My 2 y/o dd smacks my face!

[Caththerese1973]

Hi, any hints about how to handle a toddler who smacks you face? my dd does this often, and as a 'joke' in fact - she will grab my hands say 'you keep still' and then crack me across the face! Is this normal? What the hell have I done to give her such a perverse sense of humour?
I have tried sending her to the 'naughty zone' when she does this but as yet, no results.

LOL. "you keep still"...

Yeah, ds has done that on a couple of occasions until he learned that he gets back what he dishes out...

Not sure whether this is much help, but my 2yo ds is exactly the same - gets angry and then hits me. We tried all sorts, going to his room etc. Now, I'm trying to just a)ignore it and walk away (this one doesn't work much), or b) just say 'i don't want you near me now, you are being very naughty and I don't want to play with a naughty boy, I want to play with a nice boy', etc. etc. This seems to work, but again lots of the solutions work for a while, then stop working..... Ah the joys!

Good luck!

You've actually got to gently push them away from you, and if they come towards you again, just keep moving away. It's fun!

my ds is 20mths and will smack or scratchwhen he is a bit peeved...I tend to hold his hands tell him it was naughty then ask him to go away..if he does it again then i use time out

It could also be connected to low blood sugar levels...

could try just getting up and walking away immediatly she does this. maybe into another room or something? immediate withdrawl of your attention can send a message home.

could also try saying ouch hitting hurts. that has hurt mummy. then walk away.

fwiw, i dont like to tell a child they are naughty. i think it can make them have a negative image of themselves. i always identify the behaviour that was unacceptable and say X was a naughty thing to do, rather than you are a naughty person. that way you are clearly saying a behaviour is unacceptable without making the child feel they are bad. i think it is very important to differenciate (sorry about my spelling!!) between the behaviour and the child, iyswim.

lemonrice what do you mean by low blood sugar levels??? as my son does this face smaking too but it's now gone from to him doing it to other children.

I was thinking to day that it could be somrthing that he eats. but I am quite careful what I give him.

When you are hungry blood sugar levels can go down, some people maintain quite a stable level but some are prone to drop and be irritable, shaky etc. dd1 and myself have this tendency and she used to show it as an infant with a smack especially eg after palygroup and later after school and also if she was thirsty.

ugh, this morning dd had a major tantrum because when she woke up she said to me: 'I want to slap and pinch you!' and began to attack....I said 'no way, sweetheart, that hurts' and then I put her in her 'naughty cot' (her disused portacot) for a minute or two. She was REALLY upset. I guess two year olds have a lot of intense emotions and ambivalence, and I don't take it personally. But I have a big ugly scratch on my forehead from this morning, and I feel physical injury just can't be tolerated.

Ah dd 20mths also has taken to doing this, I naughty step her, or ignore her, which ever is easier depending on where we are.