What do you do when your toddler hits?

[Mamabear04]

DD is 2.5yo and is generally a really good toddler. Recently she has started to really push the boundaries and has started to hit my DH and sometimes me too. It will be for reasons like getting lifted out of the bath when she doesn't want it to end or if she is made to do something similar she doesn't want to do. It almost always happens when she is tired and she never hits full force because I can see she holds back and knows its wrong but can't help herself anyway. We've been saying "no! Don't hit!" In a very stern voice or saying things like "hitting is sore. Don't hit" and she usually says sorry either straight away or within 5 minutes. I'm just a bit worried that she is starting to see it as a game and wondering if there's ING else we should be doing to nip it in the bud so it doesn't escalate. How do you respond in the moment when your toddler hits? What do you do?

Straight on time out with an explanation of why. Hitting is not nice, hurts etc etc. I think putting my LO straight on time out without warning will tell her it's definitely not nice behaviour, cause usually she would get a warning first. She doesn't do it often thankfully but they're all gonna do it at some point! Good luck!

A stern voice is good, slightly raised. In the manner you would tell a cat to get his face out of the cauliflower cheese dish that was on the kitchen worktop waiting to go in the oven. (Not that this just happened in our house, oh no).

I have a hitty toddler too, same age as yours. There’s a book called Hands are not for hitting which has helped.