Hitting the cat...

kxp004

We have tried teaching DS to be "gentle" and "nice" to the cats and dog, but he has decided that it is so much fun to run up to the cats while they're sleeping, whack them on the head and watch them jump up and run... The dog doesn't really seem to care, but hitting is still hitting and a definite no-no...

Any suggestions on how to curb this behavior? We've tried snatching his hand away from the cats and telling him "NO!" if we spot him pulling his hand back for a whack, but then he just stares at us and cries... only to be caught doing it again later... We've tried time out, but I don't know if he "gets it" at this age yet... and there still don't seem to be any results...

I'm not really into swatting his hand b/c that seems pretty hypocritical to stop hitting by hitting ???? and I'd really like to not introduce spanking into our house...

Reallynervous83

We have a small dog (yorkie) and our son would do this all the time.  We finally curbed the behavior by constantly showing him how to pet the dog.  We take his hand and say "pet" and show him how to do it.  It took about a week or two, but he got the hang of it.  

He still pulls his tail sometimes, but we are very stern with him and tell him "ouch that hurts Tort" and that seems to have helped.  Good luck--he probably just thinks it's a game.  

AZ123

Considering the hitting of the pets is such a temporary thing and given your LO's age, I think it is better to keep the cats separate or stop you LO before he gets to the cat. So, you'd see him heading towards the cat and you'd grab him and distract him to something else.

The problem is that he gets a reaction from the cats, which is why he keeps doing it so you want to take the novelty away.

blu-eyedwife

Do the cats have a "child free zone" they can go to and nap?  Someplace high up, in the sun, soft, (or whatever your cats like).

I would focus on giving them space your son can't get to until he's a little older and better able to understand.

kxp004

blu-eyedwife:

Do the cats have a "child free zone" they can go to and nap?  Someplace high up, in the sun, soft, (or whatever your cats like).

I would focus on giving them space your son can't get to until he's a little older and better able to understand.

Yes, part of our house is gated off... They choose to come in and sleep on the couch or chairs occasionally, I guess at their own risk lol

rnbeth477

DS also went through this phase. We just kept saying, "be sweet" and we'd show him how to pet the cats softly. He eventually got it. We have safe child free areas for our cats where they can escape his "pets."

law&order

do the cats ever swat back at him?

 Perhaps I'll get flamed for this, but DS was pestering our grumpier cat and the cat swatted him on the head. It didn't injure him, but DS didn't like that one bit and now when the cat raises a paw to say "leave me alone," DS recognizes that action and backs away quickly.

If they just run away then I think you just have to be persistent with the "gentle touch" teaching and make sure the cats have their own space. He'll get it eventually.  And I do think a short "time out" where he is removed from the situation for a minute does help.    

march2008

I'm in the middle of a book called "Positive Discipline" and it's for ages 1-3 and it's GREAT! Highly recommend this book. The authors say that the word "no" is abstract to a toddler and they cannot understand what it truly means. They say that rather saying no, that you have to consistently show them the right way to do something instead. It takes patience and persistence on the part of the parent, of course!! Toddlers learn by experience.

We have 2 cats and DD used to pull their tails and it did take awhile (and was very frustrating for me!!), but whenever I saw her doing it, I told her "gentle pats for the kitties!" and I would show her what I meant by that. They do have a very tall cat tree that they can escape to if they don't want to be pet. She's caught on now and is so great with them! Good luck!

mbgreenwalt

With DD1 it was a pretty short phase.  We would just correct her behavior when she was smacking the animals.  DD2 is a bit of a brute and hasn't stopped yet.  We just keep showing her.  Our cat is a very social cat and doesn't care what you do to him as long as he's getting attention, but our female dog doesn't tolerate being woke up well.   We have to move her to our bed when she wants to nap during the day.

sleepingbeauty825

We do natural consequences. If they won't be deterred by the warnings I dole out, they will learn the hard way to be soft to the cats. 

 

That said, my non-kid-friendly cat stays far far away, and my other one loves the kids and will let them do just about anything to her. 

 

 

ETA: If I was really concerned for their well-being (say, a dog that might bite), in that case I'd not use natural consequences, lol. Don't need little hands bitten off! 

KMEss86

My son went through a pretty bad throwing things at the dog stage. Anything he could get his hands on. Toys, books, balls, all got thrown at the dog. I tried everything. The only thing that ended up working was 1. try to stop him if I see it coming. 2. If I cant get there in time, take the item away without a word, give him no reaction at all. So in your case, maybe try wordlessly and expressionlessly removing him from the area. And just keep doing it, not giving him any reaction at all, not even a bad one. It worked for us. Good luck!

 

kwitt22

We try to stop it as soon as it happens and tell her to be "nice nice" to the dog. Then I show her how to pet nicely. Thankfully the dog doesn't care, probably bc dd feeds her so much food!