Son pushing his friends at nursery

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My son's nursery got in touch to tell me that he has been pushing his friends. They said this behaviour is new, it started just last week. He is 2.5 years old. There is no physical violence at home, I give him loads of love and hugs and kisses. He is an only child. Is this normal behaviour and should I be worried? I've tried telling him not to push other people and to be kind, but apart from that I have no idea what else I can do 🤷‍♀️

All kids do this kind of thing, I honestly wouldn't worry, there are some great books that might remind him. We had one called 'Hands are not for Hitting' there may well be a Pushing book in the series, they just say nice things like hands are for clapping, drawing etc. I bet this stops soon. Best of luck Xxx

Haha that's funny because I have the exact book! I've read it to him so many times but it doesn't seem to be making any difference. The nursery was enquiring about his home life and whether there have been any changes, it sounded almost accusatory. My DH and I are going through some rough times, but we never argue or even raise our voices when DS is around.

Try not to fret. My DS is also nearly two and a half and he’s been through this and to a certain extent is still in it, although it’s vastly improved. We did have a stage of biting between 18-21 months which was mortifying and horrible but it is very common.

There are definite triggers for DS. He has a very strong sense of justice but obviously at this age his sense of justice is skewed somewhat! Tiredness is a HUGE trigger.

It is trial and error - never found the books helped much either, but I do find modelling ‘gentle hands’ does - something like ‘aww, isn’t she wearing a lovely top? We want to be friends, don’t we?’ And he’ll hug the other child then! DS is quite tactile and obviously there will come a point he’ll have to learn not to use his hands at all but hugging is definitely preferable to pushing!

If it’s a decent nursery they will be used to it. FWIW, DS has been brought up in a very calm, gentle home but he’s a toddler and they are a bit feral - they just need guidance and training!