My 18 mo won't stop hitting other children!

[mumofoliver]

Help! I have just spent the morning with my NCT friends and my 18 mo almost continuously hit their children (same age). All related to sharing of toys, them getting in his way or just plain anger. How do I deal with this? I have started immediately picking him up and taking him to a corner of the room without any toys nearby and telling him not to hit and then leaving him there. After about 3 or 4 times of putting him in the corner he would start to cry and came over for a cuddle. Is this the right thing to do -he doesn't seem to be getting the message yet!

I know some things the advice is to ignore it but I can't, especially when other children are involved! He is at nursery but when I asked them, they hadn't noticed anything. Please tell me this is just a stage!

It sounds as if you're doing the right thing. How long does he stay in the corner for? I think they recomend 1 min for every year of his life.
When he comes for a cuddle, don't make too much of a fuss of him as he'll see it as positive attention for hitting.
I've never been through this as my little girl dosn't have an ounce of aggression in her so I was lucky. 18 months is very young but it does need to be nipped in the bud as he won't grow out of it on his own.
Ask your HV or nursery. Good luck

My little girl did this at exactly the same age and I did exactly as you are doing i.e. removed her from the situation to a corner (not for any specific period of time just to make her realise that she couldn't carry on) and told her that hitting isn't nice. It didn't feel like it was doing anything at the time and I thought it would go on for ever. It didn't though, it lasted a couple of months max and we have no probs at all anymore (she's 2.3 now). I'd say carry on doing what you're doing and he'll get the message eventually.

Thanks both - just wanted reassurance that I was doing the right thing as so far it has made no difference!