How do you handle hitting/pinching etc?

[Deleted]

What do you do when your LO hits you or someone else?

My DS (3) is being really aggressive, and I'm so fed up. He doesn't watch anything violent, certainly never sees anyone else hitting/kicking etc., but every day he's slapping, punching, pushing, etc. Is this normal 3 year old behaviour?? I feel like I'm raising a psycho.

I've tried time-outs, but he would come out, say he wanted to go back to time out and hit me or DD on purpose then give himself a time out! So I didn't feel like the message was getting across at all. Now, when he hits, I take away the toy he was playing with, or put him in another room. But nothing seems to be working.

Is this normal? If your LO acts like this, how do you handle this kind of behavior? TIA!!

[Kcthepouchh8r]

I haven't personally to the degree you described but it's probably more dumb luck than anything. I think three year olds in general can be pretty feral.

I would keep a behavior log and see if you notice any trends. I notice undesirable behavior often is triggered by hunger, exhaustion, and/or needing emotional connection. Certain kids have food sensitivities and it causes them to act out. My oldest had a donut at kindie orientation and is pretty unbearable right now since he's sensitive to food dyes so we limit to rare occasions.

[Deleted]

DS is almost 3 and has been a bit more physical lately. We tell him "we don't hit/pinch/kick, etc., because it hurts and it isn't nice. Hitting/kicking/etc. hurts and makes the other person sad. Do you remember when you were sad about X, DS? So, how do you think person Y is feeling?" (FWIW, the example we reference to ask him when he felt sad was a recent occasion where he was very visibly upset about something and is still talking about it."

Usually we get a response of, "Y is sad. I'm sorry I hit/pinch/kicked Y."

Otherwise, I have no advice (also, I can't say that what we're doing is helping limit/reduce the physical altercations, but we are able to nip the violence right when it starts).

KC's suggestion of a behavior log seems like a good idea, though.