1 Year Old Behavior

I have 19 month old twin boys and yes both of them use to hit and still do sometimes. They think it's a game. You may want to try firmly putting her on the floor when she begins to hit. If she sees that she no longer gets the cuddling attention she had then she will probly stop.

My daughter did this at about the same age. What finally worked was saying "No, I don't like it when you hit me. That's not nice." in a quiet, "I'm not kidding" voice, and stopping the fun activity/cuddle time. I'm not sure if that was what actually worked or if she just got old enough to know that it wasn't fun for us because it took us a while to try that.

Good luck. If you use a day care/babysitter talk to her care provider to see if she is doing anything like that at school and what their strategy is so you can be consistent with them.

S.

My daughter does this sometimes too...not trying to be mean though. I think she's just excited in the same way that she taps/hits her toys. Just be sure to show her "nice touches" and how to be gentle when she touches your face. It'll take time before she can control her muscles and her willpower I'm sure.

She's a baby, so "discipline" in the usual sense doesn't work. What will work, I think, is not giving her a reward for doing it, and by this I mean no attention at all. To a baby, even negative attention is attention. What a gas! Whooee, let's try it again! So next time she does it, don't look at her, don't say anything, just put her down and go do something else for a minute or two. Babies are smart; she'll figure out that if she wants mommy and daddy to pay attention to her (which she does), this is not the way to go.

E., My 17 month old does the same thing. I don't think they know how "hard" they are hitting. Be patient, it is just a phase.

Mine does the exact same thing! I just keep saying no, putting him down and walking away. Then I go back to him in about a minute and tell him no hitting again. They laugh b/c your facial expression and reaction is funny to them, just be consistant and not overly dramatic. It's normal for this age:)

Hi there E.,
I have 5 children aged 21,17,14,10 and 6.
1 yr olds can be very testing but most of it is just play.For EG: a child who is in a highchair,pram or walker,may just accidently drop a rattle,spoon or such and we would pick it up and probably smile or give some kind of playful attention upon returning it to them.9 times out of ten,the child will then purposely throw the item just have the same interracton as the first time.Of course it can be quite fun,but after a while,it must stop,for whatever reason.When mine did this I would allow a couple of times,but then I would firmly say no.If they continued,I would ignore their actions,and after a few grizzles from them,I would remove them from the highchair etc.
I found this to also be the same with the face hitting.Say no and then put them down or if you are sitting,then just move.They soon get the idea that it is not as much fun lol.Distraction is also good.
I do realise this was longwinded but I just wanted to let you know that your child is not the only one.My face has been slapped quite a few times over the years lol.
All the best to you...I hope this helps.
C.

E.,
All children go thru this at this age, it's normal. They grow out of if eventually with persistant encouragement from family and friends. I found with my daughter the most effective was not to "firmly" state "no" but to encourage "gentle touching" and saying no in a gentle tone rather than a firm or agressive tone. I think children respond differently to your tones, and the harsher they are the more of a reaction they are getting from you. I found with my daughter and my son, they responded better (to my advantage) with gentle tones of encouragement. If you have the time stop by the book store and get this small but very useful book "To train up a child". I found the methods a bit strange at first but after applying some of them to everyday life, I found it to be a tool for growing well behaved and well adjusted children rather than one persons view on trying to raise a village.
Anyway, I hope some of this helps you.
E. C

My 16 month old did the same thing at that age - for a few weeks too. I came to my own conclusion that he was experimenting with who/what he was allowed to hit, and how hard b/c he would hit the table, dog, toy...whatever - he hit it to see what reaction he would get. When he did hit us in the face, I would just hold his hand and say, "We don't hit people in the face." Sometimes he would stop, sometimes he would keep going until I raised voice - then he got upset, and sometimes he would laugh. Just stay consistent, and be sure to praise him when he taps something softly. I would say something like, "That's right, we touch the dog gently." He seems to be understanding about hitting, touching, tapping now, but I know he still has a lot more learning to do!!

hello I do not have any good advice for you but I can say that My 2 year old laughs when we disipline her. I do not know why but everytime ( even at 2) she thinks it is really funny. good luck!!

I have a 13 month old daughter as will that does the same thing. if you get any good suggestions could you pass them along to me

thank you
R.

Your child is just probably trying to test the limits. He is only 1, I wouldn't consider this a problem at this point.

I have a 17 month old and she does the same thing from time to time. You just have to be stay with it. They only learn from how you teach them. And whatever you do, do not laugh. Once they see you laugh it becomes a big joke for them. Then it's really hard to fix it. We laughed at my daughter picking her nose at the dinner table once and now she things it's the best thing in the world to do it at every meal. Sometimes with both fingers. Great huh!!

Its a phase. Most children this age will do this! Obviously you do want to discourage. But at this age they'll most likely grow out of phase before they understand what you're telling them no for!