2.5 yo hits himself when hurt/frustrated

[GirlWithTheMouseyHair]

DS is 2.5, he's generally very placid, can count on one hand the number of times he's lashed out at someone else.

Recently though he's been hurting himself and I'm clearly majorly jumping the gun and getting paranoid (and probably PFB) but I have a history of self harm which I can remember back as far as I can remember (I used to punch my own stomach or hit my head to have an excuse to stay up, saying I then had stomach ache or had fallen out of bed - I remember doing this from about aged 4, which I don't think was actively self harming in the ways I went on to do a a teenager and older) and am really worried I've passed something horrid to him.

If he's tired and does something naughty and gets told off for it, or if he hurts himself accidently (eg today he held a book high above his head, it slipped and knocked his face when it fell) he hits his head or face and cries in frustration. It's probably only happened a few times in all honesty, but is it something I should keep an eye on? At the moment I just gently try to calm him down, quietly tell him not to hurt himself, hold and cuddle him - should I be doing anything else?

I think that this is quite common - they are frustrated and unable to deal with their emotions.

I think you're doing exactly the right thing

GirlWithTheMouseyHair please don't worry about self harming. My DS 2.4 does this too and I've never self-harmed. I think he is simply testing boundaries. My DS will often hit me first then I'll say "please don't hit mummy, it's not nice" then he'll hit himself and I'll say the same but towards DS obviously.
I'm definitely keeping an eye on it but as long as I'm consistent with the message that it's not nice behaviour, I'm hoping he'll grow out of it or get bored. He's an absolute gem at nursery; they can't believe he's a mummy beater