How to Discipline a Toddler Who Hits

Frustrated because your child won’t stop hitting others, especially you? Learn exactly how to discipline a toddler who hits, all without losing your cool.

I was that mom at the park, the mom who practically had to wrestle with her toddler’s flailing arms because he was throwing a fit. Apparently, it wasn’t cool that I was pushing his brother on the swing while I left him on his own—and it was enough to drive him to start hitting me.

With three boys, he was the only one who resorted to hitting. Usually he’d hit when he was throwing tantrums, and only toward certain people (ahem: me).

Using words wasn’t the issue, either—he was completely verbal and could speak in clear sentences. This was no toddler who only knew a handful of words, yet he turned to hitting to express frustration.

And other times, it felt like he was hitting others for no reason, or for simple things that didn’t warrant that kind of reaction. It was enough to drive me crazy, especially when I felt like I had tried everything to stop him from hitting.

Table of Contents

How to discipline a toddler who hits

If you can relate, rest assured you’re not alone. Better yet, this story has a happy ending.

Perhaps you’ve tried explaining to your toddler that “we don’t hit,” only to have your words fall on deaf ears. Or maybe you’ve put him in time out, tinkering with how long is long enough for him to get the lesson.

But no matter what you try, he goes right back to hitting—whether it’s other kids, caregivers, or his parents. Not only are you worried because nothing calms him down, but his behavior seems to be escalating. Is it just a phase? You wonder. Am I being too lenient? What if I snap and… hit him back?

You see, I learned that however effective it is to talk to your toddler about hitting, sometimes it’s not enough and that we don’t do it at the right time. I’ve also learned that isolating them in a time out only worsens the problem.

Instead, I relied on these several tactics to get to the bottom of the issue. It’s not just about getting your toddler to stop hitting, but to replace his behavior with healthier ways to communicate. And it’s not about getting sucked into the emotional drain of it all, but to truly see the role you play as the parent.

Fellow mom Jessika Graff shared on Facebook her own success after applying these tips:

“I have to tell you that I have not been hit in over a week since reading and applying your tips. Again, your blog is my parenting angel and I’m so grateful for all that you’re doing for us moms.”

If you’re wondering how to discipline a toddler who hits, you’re in the right place. Give these tips a try, and I’m certain you’ll also see a difference in your child’s behavior:

1. Don’t talk or teach just yet

How often have you seen your toddler hit and immediately launched into all the reasons why you’re not supposed to hit? Meanwhile, he’s flailing his arms, tugging your hair, and is far too upset to even hear a word of what you’re saying.

Sometimes we go about it backward. We explain all the reasons we don’t hit or better ways to communicate when none of that is even getting through to our kids. These are all important lessons we need to teach, except there’s a problem.

At that very moment, your toddler is operating from his right brain, the emotional side—not his left brain, the logical one. And since words fall on the left side of the brain, he simply can’t process or make sense of anything you say.

Instead, connect with his emotional side. Focus on calming him down first, before you discipline or explain. Rely on non-verbal communication: body language, tone of voice, facial expression, and your general mood.

Only once he has calmed down will he then be in a better place to learn about appropriate behavior. Otherwise, you’re simply wasting the opportunity to teach when you’re trying to do so during one of his fits.

Free download: Are your current discipline methods just not cutting it? Learn 9 out-of-the-box strategies that will help you deal with these challenging behaviors.

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2. Focus on your response, not your toddler’s behavior

When we think of toddlers hitting, our first reaction is to correct the behavior. After all, we can plainly see that hitting is inappropriate, no matter how valid their frustration may be. So, we focus on stopping the behavior—the quicker, the better.

Except there’s one problem here: we forget to examine our own reactions.

Parenting is more about the parent, not the child. When we focus on the child’s behavior, we tend to do so at the expense of forgetting to examine our own. After all, how often have we felt anxious, said a hurtful comment, or yanked their arm to get them to stop hitting?

These may seem like natural reactions, and that’s because they are. They are your subconscious habits reacting to the situation. But they don’t make for a good example to our kids, much less encourage them to calm down and stop hitting.

Instead, focus on your response first before taking any action. Lean into compassion. Be a safe, welcoming space for him. Help him feel understood—that you know why he feels the way he does.

As I say in my parenting workshop, How to Get Your Child to Listen:

“Compassion doesn’t mean being ‘soft’ on your child. Being ‘soft’ or enabling the behavior means letting her continue talking rudely to you, or allowing her to keep hitting her brother. That’s being soft and permissive.”

