Hitting

[ellairiesmom]

I watch a 20 mos old girl along with my 3.5 & 15 mos old DDs everyday.  It started 2 weeks ago, but there was a week off in between due to Easter break.  The mother told me they were having issues with hitting & when she came to "interview" us & bring her over, she was really aggressive to our 15 mos DD & the mother said they are working on it, talking about it etc.  The 1st 3 days, we didn't see much of an issue.  Last week it also wasn't too bad but this week, it has been out of control.  She is pushing, hitting, yanking on clothes non stop.  If she is playing with something & my 15 mos old even stands near her, she knocks her over.  And she pushes her down all day.

She is doing it to our 3.5 yo DD too...things like pulling her hair, yanking the blanket off her repeatedly while she is laying on the couch, hitting...

Our DD1 wasn't a hitter at all so I haven't had to work on this yet.  And I really don't want DD2 to learn this behavior.  Honestly, if we really, really didn't need this money right now, DH & I agreed last night that we would call it quits. 

Any advice? 

[Greenlea]

Try some sign language.  My DS was a hitter too around that age but it was due to not being able to communicate.  He was getting frustrated he couldn't communicate when all he wanted to do was play/eat/drink, etc.  Play was the biggest thing.  He'd want to play with the older kids at daycare but couldn't tell them, so he'd hit.

Once we implemented some new signs and he learned more words, the hitting went away completely.