How to get toddlers to stop hitting - 1 Tip that really works!

Do you ever feel totally lost when you are trying figure out how to get toddlers to stop hitting?

They might be hitting you, their siblings, or some kid at play group. Is there anything more humbling than to have this little kid who you just can’t seem to get to stop hitting everyone?

Yup.

Here’s one amazing tip that helped me a bunch of my toddlers. Too bad I didn’t hear about it until the 3rd but it was absolutely amazing and I should have done it with all my kids.

So here we go. When your toddler hits, you grab their hand and just hold it for a while, and you say:

“Hands are for holding. Hands are not for hitting. When you hit, they get stuck.”

Then you look down at their hand when is ‘stuck’ in your hand by now and say:

“Oh, your hand is stuck. Oh, I’m so sorry your hand is stuck.”

They’ll get frustrated and try to pull it away, but you grab that little hand tightly and don’t let go. If they hit you with the other hand then hold that one too.

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Don’t let them hit you! Grab both hands and hold them for a while until it’s uncomfortable enough for them. You decide how long. Not too long. A minute. Two.

When they’ve struggled long enough and get the idea that they don’t like having their hand stuck, you look down at their hand and talk directly to the hand:

“Hand, don’t hit. You don’t want to get stuck because hands are for holding. Hands are not for hitting.”

This is an amazing piece of advice and works wonders. You can literally see their little mind working the next time they want to hit, trying to decide if it’s worth it!

Here’s a video where I sort of act out this concept - you can watch me ‘talk’ to my hand! LOL!

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CUTE STORY:

My youngest son hit me one time and I went running after him and grabbed one of his hands. I was holding on to his right hand and he said:

“No no no, this is not the hand that hit, it was this hand. You have to hold this hand.” And he gave me his left hand.

He got the idea.

Let me tell you, they get the point really quickly. This is generally not a technique that will get you too worked up and upset so it’s easier to keep your cool.  It’s also a pretty quick fix cuz after only a few times they start to think twice.

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Basically, it works for everyone. Important thing is to make sure you talk to that hand. That way it takes the blame off of your child and instead puts the blame on the hand.

They don’t see themselves as the one who is a ‘bad boy’ and hits – it was only their hand and now it’s their job to make sure that their hand doesn’t hit anymore.

“No more hitting. You don’t want to get stuck.”

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Curious: What have you done that has figured out the riddle of how to get toddlers to stop hitting?