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Can you figure out why this is happening!?

JulyBebe27JulyBebe27
in Toddlers: 24 Months+

My2 yr old has recently begun hitting/bitting for what seems to be no apparent reason or trigger.  Here are some scenarios that leave me confused about why it's happening:

1.) We are playing and laughing (so eliminate attention as a reason) and he goes ahead and smacks me hard on the head with his hand.  When I say "hands are not for hitting" he does it again and again, but starts crying because I think he's upset I was stern with him

2.) I'm sitting on the couch and he's playing on the floor.  I'm chatting with him about what he's playing with.  Then he walks over to me, puts his cheek on my arm and then bites it.

The only thing I can think about, at least for scenario 1 is that it's a space thing.  If perhaps he gets too close to people in his personal space he reacts by hitting?  He is getting his 2nd molars right now, so that may explain the biting.

 Thoughts?!

Thanks. 

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Re: Can you figure out why this is happening!?

  • rlyttlerlyttle member
    It could just be an age thing and that he is testing you. DS went through a phase of hitting, then biting, throwing, ect. He seems to be out of it now. It lasted a couple of months. I would start "crying" when he hit or bit me. I would make him kiss where he "hurt" me tell me he was sorry. This seems to work and it knows that it hurts when he does those things. Like I said, it only lasted a few months with DS.
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  • TMDMJAOCT07TMDMJAOCT07 member

    Sounds like he's testing you.  At least thats imo.  My dd hit me the other day while we were playing, I stood up told her we don't hit and that I was sad and walked away.  And sat on the couch and (pretend) cried. She came up to me a few minutes later "I'm sorry I hit you, will you please play with me we if I don't hit?" broke my heart but we happily played again.  And I think she got the point.

    The one time she went to bite me, I caught her before she did it, and I told her we don't bite and that we bite our food not people.  ::Knock on wood:: that was enough on that one.  But that could be tied to the molars because they are horrible to get. (for both parent and child!).

     

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  • Shayna0182Shayna0182 member

    He's looking for attention.  My ds does the same thing, and one thing that helps him stop the hitting and biting is to get up and walk away.  I tell him that I will not play with him when he acts mean.  Now he does have ASD, so I do cut him some slack, but he definitely knows that hitting and biting only gets him in trouble. 

    How verbal is your child?  It seemed to me that the less verbal ds was, the more frustrated and angry ds would be.  Once he was able to more clearly express himself, the hitting and biting got better.  

    Try offering some redirection.  If he is playing and starts to hit, stop whatever game you're playing and start a new game.  

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