How to guide a 1.5-year-old baby who loves to hit others

When a child suddenly hits someone, it often embarrasses the parents. For young children, simply stopping them may not be effective. The reason should be found out first in order to effectively correct the hitting behavior.

Children over one year old have not yet fully developed their language, so they will use some behaviors to express their inner thoughts. In addition, actions are faster than words. When children cannot accurately express their feelings, they often reflect their thoughts in actions without even thinking.

Therefore, when it comes to the baby's hitting behavior at this stage, the first thing to do is to find out the real meaning behind the behavior and give correct guidance.

The same hitting behavior may have completely different meanings behind it, and the reasons for hitting the child this time and next time may also be completely different. It is recommended that you first observe the changes in the child's surroundings in the first few seconds before the child hits the child, whether there are new things or things that the child likes or dislikes.

For example, when a child sees his sister playing with his favorite toy, he hits her. The implication behind this may be that he wants that thing; or it may be that his sister took his things and he is unhappy, so he hits her to vent his anger; or he may think it is very funny to see his sister screaming in pain, etc.

When you find that your child hits someone when he is with someone or wants something, you must interrupt the wrong behavior before the child makes the hitting move and help him find alternative ways to express his intentions.

For example, if he wants the toy in his sister's hand, you can lead his hands to pat and touch his sister, and help the child say: Sister, lend it to me to play. The timing of teaching is very important, and it must be interrupted before he hits others. Otherwise, teaching after hitting others will usually not be very effective.

If a child hits someone and then looks at your reaction, it is usually to attract attention. It is best to take the cold approach at this time. If he finds it boring, he will not do it again next time. However, the bigger the reaction of the person being hit, the more motivated he will be to hit someone next time.

If a child wants to play with someone but doesn’t know how to start, and randomly hits or pushes others, it is recommended to create some game situations or play simple games to provide correct interaction demonstrations. Or when he has appropriate physical contact with other children, such as high-fives, encouragement should be given to let him know that this is the way to interact.

Remember not to do the same thing to your child after he hits someone, and say to him: Now you know how it feels! Children of this age have not yet developed empathy and cannot understand the feelings of others. Doing so will only reinforce his mentality that hitting others is okay.

In addition, when parents use punishment as a tool of prohibition, it may be effective at the moment, but usually the child will hit others again after a short while because you have not taught him what to do next time he encounters the same situation. Therefore, teaching correct alternative behaviors is more important than punishment.