My 18 month old has found his new hobby....to hit us! He is typically very sweet, loving, gentle, etc....but when he doesn't get his way sometimes or is overly tired will hit us. He thinks it's funny and laughs. DH and I are both firm and reprimand him by saying things like "It is not okay to hit" "You need to be nice" and we have put him many times in Time Out. DS HATES HATES HATES Time Out and screams the min we do it (We put him standing in the corner in our dining room) for 30 seconds. Then we go in, squat to his level and say ("You were put in Time Out because you were hitting. It is not okay to hit. Mommy/Daddy loves you" and then we hug him) Despite his hatred for the T.O. he still continues to do it. We are consistent and firm (not yelling or showing frustration towards him at all).

He is pretty verbal for his age (speaking in 4-5 word phrases now) and when he hits sometimes he'll look me square in the face and say "(M) goes to Time Out". I think I'm in big trouble! LOL

We have even just redirected his behavior to something else which helps too....I know we're doing the right thing, but I'm hoping you girls can provide insight if we need to tweak what we're doing or if there's something you do that was more successful then we are doing.