My DS keeps on hitting people

[Rubytues]

Looking for some advise please! My DS is 22 months and for about the last 4 months he has been hitting me whenever he is even slightly miffed about something. It started just with him hitting me but now DH, granny, friends, anybody really, gets it if he's not happy. We have tried phases of ignoring him, telling him off sternly, taking his toys, naughty step etc, but to no avail. Am finding this stressful and embarrasing. Any advice or ideas greatly appreciated please!

I think that it is probably down to his age. He isn't quite 2 yet and may not have aquired the verbal skills to express how he feels. Does it happen when he is tired or hungry? These were the key trigger points for my dd when she was your son's age. We dealt with it by saying 'no hitting, we don't hit in this house'. We also tried to prempt when we thought she might start by either putting her down for a nap, giving her a snack or distracting her. She is now 3.5yrs and very rarely lashes out. I think what you are discribing is normal toddler behaviour and he will grow out of it. You just need to keep reinforcing that it is not acceptable. HTH