How to Respond When Another Child Hits Your Toddler

When another child hits your toddler, the instinct to snap at the other kid — or tell your own child to hit back — is completely understandable. Neither one teaches your child what actually helps. This video walks through what to do instead, including the honest answer to the question almost every parent asks at some point: should you ever teach your child to hit back?

Physical aggression in toddlers peaks around age 2 to 2.5 before declining — the child who hit yours is very likely going through the same developmental stage most toddlers pass through, not something uniquely wrong with them (Tremblay et al., 2004).

In this podcast:

→ The 3 A's Method, applied to the moment your child gets hit

→ The honest answer to "should I teach my child to hit back?"

→ How to manage your own protective anger in the moment

→ What to do when it's the same child hitting yours, over and over

→ The exact words to use with your child afterward