13 month old hits/pushes our face

[bcblondie]

The first time was about a week ago, I was nursing him before a nap, and he put his hand on my face and pushed a little. So I was just being silly and kind of went along with it, and he laughed hysterically. But I think I've created a monster because now he does it all the time. He'll hit or push my face while nursing (or pull off my glasses, but that's another story) and he'll crawl up to dh and hit his face too.

When he's nursing I try to kind of pull his hand away and say "owies" but I don't want to have to unlatch him... When he does it while not eating, I say and sign "owie" and set him down and take a step away from him.

I feel bad because I feel like I encouraged it at first. Is the way I'm dealing with it ok, or is there a better way?
DH is especially annoyed because DS just crawls back and does it again. I don't think he likes my method.

[Cetan Luta]

My oldest son went through the same kind of phase at one point. Children (especially very young ones) like to find out [I]exactly [I] where their boundaries ae by testing every last one of them. It sounds like the gentle way you are dealing with it, especially putting him down and depriving him of attention for a moment are a great start. Be sure to be as consistent as possible, and remember it may take time to establish a change in behavior. I once read that it takes something like 200 repetitions of a new behavior to establish a change of pattern. Though it seems to me it takes 200 times for a good behavior, and once for things I don't like LOL. Hang in there. Change will come...eventually.

[bcblondie]

Thank you so much for your support <3

That's so true about the repetitions lol.

[One_Girl]

When my dd did this I didn't think of it as hitting becuase she had never seen hitting and wasn't being aggressive.. I would meet her hand and guide it somewhere else or hold it and smile at her. It doesn't sound like your baby is truly hitting from aggressive, it sounds like he is playing a game. Maybe you could guide his hand in gently stroking your face or arm and make a game out of that.

[bcblondie]

That's actually a really good idea. We do the same with our cats. We tell him "nice" and show him how to pet gently and not hit or pull their hair. Somehow he automatically did the same with our christmas tree. I thought an 11 month old (at the time) plus christmas tree would spell disaster but he was so gentle. I said "nice" and even showed him how he could touch it without tearing it apart and he would usually do the same. <3

Thanks!

[LilacMama]

My almost 13 month old DD is doing this also. She IS being aggressive about it. She usually does it when she's mad. And no, she hasn't seen hitting or been hit before. Sometimes human nature just takes over.

I've just been holding her arms down and saying firmly "No, you cannot hit." and setting her down on the ground. I think she gets the point, but it hasn't stopped the hitting yet. Sigh.

[bcblondie]

It must be the age, eh?
I stopped using the words "no" and "can't" a few months ago because I heard they really can't understand words in the negative at this age. It's easier for them to understand "owie" at this age. You could try that maybe. Might help. I mean, in this situation my DS's impulse control is obviously winning over my "owies" as it sometimes does. But then distraction is key I think. That's why I like the "meeting his hand with mine" thing, which seems to be helping already! He's starting to play with my hand now instead of going for my face!