what else can i do to stop my 2.3 yr old hurting others for attention

[daisyartichoke]

since my dd was born in may my ds has bit and hit her to get my attention if i am talking to someone else. i have various things i do to try and prevent this and i do not make afuss of his behaviour. i say that i don't like him hurting her and ask him to apologise, time out does not work as he does it more and more. he now pushes other people's children over or hits them, he does this occasionally at groups but most often if i have afriend and their child over. i am at my wits end and am thinking about not meeting up with anyone or going to any more groups. the prob is that i get depressed easily and am worried about becoming isolated. does anyone else's child do this? what can i do? i do spend one to one time with him everday. any advice would be much appreciated.

[jabberwocky]

How old is your ds? I only have one child currently but am expecting another next month. My ds is 3 and I believe past the age of biting, but of course, aggressive behavior could occur at any age.

Also, there is a book called "1-2-3 Magic" that has some really good suggestions on discipline. My ds is very active and sometimes it's hard for me to get him to calm down and listen.

[Nooney]

I'm not sure if it will help but I watched a program on T.V. about the same thing and what they recommended is that Mum made a great fuss of the hurt party and totally ignored the child that had caused the incident. The theory was that by totally ignoring the child they are then not receiving the attention that they are seeking and will (hopefully) realise that the aggressive behaviour will not be rewarded by attention from Mum. (Children will seek negative attention from parents rather than go without any attention at all). I think the other thing they did was to increase the amount of positive reinforcement for simple things that the child did that was positive or good. I'm sure it would not be an easy thing to implement but may be worth a try. Best of luck.