How to stop a 17 month baby from being aggressive and hurting parents?

Question

Our baby has a lot of time and care from us, she spends much time outside playing with us, we give her a lot of love and do not beat her when she does something wrong, but try to explain or show her that she shouldn't do it. But she gets aggressive on a whim (even while just playing) and sometimes really hurts us, strongly scratching, biting or hitting. How can we teach her not to do it without using violence? We have tried to clearly show her that it is bad, but in this case it really does not work, she keeps being aggressive. Does anyone have a hint or suggestion? Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

1] as soon as she does this, STOP whatever you are doing.

2] gently grab her face, so she looks at you, and say [ not shout ], "NO. That hurts Mommy [ Daddy, etc. ]

3] put her down, and walk away

ALL CARETAKERS must do this, to be effective.

a] she is too young to understand time outs [ two - three year old might ]

b] she may be getting over excited - look for hints she is getting 'wound up' before she gets aggressive

c] does what she eats affect her behavior? Too much sugar, etc.?

d] over-tired?

Answer 2

Introduce the concept of time-outs.  Every time she does something that you feel is inappropriate, put her in time out, it should be the same place each time, and make sure she stays there for a minute and a half - one minute for each year of age.  Explain why she's there, then walk away - keeping an eye on her, of course, but not interacting with her until time is up.  Then explain to her again why she was put there, ask for an apology, get one, then give her a hug.  The most important thing here is to be consistent, you must be!

Good luck and stay strong!

Answer 3

First of all stop lecturing her.  She doesn't understand, she is only 17 months old, not 17 YEARS old.  Her mind doesn't grasp the concept of what you are pontificating about.  First of all stop playing rough with her.  As a small child she doesn't understand limitations they way an adult understands them and when you play rough she figures it's okay so you really can't discipline her for something YOU have taught her.  If she continues start using time outs...about 1 minute per age...maybe a minute and half for her.