Hitting

Miller238

Katelyn hits now.  And it is effing annoying.  I know she picked it up at daycare, and I have no idea what to do when she does it.  She does it when she is pissed off.  Sometimes she even gives an evil laugh after doing it.  HELP!

ML*

DD went through a hitting phase around the same age.  Mostly she would hit us in the face when we were holding her and she was frustrated about something.  Everytime she did it we would grab her hands and say "no hitting."  She grew out of it as soon as she could verbalize a little better.  I don't know if it's a behaviour they really have to pick up somewhere.  I think it's just a natural reaction when they can't express themselves. 

My guess is she will get over it in a few weeks/months but in the meantime you could make her sit in time out.  We started around 15 months (just for 30 seconds to a minute) and it seemed to help.

Superchicy

DD started doing this just about the same age as your DD, and she isn't in daycare.  We take her hands and hold them and say "no hitting".  If she does it again I move away so she can't hit me.  Sometimes that's enough to stop it for the moment, but she still hits me and smiles or laughs like it's a game.  I am just trying to be consistent with it, and she does understand what "no" means, but she just doesn't get consequences yet to her actions so it's kind of a losing battle for the moment.

HrH33RN

I have no suggestions...but I love, love your new siggy! She is just precious!

Ttimes3

ML*:

DD went through a hitting phase around the same age.  Mostly she would hit us in the face when we were holding her and she was frustrated about something.  Everytime she did it we would grab her hands and say "no hitting."  She grew out of it as soon as she could verbalize a little better.  I don't know if it's a behaviour they really have to pick up somewhere.  I think it's just a natural reaction when they can't express themselves. 

Pretty much this. Try not to give it any more attention than it deserves - a quick "no hitting" (devoid of any emotion - positive or negative), then redirection. As J got to 18 mo+, we introduced the concept of TO's (for hitting/throwing/any action that could/would hurt himself or others). It wasn't/isn't used as punishment as much as it was to give him a moment to cool off. We also try to acknowledge his feelings, saying something like: "It's okay to be frustrated(angry/sad/etc.), but it's not okay to hit(throw toys/etc.)." Now, if we anticipate he is about to have a "moment," we try to get to him, before it happens, and ask him to take a few deep breaths (it's funny, but it works). The majority of the time (but now always), walking him through this "cooling down" exercise is enough to curb his frustration. Sorry, all of that was much more than you asked for, but I thought I'd just give you our entire experience (to present).