My son (2 and a half years old) is a little, for lack of a better word, violent. I don’t think he is trying to be mean, but he will hit and kick people when he’s overly excited. We’re a very calm, peaceful household, so I’m not sure where he learned these things, and again, it doesn’t seem to be out of anger or anything. But he’s very strong for his age, and I worry about him playing with kids his own age and hurting them… We explain that it’s mean and don’t do it. He gets sad like he understands and is sorry, but it’s been months this has been going on…not sure how to help him realize he’s hurting people and needs to stop…
68 Likes
Help a mama out and respond anonymously on our forum. How can I teach my toddler to stop being mean? - Mamas Uncut
It’s just his age he’ll grow out of it just re direct
Maybe try to get him into the habit of clapping when he’s excited! 
1 Like
Redirect by saying it hurts when you do this and positive enforcement can be by hugging or high five instead of hitting or kicking. Stay CONSISTENT is key for development. Make them apologize every time to the person they are causing harm to.
2 Likes
Make him sit quietly by himself, take toys away
1 Like
Maybe talk to your pediatrician about an occupational therapist. My daughter was the same way and her daycare provider had there ot come sit with her and she is soooo much better now! They just need redirecting on how to express themselves 
1 Like
Remove him from the situation immediately and put him in time out and if he continues he can lose priveledges…
1 Like
I don’t think he is being aggressive on purpose or learned it anywhere. Toddlers are little people with huge emotions and they are navigating how to properly express them. My daughter still has these moments at almost 3. we explain that it hurts, or is mean. we explain being gentle. “I know you’re excited but you need to be gentle” etc. “I know you’re happy but that hurts mommy/sister etc”. mine gets sad and then will completely change the subject if we do any more than talk to her calmly.
1 Like
Honestly it’s just his age! My son went tru the same thing and I was even at a point were I thought he couldn’t be around kids bc his actions but he grew out of it! He’s about to be 4 now. Of course I would remind him to be gentle every time still just so he knows being aggressive isn’t nice. But he will grow out of that phase! don’t worry!
1 Like
It sounds like he just has a lot of energy and doesn’t know how to release it properly. I would try putting him in a sport or activity where he can release his energy in a safe and healthy way. Not only will putting him in a sport help redirect his energy, but he’ll learn useful life skills like how to manage any anger and how to work with others.
1 Like
Teach him not to do it. You have to be consistent about it. Encourage him to Express himself in other ways, high five or first bump, a hug …my nephew is 2 and does the same thing…
1 Like
It’s a stage. Just say no with your finger hopefully it’ll get to him. 4 boys and they all went through it
My little boy (almost 2) is exactly the same. He goes to nursery and is also like it and we’ve tried lots of interventions between us, some which work for a little while and then stop, some which don’t work at all. At the minute, telling him we understand how he’s feeling but the behaviour is wrong and that it’s not nice, getting him to say sorry and a little timeout away from everyone and everything seems to be working. The nursery have also put an early help assessment in to my health visitor aswell. We know his triggers too and can see when he’s about to do something so can try and prevent it as best we can. It’s hard and can be exhausting but I think may just be a learning phase and not knowing how to deal with their emotions. Stay strong you’ve got this x
It’s been a tough year for all with the pandemic and lack of contact with others, don’t be too hard on him. I always find with mine if I ignore the negatives and praise the good seems to work however my son (ASD) does tend to get over stimulated at times so a firm warning “that’s enough or you’ll be removed” usually works tho I have had to remove him multiple times before he understood what’s being removed meant.
My 2 year old does this a lot. He gets really excited and hits, because he doesn’t know what to do with those big feelings. Big feelings, little people.
I taught him how to clap and stomp, and now when he’s really excited he stomps around and dances and claps, rather than hitting. Teach him how to express his feelings. It won’t be an overnight thing he just learns, it’ll take time.
4 Likes
Just redirect his attention when he gets excited. He learns to control impulses from you so correct him when he gets violent
I don’t know? Hopefully soon? My daughter almost 4 still mean. Mostly to me.
