Keeping hands to themselves

[Shannie]

I have a 3 year old DCB who cannot keep his hands to himself. He is constantly grabbing the other kids hands and pulling them off of toys. I am worried for the younger ones who use things for support, he pulls their hands off of furniture too. And the older kids are getting angry at him. I am forever reminding him not to do it. Any suggestions on how to get through to him? Thanks in advance.

[Monday 2 Friday Mama]

I may get lynched for saying this, but at three years of age this child is old enough to know better. I would use my serious voice and tell him that "No - David was using that toy" and then return the toy to the original child. I would then have him sit at my feet for a couple of minutes - to re-earn the privilledge of playing freely with the other children. If he continues to misbehave, you could isolate him. I had a 3 year old dcg who did this sort of thing, and she was really insulted at being put in a playpen - but it worked.;) She didn't want to be a "Baby" and she learned PDQ that if you want to play with the other children, you must play nicely.

[sunnydays]

I have this same problem with a 2 year old...he has improved, but still some days I get so tired of telling him not to touch his friends, grab toys, hug them (he hugs them hard and they fall over), etc. I give positive reinforcement when he gives the toy back and he has become good at that...but I can't seem to get across the idea of personal space.

[Shannie]

the personal space is a big one too. He does the hugging alot as well, usually with his baby sister and the other babies.

[Momof4]

I like M2FM's post and mine would have been very similar. I just want to add that you have to get the parents to do what you are doing at home or forget it.

Hugging is always nice but I have a 2 year old boy who didn't understand anything let alone personal space until a couple months ago and I know how frustrated the other children will get when they are busy and another child invades their space with no empathy for their feelings. Every child deserves to be able to play without having another child ploughing through! I hear ya but I think repeating yourself until you're blue in the face is really your only option. Use a really stern voice and hopefully he'll get it soon.