Does your toddler hit him/herself?

iEver since DD turned about 1 she started hitting herself in her head (with her hand.) I notice that she mostly does it when I'm telling her not to do something. She smacks herself right in the head, as if she's punishing herself. She's been doing it ALOT lately. I don't like seeing her hit herself (even though it's not hard.)

I started telling her not to hit herself, that she's a good girl - but now I think she's doing it so I call her a good girl I have a hard time just ignoring it - I don't want her to think lhitting herself (or anyone) is ok. KWIM?

Re: Does your toddler hit him/herself?

Abby did this too. It was so frustrating. She also did it when I told her no. Eventually after months of telling her not to hit herself and we don't hit, I decided to ignore it. Worked like a charm. I guess she was doing it for attention to steer me away from reprimanding her for what ever she was doing. They are smarter than we think. Anyway, she eventually stopped. It drove my DH insane but once he stopped reacting too she just flat out stopped.

Re: Does your toddler hit him/herself?

Luca doesn't hit himself, but he does throw tantrums. We ignore them for the most part and distract him as best we can and they seem to be subsiding. They are much less frequent and only last a few seconds. I guess like with any bad behavior, the less attention they get from it, the less likely they are to do it.

Re: Does your toddler hit him/herself?

My DD hits herself in the head when she coughs. I guess she thinks about me patting her on the back so it's her way of trying to work out the glitch on her own. She doesn't hit herself hard though.

Re: Does your toddler hit him/herself?

DS just started doing this. I found that if I dont even acknowledge it, he stops almost right away. But when I do give him the attention, his behavior continues. So we ignore it and that seems to be working.

Re: Does your toddler hit him/herself?

My daughter did this too it's out of frustration. She couldn't communicate what she wanted. They do grow out of it.

Re: Does your toddler hit him/herself?

DS will pull his hair and thow himself on the floor and bang his head but he dont hit himself

Re: Does your toddler hit him/herself?

Umm Yes. He hits himelf in the head with his shoes because he thinks it is soo funny

Re: Does your toddler hit him/herself?

josh went through that stage, it was so sad...like he was punishing himself.

One day he bullied the boy I watch and for the first time Josh got in trouble. He was put in his crib. he knew he hit him.

For about a week afterwards, he would run up to the little boy, then hit himself in the head...

Re: Does your toddler hit him/herself?

Yes, DS did this. I thought something was wrong with him. DD will probably start hitting you soon as well. It's a stage that most kids go through. I would ignore it and eventually it stopped. Although, at two, when he has a nervous breakdown he might hit himself.

Re: Does your toddler hit him/herself?

Lance does this also, I have no idea why. I actually asked my Ped. about it yesterday & she told me it was totally normal.

Re: Does your toddler hit him/herself?

DD hits her head with a book or shoes. I reacted at first and that just prompted her more. I ignore it now and she doesn't do it as much anymore.