1 Like
Totally normal! My almost 3 yr old does the same thing plus violent cuddling on top of that!
I do time out time when my daughter does this she thinks its hilarious to hit mumma in the face shes slowly learning that its not okay
Try working on other things he can do when he is excited… But speak with your doctor
I’ve seen a lot of people post this same situation quite a bit the last few weeks, all about the same age. My son included. I think terrible twos has a big part in it and as long as you’re consistent, it will pass as he gets older. Hang in there mama
Whenever my child was that way towards me, I overreacted that it hurt. I was very dramatic and even started fake crying, to which I received a hug and “I’m sowwy” Even dad joined in. They would quit after a little while of doing this.
Spank his ass when he does it.
My 5 year old pinches when he’s excited. He’s not doing it to hurt people, he just doesn’t know how else to express his feelings. We are working on it.
He will grow out of it
It sounds like he can’t help it when you get excited you kind of do things as more of a reflex then as something you can control so it sounds like if he’s doing this when he’s excited then he has no control over it if that’s the case then there’s really not a lot you can do other than emphasize that it hurts and hope that eventually he learns to control it but this age that’s not necessarily possible
Help a mama out and respond anonymously on our forum. How can I teach my toddler to stop being mean? - Mamas Uncut
My son turns 3 in September and is exactly the same! Honestly I think it’s a typical 2 year old boy thing, they cannot fully express their feelings just yet and act on emotion which means they can be violent when happy/sad/angry. I’d take it as it is, Carry on doing what you are doing I.e time out etc when displaying this behaviour, he will say sorry and usually end up repeating it but he is 2… he will grow out of it I’m sure 
2 years do not know how to self regulate their emotions; we need to give them the tools and quite frankly learning those tools can take ages!
My 2 year olds new emotion is frustration and she throws things and pushes her sister. I tell her that’s not nice and redirect her.
Little people feeling big emotions they have no control over and excitement is a big one… you aren’t doing anything wrong. Maybe other things for redirection because sounds like he needs to express that emotion and shake it from his body? Like “when we are excited we jump” and jump around with him to shake that need out of him?
My daughter is allowed to hit pillows when angry but not people.
We are all allowed to feel what we feel; it’s a human right… it’s how we express it
2 Likes
Cherrie we’re not alone lol! Maybe some tips will come on here soon 
So you can’t really take away a behaviour without offering an alternative behaviour. It’s an emotional response to stimuli. What you need to encourage is an acceptable physical outlet for this response. So encourage him that when he’s excited instead of kicking or hitting, we shake it off, or do a dance, or something like that.
2 Likes
My 5 year old is the same, his brothers are really chill but he gets a little crazy sometimes. I spoke to his school as another kid there was being mean to him and the school said all boys around his age and younger get really boisterous for no reason and turns out that all the boys in his class are the same. Im guessing all kids are different as my eldest was never like that lol. They said they grow out of it after a while and start to chill a little lol x
Help a mama out and respond anonymously on our forum. How can I teach my toddler to stop being mean? - Mamas Uncut
2 Likes
Same, I just try to explain over and over that he can hurt someone or himself. They are learning, and we are their to guide them. Its definitely hard and sometimes I lose my cool and yell. The only thing that really makes him think to stop is time out. I’ll set the phone for 2 mins and tell him he can get up when it rings
Following!!! I have the EXACT same problem with my 2 1/2 year old. I’ve tried spanking, timeouts, talking to him and explaining, it seems like nothing works😩 I just keep putting him in time outs and keep explaining hoping one day it sticks🙄
14 Likes
Some kids just need to know how it feels to be hit to understand that it’s not ok im not saying beat ur kid im saying spank that ass I personally spanked my kids iv even got as far as smacking them in the mouth I don’t beat my kids but shit they know not to ever hit someone speak crazy show ur manners my kids don’t ask up we have the best relationship I can ask for I don’t ever regret the way I raised my kids… yes if spanking that ass gets ur kid in shape why not
8 Likes
I definitely will get hate for this but my 3 year old went though the same thing. It didn’t stop until I did to her exactly what she was doing to me (on a smaller scale of course). I never physically hurt her but it did hurt her feelings and while she was upset that she was being treated that way I explained: “well that’s how mommy feels when you do this to her” or whoever she did it to. it may seem harsh but as long as you don’t physically hurt them, they should be fine. Yeah emotional pain is bound to come from it but they should.connect that they are causing people physical and emotional pain and no kid really likes that.
