Grabby baby

[booklover164]

Over the past couple of months, my 11 month old has become very grabby and smacky. When we are with other children, he often grabs or hits them on the face or scratches them. I know he is only little and doesn't understand what he's doing nor does he mean any harm. Both myself and DH are getting concerned about this as I have been to many playgroups etc and other children just don't seem to do this. We are consistent in telling him no and to ' play gently'. I just wondered if anyone else has had the same problem and how to deal with it? It's getting a little embarrassing now....

[sar302]

They all do it! Some worse than others... looks at DS
Just keep modelling the positive behaviour - remembering that they don't understand at that age, but will one day.

[SS1987]

Sounds completely normal to me. I’d go as far as saying I don’t know many young babies that don’t grab or pull at others. Just exploring and testing boundaries. My 12 month old grabs at anything and everyone possible and is just entering the biting stage 😩 me being her favourite victim at the minute. Just keep telling him no and keep him at arms length so you can quickly pull him away if he makes a grab for anyone. Most parents have been in your shoes so I’m sure they’ll understand

[BertieBotts]

It's a totally nornal phase. Are you at groups with younger babies? I would say it's time to change to the more active/boisterous toddler groups. You won't be the only ones then and they can survive a bit obv rough and tumble.

[sar302]

^ that's actually a good idea.

My DS is big, and was an early-ish walker. At a year old, you couldn't pick him out of a bunch of 14/15 month olds. And they held their own a lot better against him! We switched up from a baby signing, to a toddler signing class at this age because of this.