How to stop a baby hurting me?

[LJ17xx]

So there's probably not much I can do as he's 10 months(in two days) so he wouldn't understand but I have tonnes of bruises and scratches. He scratches me, kicks, hits and the worst thing, my scalp is always sore. He rips chunks out of my hair(tied up or not). Is there anything I can do??

I feel your pain. DD is 15m & a clamberer and spends most nights from 4am clambering directly over my face/head. I sobbed a little bit the other day as I felt like I was being abused. I try to tell her to be gentle and it's sore and put her in her cot (SCREAMS BLUE MURDER) but nothing works. Sometimes I think she's trying to get so close that she can just about crawl back in, she just can't get close enough yo me.

I try telling him that's bad, or you're hurting mummy and take his hands away, but this doesn't seem to help as he has a meltdown and does it even more

Kids that age don’t under stand that you can feel pain like they do tbh x

DD2 (10 months) quite enjoys watching our reactions when she pinches/yanks hair. She found a gentle "that's not kind" even more amusing and would grin and do it again. So I've taken to a very firm "No." It's working much better.

At 10 months you just can't get him to understand I am afraid. I had similar, I couldn't cosleep with DS1 because he used to headbut me in the face, other people didn't believe me!

The best thing is not to give them the opportunity and don't react. If you shout out that will be interesting to him and will encourage him to carry on.

I encourage mine to do "gentle touching", eg encourage them to stroke my face and then praise them. That works, but they are older.

My second DD was like this, it was horrible and I noticed that she was worse when she was tired as she’s rub herself against me, head butting and scratching as she went.
She’s two now and kisses me better when I say ouch and says sorry. So they do get it eventually!

Put down and walk away.

Model gentle hands by taking theirs in yours and patting and stroking.

Don’t raise your voice or react strongly.