44 Likes
Ask him how he would feel if it was done to him. Then explain that it’s painful and not nice. Then give him other ways he can express his anger, weather it be colouring or kicking a ball. Show him that it’s okay to be upset, but not to hurt people. Give him alternatives and don’t get mad with him … just explain calmly that we don’t treat people in ways we wouldn’t want to be treated.
2 Likes
My two nearly three year old is like this he learnt it from my younger brother though as he’s ten and he’s just trying to be like them thinking it’s funny! No idea when to stop so he ends up getting abit carried away and if he gets told to stop and doesn’t we just give him a time out and let him know why
Some kids do this to take out their energy, they don’t know how to release it and relax so it may come out as “violent” behavior. He may need some run around or more outside time. Something to wear off some of that energy.
2 Likes
Following! My son plays way too rough. When he gets our his little cousin (girl) he will not share and gets mean about it. He has no care for consequences or the result being actually harmful.
10 Likes
He’s a quarantine kid. My nephew is 4 and you never know what you will get when he’s around people. They’ve been isolated for a majority of their lives. Be patient. The more he starts to socialize with other kids he will learn.
3 Likes
Not being mean but do the same things to him so he feels the hurt. Than explain why you do that. Good luck.
10 Likes
My son was like that. But being four now and able to understand better he no longer does it. Yes he has his moods as well all do, but now whrn he gets upset he just leaves instead of attacking his sister. What worked for me was I would grab him tightly and hug him which would end up in a ton of giggles and a mood reset
1 Like
My son did this (2.5) and we didn’t give him any type of reaction. If he seriously did hurt us then we would put him in time out for 2 minutes and everytime he got up we would put him back in time out. It’s a lot of getting up and being consistent but after about a week he stopped
31 Likes
He’s 2. There’s no impulse control. If he starts up remove yourself or whoever he’s hitting and say “it’s my job to keep everyone safe, I’m not safe right now because you’re hitting me so I’m moving away.” Abusing your child back as some have suggested is a great way to teach them how to be violent, not how to stop. This is completely normal behavior.
26 Likes
The people on here saying spanking is child abuse , YOU ARE THE PROBLEM WITH THESE KIDS. There’s a difference in spanking and abuse. 
81 Likes
A little swat on the behind & time out. He is doing it because there are no consequences to his bad behavior! He will keep getting worst, until you have zero tolerance!!! No one wants the routy kid hitting & kicking their child.
10 Likes
I dealt with this with my son and it never went away. I always felt so guilty bc he was so little. Later he was diagnosed with ODD and though he is now 18, it is still a struggle but he fights hard to keep himself calm bc the meds make him feel like a zombie 
8 Likes
Excitement is hard to control at that age. Consistency is key, tell him no, be serous but not mean, and no playing for a minute after an incident
5 Likes
I personally think it’s normal. Kids get overly excited and don’t know how to express themselves. They are still learning. Give it some time. He will be fine.
7 Likes
Do it back to him. “See that doesn’t feel good”! Obviously don’t smack him across the room… just enough to get his attention. Don’t be afraid to hurt his feelings a little, he will still love you!
14 Likes
This is the terrible 2s stage. And then comes the horrible 3s… It does get better thou mama.
When my kids went threw this stage, they had a certain chair that was for time outs only. They would sit in the chair for 2,2.5,3 min depending on their age. And that chair was only used for time outs. Not for eating,playing,etc.
