HELP: hitting! 9.5 months

My daughter is 10 months and she was hitting as well, we just tapped her hand and shook our heads “no” and told her “no”. She still hits occasionally but when we say no and tap her hand she stops.

We grab his hand/forearm and say no hit and try to immediately redirect. if we're near the couch or bed I'll slap the cushion and say "you can hit the couch" and then he hits the couch multiple times, gets bored and goes off to do something else. But he's not been around other babies to the point he could hit them.

I just assume he's excited / frustrated / seeing what happens, all of the above and try to give consistent responses. He doesn't cry when we say no hit but when he bites me I'll pull away and sternly say no bite and he cries like I just abandoned him 💔😭 and I hold him, give him comfort. He's a baby 🤷 he's just figuring things out

Don’t flick him. That won’t teach him anything. Model the proper behavior and acknowledge the feelings. Hitting tends to come from frustration. Even in a baby it’s important to recognize and name those feelings to them. Show him gentle hands and use his hands to model the behavior by gently stroking mama. And tell him “gentle hands” as you do so. Also a firm no when necessary and redirecting the behavior. It’s not going to happen over night and every baby has this phase. They’ll grow out of it I promise.

Just be patient and consistent, grab hand and tell him no.. mine will do it here and there now but now he got in the habit of throwing himself back