Does anyone else’s toddler do this?

[AnxietyIsMyShadow]

DS who is 3 next month just pushed a heavy toy over onto my foot, causing me to yell in pain. He immediately began roaring and then crying in response, before hitting me repeatedly. He has done this before - hurts me somehow and when I either tell him off or he can see I’m hurt, he starts crying and expressing anger towards me. Do other peoples young children do this? Is this typical toddler behaviour? Thanks!

Yes, it's perfectly normal.
Both of mine have gone through periods of doing this. I always put it down to my reaction scaring them or not knowing how to manage the big feelings that hurting someone causes.

Yes. Also if I tell my almost 2 year old "no", she will often frown and hit me. I think it's their way of expressing frustration with emotions they don't understand.

Yeah, my DD is 4.5 and still behaves similarly to this sometimes when being told off.

Also, if she hits me I then say "no, we don't hit" and move her hands away. She then hits herself in the head. So I move her hands again and say "no, we don't hit", and then she hits either the floor or table or whatever is nearest and looks at me for a response. It's like she's saying "ok so what can I hit then mummy?" 😂 They're just learning about emotions and boundaries. All normal.