Why Won’t My Child Stop Hitting?

You may have heard some statements about children hitting other children such as “It’s just a normal part of development” or “they’re just going through a phase”.

While this might help make us feel better, unfortunately, it might not actually be the case that this type of behaviour is part of a phase or even part of typical development.

Although children hitting other children is a common behaviour that is observed amongst children in some parts of the world, it is not common across all cultures.

Which is good news, because it means there are ways to stop your child from hitting others.

There can be a lot of reasons why a child hits. For example, they may be exposed in some way to anger or aggression (anything from seeing this behaviour from others kids in the playground, to their siblings, witnessing it on TV, or even observing their parents hitting them or their siblings).

Some children may not have developed the verbal skills to express when they become frustrated, so they “act out” their angry feelings, while others just may not have learnt any alternative behaviours (yet) that can help them achieve whatever it is they are trying to achieve by hitting.

Regardless of the reason for your child’s hitting behaviour, what you really want is for the hitting to stop.

Luckily, there are plenty of strategies ready for you to try over in our members section. The most effective way to prevent continued hitting behaviour is to persist with one strategy for at least a few weeks (it may take some time before you start to see any changes).

Members: Click Here
Not a Member Yet? Click Here for our 10 Second Sign Up