So whenever he hits or anything just sit him in the chair and keep reminding him why he is in the chair
And this time out thing y’all talking about…if spanking a child is a waste of time because the child is too young to know why they’re getting a whipping, then putting them in time out sure as hell isn’t going to make them think about what they did wrong either cause they’re still too young. Time outs don’t really work until around the age of 4 and up. Yes they call it the terrible 2s for a reason, but don’t dare use that as an excuse to just let your child go through with it because a phase can turn into a habit of it is not checked and put under control. I’ve been a teacher for 10 years now and so many parents come to me talking about they don’t know what to do with their child to correct their behavior problem. And unless your child has been clinically diagnosed with a mental disorder stop blaming ADD/ADHD on their behavior. For the woman in here that stated she has a child with ODD. So does my 15 and he’s been under doctor’s care since he’s been 4, and he still got pop pops. Some of y’all parents need to go to family counseling and therapy if y’all seriously don’t know how to control y’all kids.
10 Likes
Replacement behaviors. If he’s doing this bc he’s happy/excited you don’t want him to think that it’s wrong/bad to be happy or excited. If he’s hitting when he’s happy tell him “I love that you’re so happy! Maybe instead of hitting you can clap your hands. Instead of kicking we can stomp our feet or do a little dance”
Get the whole family behind this so that when you see it coming you can remind him and everyone can clap/stomp together so he feels ok doing it and not different. Hope this helps
1 Like
Start pretend crying and show him how his actions caused you pain. Children don’t like seeing their parents cry, he will immediately see cause and affect from his actions. As long as you’re consistent with this, he will start to see. This is what I had to do with my son and it worked wonders. It’s like young puppies or other animals that play rough as babies. They start to realize from the yelps that biting too hard hurts their siblings, so they learn to play gentle
3 Likes
He’s not violent, he’s 2.
Hitting, biting, kicking are developmentally normal behaviors especially at this age because he has ZERO impulse control. Again completely developmentally normal as impulse control doesn’t even begin to develop until 4-6 years old and continues to slowly develop into the mid-20s.
These articles go over what behaviors are developmentally normal so as the adult you can have realistic age-appropriate expectations.
These books are great as well…
*The Whole-Brain Child by Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson (Honestly all of Daniel Siegel’s books are great)
*How to Talk so Little Kids Will Listen: A Survival Guide to Life with Children Ages 2-7 by Joanna Faber & Adele Faber
*Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids by Dr. Laura Markham
35 Likes
It’s very normal for that age. As awful as it sounds, I hit right back and when he says ow! I say “exactly it doesn’t feel nice” and for the most part he stops
3 Likes
I am a daycare teacher (20 yrs😬), and I teach 2 1/2 - 3yrs olds. I’ve seen that excitability often in kids and the key is to observe them, and stop it when you see that they are about to hit by getting over-exicited. Approach the child, and put your hand on their shoulder or back, and say “calm down” or sometimes just by your gentle touch, they’ll calm themselves on their own.
2 Likes
Op has clearly stated they knows he’s not being “aggressive” out of anger. But excitement.
It’s commenters automatically spank his ass. lol. Typical mentality.
2 Likes
Just coming to say that you’re not alone, mama. Took my 2.5 year old to the zoo today. Let him go on the pony ride. LOVED IT. Didn’t throw a fit about leaving when it was done but got through the gate and he turned and smacked me hard in the face but he wasn’t upset. Almost like he just got so excited.
2 Likes
1- he is still a baby and telling him he is playing mean… means ZERO to him. He may understand you are upset and he is sad knowing he made you sad… but the ability to retain that is minimal.
2- Little kids who are overly handsy often have little awareness to their own strength. Often they can be overwhelmed or excited and their reaction comes across as aggressive.
3. A lot of the times kids who act like this are dealing with sensory overload… sound or touch etc leading to the over active reaction.
4- continue to encourage appropriate play, react calmly, repeat reminders
2 Likes
Being afraid of getting a spanking for doing something wrong is a good thing. Spare the rod (not a beating), spoil the child.
