Litte hitter!

[bright sparks]

If this is a sudden change as you say, IME theres usually a reason. I would be asking the parents if there have been any changes in his day to day life/routine. Is m or d working late and seeing less of him, has he gone into a big boy bed/given up his soother or blankie, is there a new sibling, is he involved in a new activity with a new group of kids etc etc. Theres usually a reason and that way you may be able to address this cause at the route of the problem.

Also IMO, I wouldn't give timeout in the exersaucer as he is being forced to stay in one spot where as time out in a corner or a particular spot in the room away from the action gives him the choice to get up, so if you are on top of his time out and make him stay in his spot for his time out, and keep putting him back if he gets up, then he will learn to make a better choice even for just this 1 or 2 minutes on time out and he will realize that he has control of the consequences, rather than just confining him. I would also be very consistant with time outs EVERY TIME, even if he hits 10 times a day. Also making him apologise to the victim and give hugs to show caring and loving behaviour.

Good Luck, these things take lots of patience and commitment to work through. I hope you get your loveing caring dcb back soon

[sunnydays]

Thanks for your advice! I will try doing the time-outs in the corner...although he is hitting maybe about 40-50 times a day...I cannot even count actually, it is every other minute...so it becomes very very difficult to supervise time-outs that many times in a day while caring for the other kids. I do have a time-out spot that the older kids sit in, but I am not sure if I will be able to spend the time to make this little guy learn to sit that many times in a day! I have spoken to the parents and they haven't come up with any change or reason, but then, it always occurs to me that really we as daycare providers, have no idea what goes on in the kids' homes...only what the parents say...and what parent is going to tell us that they are fighting with their husband or experiencing extreme stress for some reason etc? It's a guessing game really and I am left with having to deal with it on my end. His brother is a biter...he's almost 3 now and still does it occasionally, but it has always been when he gets frustrated, not for attention and he has gotten a lot better at stopping himself. I am hoping my week of vacation next week gives time to clear the air and maybe he will come back after and forget about hitting? (I know I am a dreamer...hahaha)

If this is a sudden change as you say, IME theres usually a reason. I would be asking the parents if there have been any changes in his day to day life/routine. Is m or d working late and seeing less of him, has he gone into a big boy bed/given up his soother or blankie, is there a new sibling, is he involved in a new activity with a new group of kids etc etc. Theres usually a reason and that way you may be able to address this cause at the route of the problem.

Also IMO, I wouldn't give timeout in the exersaucer as he is being forced to stay in one spot where as time out in a corner or a particular spot in the room away from the action gives him the choice to get up, so if you are on top of his time out and make him stay in his spot for his time out, and keep putting him back if he gets up, then he will learn to make a better choice even for just this 1 or 2 minutes on time out and he will realize that he has control of the consequences, rather than just confining him. I would also be very consistant with time outs EVERY TIME, even if he hits 10 times a day. Also making him apologise to the victim and give hugs to show caring and loving behaviour.

Good Luck, these things take lots of patience and commitment to work through. I hope you get your loveing caring dcb back soon