This isn’t your typical parenting advice, but I promise that the calmer you get, the quicker he’ll calm down as well.

3. Have zero tolerance for hitting

Recently, I overheard a mom tell her son, “Oh, don’t hit her, honey…” in response to him hitting his baby sister. Her tone of voice made me think that this wasn’t the first time it had happened and, given the casual way she’d told him not to hit, it likely wouldn’t be the last.

In order for hitting to stop, you must have zero tolerance for it. On one hand, you don’t want to overreact with anger or anxiety. But on the other, you can only expect your toddler to stop hitting if you make it clear it’s absolutely not allowed.

The mom in this instance did a good job with staying calm, but she also needed to communicate that a line is crossed when her child hits others.

How can you communicate this without overreacting or being mean?

Remove your toddler from the situation
Look him in the eye as you communicate
Constrain his arms with compassion
Don’t take it personally (yes, even if he laughs)
Say, “I won’t let you hit… (me/your sister/another person/the dog, etc.)”

We teach people how to treat us. This is especially clear if you find that that he tends to hit you but not, say, your spouse. He has somehow learned that it’s okay to hit certain people but not others.

When you have zero tolerance for hitting, he’ll know that no matter how frustrated he gets, there’s always another way to communicate.

Get more tips about how to stop your child from hitting.

4. Label (and encourage) all feelings

It’s easy to assume that your toddler wants to hit, especially when he’s verbal and can communicate well. But there’s a difference between being able to speak in sentences and identify overwhelming feelings.

In other words, just because he can speak in complete sentences, doesn’t mean he’s equipped to process how he feels. (I’m sure there are adults who still struggle with their emotions until now!)

How can you combat this? Begin labeling all his feelings. Catch him in whatever moment he may feel, and simply put a word to it. You might say:

“You’re so happy you won the prize!”
“You feel sad you can’t find your lovey, aren’t you?”
“It’s okay to feel mad about having to leave.”
“Everyone feels disappointed, too.”

Not only should you label emotions, you should also encourage all of them. Don’t withhold your affection or attention because he’s upset or having a bad day. Make sure he knows you’re there, no matter how he feels or behaves.

Read these children’s books about feelings.

5. Don’t rush your toddler out of his feelings

In an ideal world, we always feel happy and content, but difficult feelings like sadness, anger and anxiety will come and go. We can’t force kids to hurry up from feeling sad just as we wouldn’t others to do that to us.

Don’t rush your toddler through challenging emotions. Instead of trying to distract or cheer her up as quickly as possible, let her feel sadness in all its entirety. Not only will she know that it’s normal to feel sad, she’ll also get to experience how it comes and goes on its own.

Get more tips about dealing with your child’s sadness.

6. Praise your toddler for choosing better ways

One of the best ways to stop challenging behavior is to praise positive ones. Except for most of us, we think that kids should only be praised when they’re calmly using their words and treating others kindly.

But what if, instead of hitting, your toddler restrained himself and yelled, “I’m mad!”

While yelling isn’t the ideal way to express frustration, she made a huge leap by yelling rather than hitting. Unfortunately, most of us overlook that huge step, and instead focus now on why she shouldn’t yell.

Instead, praise her (once she’s calm) for that simple switch. Don’t expect a complete change—even incremental steps deserve praise.

Conclusion

Learning how to discipline a toddler who hits is a challenge even for the most patient mom. It’s especially difficult when nothing seems to work, or worse, his behavior is escalating.

Don’t lose hope. Apply the tips you learned here, starting with focusing on your behavior first, rather than on your toddler’s. The calmer and more intentional you are, the calmer he will be as well.

Then, focus next on calming him down, rather than talking or teaching just yet. The lessons will come later—once he’s calmed down enough to even be receptive to what you have to say.

Have zero tolerance for hitting, including teaching him how to treat you. Being casual about hitting only reinforces the idea that it’s okay to do so. Label all his emotions so that he can begin to use words as well as know that these feelings are normal.

And finally, praise his positive behavior, even if they’re incremental steps rather than the ideal situation. He’ll know he’s on the right track, and will be better motivated to behave in similar ways in the future.

I’m happy to report that hitting is no longer a problem in our family as it once had been. I may not need to alternate pushing them on a swing, but I know they won’t resort to hitting if I did.

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