How do you teach a 21/2 year old to not hit and push.. we do time out for 5 mins then after his tantrum we talk to him…

He laughs in my face if I try to be calm about him hitting and keeps going unless i spank him i hate it but it works

We’ve been working on identifying emotions like anger and sadness. Usually our son hits as a reaction to us telling him it’s time to transition to some other activity. So we’ll tell him it hurts when he hits us. Ask him if he’s sad or angry. Ask him what other ways he can show he’s sad or angry without hitting.

We’ve shown him other ways he can be angry without hitting, like crossing his arms and making angry faces, calming techniques like filing his cheeks up with air and blowing it out, pretending his fingers are birthday candles and blowing those out. Of course, sometimes none of this works and a full blown tantrum occurs and then it’s timeout/calm down in a separate area. Depending on the level of tantrum, we also do a time-in where I sit with him and we practice counting.

A lot of this is still redirecting and teaching. Impulse control doesn’t begin to develop until 3-4, and it’s not a fully developed skill until later teen years/early 20s. So while my son may know hitting isn’t right, he’s still little enough where his first reaction may not be the right reaction and we’re trying to guide him into better reactions.

When my son hits. We firmly stop his action and tell him we don’t hit. It’s owies. And if he continues. We remove him from our space and ignore his destructive behavior until he’s done. Sometimes they do it for attention and we’re trying to teach him that hitting and that type of behavior doesn’t get him attention. Usually he takes a few mins to throw his fit of not getting attention when he’s acting destructive. And then he will come over to us calmly and snuggle and give kisses. And that’s when we talk to him about not hitting and being nice.

He'll get it eventually. I have a feeling I'm going to have that problem with my 18 month old as she gets a little older. She hits and then laughs about it. I'm trying to teach her we don't hit. But ends up laughing. Lol maybe she's to young to understand fully but I bet she will eventually too. Just some kids are stubborn

My son is going through that phase we make him sit in time out and give hugs and say sorry BUT we tell him if we see it again he goes straight to a spanking not a time out and it works for us. I'd try it but you can always try something different it depends on what you feel is best or works for you. We also told him if he doesn't want us to hit or push him not to do it in the first place that seems to help also. Best of luck.