Ds knows to be gentle with his brother, but purposely hits something else ....

[CherryBombMama]

When ds2 (16m) started hitting my older ds (2.5yr), I quickly enforced the "Gentle hands" rule. I started showing him, hand over hand, how to gently touch his brother. He learned it pretty quickly. So now when he goes to hit him, I quickly say, "Gentle hands, V!" which 95% of the time stops him in his tracks, then I ask, "Show me gentle hands?" to which he gently rubs ds1 back or head or something :) 

BUT NOW! he will rub ds1 gently, and then SMACK the wall or toy or whatever is near, then look at me like, "and what are you going to do about it?" I'm pretty sure I shouldn't overuse the gentle hands idea. What do I do about this? Anything? I don't care at this moment that my toddler is hitting the wall for no apparent reason, but I do not want him to learn to continue to do this. I could very well see this turning into a ten year old punching the wall, which scares me. Ds1 has my super carefree attitude, ds2 has my dh anger and fire, so I need to redirect this somehow...

Thanks for any input!

[bananabee]

Try just ignoring it. He's trying to get a reaction from you. 

My DD likes to go on a rampage, yanking everything out of the cupboards. I started cheering her on when she did this in the bathroom. She pulled a couple hand towels out, noticed I was telling her to go for it, then put them back in and closed the doors. Hasn't done it since. It's just a game to her. Sounds like he's doing the same thing to you. 

[MrsBone]

I don't see anything wrong with it! He knows not to hit his brother and he's testing you to see if he can get away with hitting other things, inanimate objects. I actually encouraged this with my son. I told him not to hit mommy or daddy or anybody but that he could hit the couch, or the ground, things that won't be hurt if you hit them. I really wouldn't be concerned at this age that he'll punch the wall when he's mad. Does he seem mad when he hits the floor? Toddlers, especially at that age, have very few ways of getting out frustration, and I think a safe way to do it is to hit inanimate object. That's just me though :) Most likely it's a phase and he won't be doing it when he's 2 1/2 or 3.

[CherryBombMama]

Originally Posted by bananabee 

Try just ignoring it. He's trying to get a reaction from you. 

My DD likes to go on a rampage, yanking everything out of the cupboards. I started cheering her on when she did this in the bathroom. She pulled a couple hand towels out, noticed I was telling her to go for it, then put them back in and closed the doors. Hasn't done it since. It's just a game to her. Sounds like he's doing the same thing to you. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrsBone 

I don't see anything wrong with it! He knows not to hit his brother and he's testing you to see if he can get away with hitting other things, inanimate objects. I actually encouraged this with my son. I told him not to hit mommy or daddy or anybody but that he could hit the couch, or the ground, things that won't be hurt if you hit them. I really wouldn't be concerned at this age that he'll punch the wall when he's mad. Does he seem mad when he hits the floor? Toddlers, especially at that age, have very few ways of getting out frustration, and I think a safe way to do it is to hit inanimate object. That's just me though :) Most likely it's a phase and he won't be doing it when he's 2 1/2 or 3.

I don't really see anything *wrong* with it either, I just don't want it to progress into something worse. I would much rather him hit the wall than his brother 

I think I will try cheering him on. "Yay! You hit the wall! Woo Hoo!" Although, if my older ds starts hitting the wall, too .... I am coming back here and complaining! :)