3 Likes
2 is still very young and much to learn. We have taught all my kids ‘gentle’ from a young age. If they do stuff like that we just say “be gentle” and move their hand gently on whatever they he were hitting. But at that age it’s normal to be like that, they still have to learn and shouldn’t be punished for things they just need more teaching on.
1 Like
Okay, I thought I was the only mom that had this happening.
This post saved me today, thank you for being so brave and allowing us other moms to feel “normal”.
Thank you.
2 Likes
Just keep tell him no . And show him hugging instead . pulling hair rub his hair . My grandson is 18 months we almost got him broke from doing that.
2 Likes
It could be a sensory thing, where he gets go excited he needs to let out the pent up excitement and his little 2 year old brain can’t figure out a better way. My son was like this (he had other things going on, like speech delays and such) but he was evaluated and his OT described it kind of like a wind up toy where you just keep winding the toy until you can’t anymore and you let it go and it just goes. The best thing that worked my son was deep comprehensions when we noticed he was getting too excited we’d go over and squeeze his arms gently or if he was sitting push his feet while his leg was extended again gentle.
1 Like
My son is almost 5 and I’m still going through this! My son has been diagnosed with ODD ( oppositional defiance disorder ).
It’s completely developmental he will grow out of that just be consistent with what you want
Whatever way you decide to handle it, be consistent in the consequences and in what you tell them.
I gently but firmly hold my sons body and tell him that he can’t hit, that it hurts others. If he’s having trouble listening to me, we practice breathing exercises to calm him down and I ask him if his ears are ready to listen. If he is still unable to behave, we go and sit in a quiet area away from others, to allow him to calm down.
I’m not against spanking per se, but I think that it is more prudent to calmly talk your child through their emotions, explain to them, in words they’ll understand, that it’s not acceptable, and remove them from the situation until they have calmed down. Spanking them without explaining why, and reacting out of anger and frustration teaches them nothing about dealing with their own emotions properly.
My almost 16 month old is like this we just put her down for a nap each time she learned real quick
4 Likes
Start with teaching him about emotions and how to express your emotions in safe ways. My grandson is the same age and he will say i am angry, make a mad face and can tell me why. It really helps. If he is able to talk about his feelings, it will cut down on his acting out
My son did this around this age and it stopped. I think it was a reaction, he was painfully shy and couldn’t handle people walking up to say hello constantly . Own a restaurant and everyone was constantly walking up to say hello and his reaction was to slap me. He would do it without even thinking and definitely didn’t understand. My 18mth old sometimes will throw things that hurt , hair pulls sometimes hits. Just keep saying ow so she knows it hurts & then take her hand for gentle .
My middle child never had this problem all kids are different but will grow out of it. Who knows what goes on in those little heads!!
We just remind my toddler to be gentle or easy. Then we show her how to be gentle and easy
1 Like
I would say raise ur voice to unwanted behavior. It might sound mean but my 2.5yr old. Went true a phase of kicking n jumping on u when he was in the bed goin to sleep. We co sleep. He was gone outta my bed for a week (I was working nights) when he came back to my bed his kicking was unreal. Would hurt u. So I gave him 3 warnings to stop and get thought it was funny on the 4th I raised my voice higher then normal and he froze. A month later his not done it since to anyone.
Last week he gave me a cuddle and while in the cuddle he bit me (left a fine mark) no warning. Straight out raised my voice n his not done it since (it was his first time ever in fairness). He needed to be nipped in the bud as his in creche/daycare n if he does it to one of then he’d leave a nasty mark.
It’s not often I raise my voice at him (told his creche/childcare to do the same thing) but he knows when I do his been really bold.
