It can feel like it happens out of nowhere: your sweet, affectionate one- or two-year-old suddenly starts hitting, pushing, or kicking friends or siblings, and you’re at your wits’ end. In this video, I walk you through my real-life, Montessori toddler approach—because these are often the same children who want to hug and pat their friends. They’re physical learners, and we need a multi-layer plan that protects everyone while we teach better skills. First, I focus on protecting the child who’s getting hurt. That means staying physically close during interactions so I can interrupt before it happens, and teaching the child who’s being hurt to say (or sign) “stop.” I also share what to observe so you can catch patterns and early body cues—tensing, “angry eyebrows,” gritted teeth—so you can step in sooner. Second, I support the child who’s doing the hitting. Toddlers need co-regulation because their prefrontal lobes aren’t ready to manage big emotions alone. I show how I coach language (I start with “upset”), reduce baseline stress (sleep, food, screen time, big life changes), interrupt the habit consistently, and build replacement skills like taking space. I also talk about nurturing activities and modeling your own calm, healthy ways to handle frustration.