Why does my toddler hit?

1 min readUpdated June 04, 2020

Has your otherwise friendly toddler suddenly started hitting people? Many children at this age start communicating their feelings physically, partly as a way to get your attention and partly because their language skills are still limited.

Here's how to help curb the behaviour:

Make a show of noticing when your child communicates without hitting. Positive rewards for acceptable behaviour teach better than negative consequences for bad behaviour.
Don't put your child into social situations when you know she's ready for a nap or too hungry to be calm.
Try to spend some time alone with your child each day so you can give him your full attention when you play together.
Hang in there! Soon your child will develop language skills that will help her communicate much more effectively.

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