Well, I guess I have the child that hits other kids.

For the past week or so, I have been told that P (16 months) has been hitting kids at daycare. Not hard and not necessarily in a mean way, but still she is hitting. Then we were playing the the neighbor and she just hit her in the face out of the blue. And she slapped both me and her Dad in the face this weekend.

I would love to give excuses on why she is doing this, and sometimes I can. When she hit me and her Dad, it was because she asked us to do something (put her down or get up) and we didn't. So it was obviously out of frustration. When we were having the playdate, it was dinner/bedtime and she was teething...so I think it may have just been overtired, hungry, and in pain. The next time we saw the same little girl, P looked at me, wagged her finger and said "no no no" and then slapped her. So, she obviously knows she is not supposed to do it.

She doesn't respond when I say no. DH told her no once this weekend and she cried sad tears and hugged us both. She will say sorry. I guess I am just wondering if this is a phase? Does every kid go through a hitting thing or do I have the kid that other Mom's won't want theirs playing with? How do I address this?