Moms Talk: How Do You Teach a Toddler to Behave?

Welcome to the first installment of Moms Talk, a new feature on Macomb Patch that is part of a new initiative across all Patch sites to reach out to moms and families in our own communities.

Our has been assembled and is standing by to take your questions, give advice and share solutions.

Whether you are a first-time mom, a grandmother, stepmom, Mr. Mom or one of those lucky few who are just "really good with kids," we want you to join the conversation. Moms Talk Q&A is the place to drop in for a talk about the latest parenting hot topic and the issues you're facing this very moment.

We start the conversation today with a question from Randi Yates:

"I have a 16-month-old boy (our first child) who is *for the most part* a very sweet and loving little boy. However, lately he has started to vent his frustrations and aggravations by hitting (mostly when he is overly tired). When something does not go his way, he will hit anything that’s within reach–a table, the wall, mommy, daddy, even our poor dog. He will even go out of his way to hit my husband or me if we are not giving him something that he wants. 

"My husband and I are at a loss as to what to do to put a stop to this behavior. We do not believe in spanking and we are not quite sure where he picked up this hitting from. The method that we have been using is to hold his hand and get down to his level and sternly tell him “no hitting.” It does not appear that our method is working, however, since this is generally met with a slap in the face! Our friends and family tell us that he is just struggling to communicate his frustrations since he has not quite started talking. Others tell us this is just normal “terrible twos” starting early (lucky us). My preferred consequence for him would be a timeout; however, I fear that he is too young to comprehend what a timeout is."

What should Randi do?