How do you stop a 2yrs 9 month old from hitting and kicking?

[MommyD]

ds1 is always hitting his younger brother, Daddy and me (especially his younger brother). He has also started kicking as well.
I always tell him it is wrong, put him down if I am carrying him or remove him away from his brother. It is clearly not enough as he is continuing to do it.
How do you discipline an unruly 2 and a half year old? We decided to start putting him in his bedroom. I have been up and downstairs 10 times today so far and have to hold the door shut. I am pregnant and it is driving me nuts.
Anyone got any ideas - I am averse to smacking him as that is precisely the behaviour I am trying to get him to stop doing.
He is getting out of control. And I am at the end of my tether. Seems the more I 'discipline him the worse he gets'. I am not happy ignoring the hitting as he frequently hurts his brother.

Hi MommyD, I sympathise deeply...

DD had a phase like that as well, funnily enough I was also pregnant at the time. Maybe it's related?

Anyway, I did the 'withdrawing attention and affection' (putting her down and walking away) and it only worked to a certain degree... one day when I was holding her she kept trying to hit me in the face and I accidentially clipped her one as I was trying to avert her arm but missed... I was horrified when I made contact, but her unruly behaviour stopped! I'm NOT advocating to hit him back, but I think up to that point dd didn't understand that it actually hurts. Especially as she rough and tumbles at the cm and e.g. a 6 year old there make a game of it, you know... poke here poke there, giggle...

I don't really have any suggestions as it seems you have tried the usual techniques.

Oh one other thing that works wonders with dd, be it kicking, misbehaving, not tidying up etc... we threaten to turn the TV off! Goes to show we let her watch way too much TV but it's such a good immediate punishment to take it away.

Has your ds any favourites you could withhold if he keeps his kicking and biting up?

I would be very interested in hearing some answers to this question as well as my 2y4m old dd seems to think it acceptable to smack me, dp or her big brother. I don't know where she gets it from as we do not use physical punishment so I can only assume it is from her nursery. We have tried time out too which she hates but it hasn't stopped her.

i started a similar thread earlier today - see under toddler hitting and shouting in same section - i got loads of great advice