Honestly sounds like typical toddler behavior. Of course every kid is different. For my son when he was that small it was time outs and it eventually stuck. He’s now almost 11 so that’s not an issue anymore thankfully. My daughter who just turned 3 this year hasn’t started it….yet. But she’s also the type that all you have to do is say no and it breaks her heart to the point of real tears. So we will see 
I would say just stay consistent. It takes time for them to understand and for things to click. Nothing wrong with that, that’s how they learn. And don’t let anyone make you feel like he is bad or you have done something to make him be this horrible little monster. Kids are kids. They learn by doing. He will eventually understand and it will be okay
As soon as he does it, tell him no in a firm voice and remove him from the room and put on the naughty step for 2 minutes. If he keeps getting off you just calmly put him back on with no communication x
My daughter is 9 months old and likes to scratch or hit in the face. I tell her no we don’t do that and if she does it again I turn her around and set her in my lap, facing away from me and hold her for a minute. Tell her again we don’t hit in the face and give her a hug and a kiss.
This form of time out has helped a lot! In two days she cut back on hitting in the face. Flash forward to today she does it every once in awhile, rarely she will hit again after a time out but I stand my ground and do time out again and she won’t do it all day!
You can start this as early as 9 months. After that it’s a minute per year of age. So for your son it would be 2 minutes.
Hope this helps!
1 Like
My son is like this as well. I am trying more energy outlets letting him be loud more often soccer karate. parks and exercise as often as i can so hes got his energy out for the day.
I would personally do what I did with things like hair pulling and gentleness with animals. When hed pull hair I’d say “ouch. That hurts. I won’t let you hurt me” and then I’d put him down for a few mins. If he pulled the cats hair “I won’t let you hurt the cat” take him to another room and then go to the cat and give it tons of attention. If he hit a kid “I won’t let you hit” remove your child then go and give the other child some attention and make sure they’re OK before you go back to your own kid. Then I’d have to calm him down and then say why we don’t hit. And then have him say sorry or offer a hug If he can’t talk.
I got my son into occupational therapy and it’s helped a lot! He was 2 when this starting happening with him
I work with littles and have worked in sped classrooms. Please teach your littles facial expressions. Like, the person you were too rough with is sad, and when people are sad, we should stop being rough, they dont like it. I have faces showing emotions up in my classroom for this and it really helps!
Tell him that he hurt you, and ask him what he wants or needs. Over and over. This is an absolutely normal behavior for children that age. Their impulsive reaction just get over board sometimes and they can’t yet express their feelings or even really define them.
Help him to learn, but show him that this is not the right way.
If he’s hitting/scratching when happy some more play fight sessions with the parents might help him blowing off some steam.
He just need time and patience to handle himself
My son was like this, he’s 7 now and it’s only got worse, I think he has adhd because of this and other behaviours. May be worth you researching and seeing if it sounds like your son too xx
1 Like
When my daughter would hit or anything. I would hit her hand and say no. Not hard enough to mark her but to show her it’s bad.
1 Like
Ugh, my 2 year old daughter is like this. She has 4 older sisters and none of them were overly violent children😑
He’s a toddler…. This is actually common behavior.
But there could also be underlying sensory issues.
1 Like
How does he know if it’s rough or something hurts if it hasn’t happened to him? I’m not advocating beating your kids but if they bite, bite back. They hit you, hit them back obviously not hard but enough for them to know what’s actually being felt. All they really know is how people are reacting to them which can almost become like a game. All my kids bit and hit me but soon stopped when they realise A. This does hurt B. This is not a fun game anymore if it’s happening back to me.
Park his nose on the fridge/in the corner/on and chair/whatever every time it happens. You can control yourself, or mom will help you control yourself. Pretty simple
2 Likes
Tell him that hurt and not to hit when he does it and keep doing that. And stop playing with him or stop him from playing as his consequences
My son does this and he’s 15 months old. He will literally smack me so hard I see stars. I pretend cry and he always says “mama, mama” and kisses my face. I don’t know where he got it from but sometimes I smack his hand. A big reaction is sometimes not the best, because then they’ll react with a bigger reaction.
