@drdeborahparenting: A child starts hitting when they feel frustrated, and most parents correct the hit in the moment. They say, "Don't hit." "We don't do that." "Say sorry." Those words name the behavior, but they do not complete the system. Because after the correction, everything goes back to normal. The child goes right back to the same toy. The same sibling. The same game. Now the child learns that hitting gets corrected, but access does not actually change. Here's what to do instead. Starting at age 2, before the moment, state the rule once and keep it short: "If you hit, play stops." Then if they hit, say one sentence: "You hit. Play stops." Now follow through. If they hit over a toy, the toy is unavailable. If they hit a sibling, they move away from the sibling. If they hit during play, play stops. No lecture. The sentence is not the system. The system is what happens before, during, and after the hit. That is how hitting stops becoming a moment you keep correcting and starts becoming a behavior the household has a system for. Get the full hitting system inside Parenting OS. Go to my profile and tap the link in my bio. #PurposedParenting #ParentCoach #ParentingCommunity #ParentSupport #ParentingOS

Deborah L Tillman

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Region: US

Tuesday 28 July 2026 00:00:56 GMT