Ronan hits. He hits a lot. But he doesn't hit everyone. Just Riley. And Ryan. And me. I don't know what it is. Sometimes, he hits me when I tickle him. And I know why he does that -- he's trying to stop me. But, what I don't get is when Riley is standing next to the kitchen sink and he decides to punch her in the stomach. Or, when Riley is brushing her hair, he will swing at her...wherever he can reach.
It's never-ending. It gets to the point where all I can do is lock myself in the office, so I don't yell at them...because once he hits Riley, she'll pull out the huffing and puffing and screams right back...and it's like most horrible sounds you would ever hear.
Ryan seems to take it the hardest. I think it's mainly because Ronan and Riley start fighting after she gets home from school and Ryan comes home shortly after. He doesn't really get to hear them NOT fight. I just don't understand.
We have never ever hit them. And I've read that it's a way to get attention. Surely, I give the boy a tremendous amount of attention during the day. And even when Riley gets home, he still gets a whole lot of attention from both of us. He just hits and it's awful. It's stressful. And, it's mean.
What are we supposed to do? Now, we do the time-outs. He hates them. He cries and cries and cries and apologizes and says he is done. Once he comes out of it, he's fine for about 10 minutes, before he gets frustrated at something and lashes out again. Then, it's back to time-out. Today, his tantrum was about 40 minutes and I finally was able to get him to sit in his bed and after 25 minutes of calming him down, he fell asleep. Finally.
I just feel bad. I know I'm doing something wrong, but I don't know how to fix it. Every kid is different. And he definitely reacts to things being taken away. So, we do that. But, he still doesn't stop hitting. I don't want him to be the kid in pre-school that hits...so what do I do to stop him?
Help!
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