustaBride04

DD went through that phase around 10.5 months. Luckily it has stopped now.  We would just tell her no, that's not nice and put her down if she kept doing it. Glad to say it has stopped now, but she has moved on to pinching. Only with this I am not convinced that she really knows what's she doing.

LoriFalce

chihuahua26:

DS stopped finally about a month ago. I think it started around 10 months old. At first I was telling him no, but then I just started ignoring it or putting him down and walking away. That would usually fix it. He didn't get the attention that he wanted from it and it stopped pretty quickly after that.

Chihuahua, you liar, Lucas would never do that!

Yeah, Joseph does it too. The shriek if you ignore it makes it pretty clear he's doing it for the attention.

Mrs. Nicolian

Yea, my son went through this as well. He stopped for a little while and has started doing it again every so often. Now, he more commonly will hit himself in the face for attention.

We give him one "warning" - tell him that he needs to be gentle and there is no hitting - and if he does it again he goes into timeout for one minute.