It very well could be some kind of need to release energy. Many children have energy that cannot be explained. Sometimes all they need is something that helps them release their energy through their physical senses. Sometimes it helps some kids to burrito roll them into a blanket, then roll them out of it (like a game, not like a mafia victim rolled into a rug)
It tends to help them release energy and connects to their physical senses. I hope this helps.
It’s developmentally normal, just keep teaching him. Impulse control is not developed until later
I’ve seen videos where instead of making them feel bad about their actions you teach them to acknowledge their feelings. Say he pushed another toddler bc he wanted a toy you go up them and calmly say “ hey you were a little impatient and didn’t want to wait your turn. Seeing __ with that toy must’ve made you mad huh? Those feelings must be big but we can share. Why don’t we get ___ toy instead”. If that doesn’t work maybe try and ask him hey wait your turn I see your angry and sad having to wait do you want to draw how you’re feeling? Do you want to go kick the ball? I taught my daughter one time when she wanted to hit to push against the wall take a deep breath in then out and keep pushing on the wall until we calmed down. Kids have big emotions and NO impulse control so being shown the same thing happening to them doesn’t teach them how to get rid of their anger just makes them feel shame, guilt, and confusion. You have to help them learn how to let all of that out in a healthy way. And sometimes they might not listen so sometimes it’s best to walk away from the play date, the park and explain why it was wrong. It’s frustrating and hard but just big emotions in a little body 
The child is trying to communicate. Acknowledge that the child is trying to communicate or Express emotions and give them the skills to do so. We are not born knowing how to communicate effectively or how to Express feelings. A lot of adults still do not know how to do either of these. If the child is hitting from excitement then gently take hold of the child’s hands to stop the hitting, make sure you are on their level and look them in the eye. Say something like johnny I understand you are feeling excited. Let’s give 2 big thumbs up (demonstrate) and smile really big to let people know we are excited. Then practice this with the child, randomly show your excitement by doing this as well throughout the following weeks, gently remind and demonstrate agian when they forget. Also clearly explain the consequences of hitting (timeout)telling them why they went into timeout (1 min of time out per year old)when they get up they should be told to apologize. It is your job to follow through, be consistent, and model the desired behavior. A good thing to help with this is to also help them identify their emotions. Agian we are not born knowing what we are feeling. Half the battle is being able to identify what we are feeling. Becky Baily does a series on conscious discipline that helps parents and teachers with these skills. I used cutouts of gingerbread people with different expressions and went over them daily with my classes, when those who were nonverbal, or didn’t feel like talking were asked how they were feeling they were able to show the gingerbread person with that emotion. We also talked about different ways to express our feelings (anger,sadness, fear, etc…) in safe and healthy ways. There are simple games, books, or you can make your own to help your child identify, understand and express feelings.
Help him interactive Bentley where sometimes you play a little rougher with only mom and dad and other times you have to play gentle that way he learns the difference and you away Dental with kids but then he knows he can come home and play rough with Mom and Dad
My daughter is almost 3 and she still does this some . Best thing is time out . As soon as he does it . Than after time out . Explain that it hurts . And we don’t do that . And be very consistent with it every time . Kids this age are still learning. They don’t know that it’s mean or hurts . But just stick with it . It helps to take him away and put him in a time out . Eventually he’ll figure out . That every time he does this . That’s why he’s being moved from the situation good luck consistency is the key .
Sounds like a normal 2 year old 
mine is a little asshole too.
Good news is that they grow out of it.
Maybe he has a hard time expressing himself verbally? If not, tell him to, “Use your words instead please.” Don’t yell, spank or do time outs… that just shows him to hide his emotions, and it wouldn’t make sense to spank a kid if you’re telling them not to hit… get down to his level and ask him what the problem is and try to figure out a solution with him taking the lead. If he hits you, say “Ow, that hurts” (if you told him to do it again, he most likely wouldn’t). Once he sees that his actions cause that sort of response he’ll see that he wouldn’t want it done to him and will hopefully stop. But yes, I agree with other comments about giving him an outlet that will be a bonus for him too like fine motor skill activities. If you notice that he’s about to get frustrated offer a distraction.