I have a question about my baby girl; when she gets tired and/or frustrated she swats at us! I don't know where she has learned this behavior. We have a quite calm household. Her caregivers home is the same way. When she does this I take her little hand and sternly tell her "no, that hurts". She's also started hair pulling when she gets upset! Is this normal behavior for a one year old?
Hi
When we went throught that stage we firmly told my son "no hit" and read Hands Are Not For Hitting every night. Simple book-right to the point.
Good luck
Hi Jenn,
I have a 13 1/2 month old girl and she is very similar. I do have 2 boys ages 3 and 9 so she is used to rowdy behavior but I agree w/ the other person. Its the age and its her way of having a tantrum w/o words. The good thing is it only seems to last for a minute if that and she moves on. If she gets angry, watchout! good luck to ya:)
Hi J.,
I think the behavior is very normal. Toddlers don't have complete control over their emotions yet and when they get angry, they naturally get physical. My son does this as well. I found that time outs did not work and yelling didn't work either. The pediatrician told us to ignore the behavior because he was "getting something that he wanted by doing it". We tried that too with little success. What I do now (and my son is a little older - but I started this when he was about 18 months or so - he is 27 months now) is I tell him "Mommy is going to walk away" and I walk away. He hates it when I walk away - so he usually comes and apologizes pretty quickly. Then I tell him no more hitting or biting isn't nice or that hurt mommy.
Good luck!
J.
www.mothersboutique.com
Yes, she is normal. She sometimes feels cranky or even angry, but doesn't yet know how to express herself in acceptable ways. So, she resorts to her cave-woman instincts. Teach her to say, "no!" and "mad!" and "tired" and to beat her drum or swat her pillow. Eventually, she will learn to articulate her emotions rather than act out. In the meantime, know that she is perfectly normal.
ABSOLUTELY....My daughter seems to have about 8 hands when she wants something or gets angry. Also, she pulls her cousin's hair when she is mad (they are only 7 months apart)
oh yeah its a temper tantrum babies cant use words to express anger so they use there actions which sometimes leaves the parent in ahh. I would get down to her level and let her no this is not acceptable behavior a good one my children got to know real well and did start saying and still to this day say is "absolutely not" and when they would hear that they knew there was unacceptable behavior going on. Good luck it's only the beggining
Yes, that is probably normal for her. Maybe she is starting her terrible twos a bit early. Two year olds will try out different things, to see what they can and cannot get away with.
Hey there J.,
It seems to be the age that my daughter started really testing our boundaries and acting out as well. I think it's pretty normal. You just have to stand your ground. Every time she tests the boundary you have to meet her right there at the line every time and tell her why it's not ok. It may seem like it takes forever, but eventually she will get it. It's her way of exploring and learning about right and wrong. I think I started with time outs about then too. I think you are handling everything just fine.
Good luck to you!
C. Smith
www.EnhanceYourWayOfLife.com
This sounds to me like normal behavior. Since they don't have the words to communicate their needs and emotions they get physical. Be consistent in dealing with this behavior so she knows it is unacceptable. Once she is able to communicate better with you it will be a little easier to help her with her frustrations.
It's completely normal at that age. Your daughter just doesn't know how to vent her frustrations so she acts out. All my kids did that around that age. Maybe try redirecting her to something else if she starts getting mad. I used to hand them a soft toy and after throwing it a few times they would laugh and all would be fine.
My 18 1/2 month old started that about a month ago. Now, he also throws normal physical tantrums and says NO whenever he really doesn't want to do something, but he just started the hitting me and my husband and pulling my hair. When he went for his 18 month checkup I asked the pediatrician about it. He said when he does anything that we deem to be unacceptable behavior, we should tell him that it's not nice and then put him in his room/spare room/pack n play/crib for 1-5 minutes. Leave him and walk away to let him cry/scream. Our doc said he's just looking for attention and leaving him by himself tells him that the behavior he's exhibiting isn't the way to get it. When you go back to get him, tell him that you want him to be a nice boy, no more bad behavior, kiss and hug and continue whatever you were doing before the time out. It's been working well for me. Whenever I see him about to act out, I ask him if he wants to go upstairs and sit by himself and he gives me a kiss. Good luck!
