That’s right! What do you do when your toddler hits you?
How could your little sweet…adorable…child so freely smack you?
Well…they still love you and depend on you more than ever. They are just testing out the boundaries of what they can and cannot do.
What are you going to do about your toddler hitting you. I will help you out…
5 Important Things To Do…
1. LOVE
You have to love your toddler no matter what.
That is the first important thing that you will have to do in any given situation that will come your way when raising a toddler and then onward to raising teenagers.
At times you may feel like you can’t but I want you to understand that love must be unconditional. You may not like what they are doing (such as hitting) but you have to love them.
Now…you don’t have to love what they are doing (such as hitting) and that is when you have to bring in distraction and/or discipline.
You have to separate the person from their actions.
No matter what the situation is and no matter how difficult your toddler may be, you have to love them.
2. PATIENCE
Yes…you need to be patient. You may lose your cool but you will have to regain your composure.
Be patient with your toddler and be patient with yourself.
I know that this one is easier said than done.
It’s hard to be patient when you have to repeat the same thing over and over when teaching your toddler not to hit. Whether that’s distracting them or time outs or whatever else you use.
It takes time to develop patience.
Take a deep breath.
It’s not the end of the world. Your little toddler with your guidance will eventually learn not to hit and you will see that you have more patience than when you first started out.
3. CALM
Stay calm.
Oh…believe me you will want to give your little toddler a piece of their own medicine.
At least that is what most parents want to do…emphasis on “want”, but it doesn’t mean that is what they do. If you never feel that way then you are ahead of the gang. Good for you. But for the rest of us, we need to stay calm.
You are in control of your own feelings and how you respond. You’re not going to let your little toddler tell you how you are going to feel or respond. Are you?
If you have to count to 100 to stay calm, then do so.
4. DISTRACTION
That is the name of the game.
Distraction.
Have you played that game? It is the best game to play with your toddler when they want to hit you.
Why?
Toddlers have a very short attention span. If you can distract them enough that they forget they were going to hit you then you have won the game.
No need for getting upset and yelling and/ or trying to explain to your toddler that they can’t hit. They just won’t always understand.
When they get old enough to understand then you can explain that it’s wrong and use a different form of discipline but for now while they are little, distraction will work the best.
I use distraction all the time because my 20 month old has started waving his hands around trying to slap and hit me and his siblings. Distraction works all the time at this age.
5. CONSISTENCY