I have an issue with my 18 month old smacking me in the face ive done everything i can think of ignoring it yelling at him time outs and he still does it and thinks its funny im worried cuz my s.o family is high maintenance and think theire children do no wrong and i dont want to cause issuses because my son likes to hit help me please!!!
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You need reinforcement of others… I know if my daughter is bad and my best friend of years tells her no don’t do that its like it breaks her little heart… Unfortunately tough love is needed!
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Cure that problem with a three year old hit me I hit her back not hard but enough to get the point across. Told her in this family we do not hit never again never had an issue with it ever
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Yeah doesnt phase him
I’m more concerned that you almost seem more concerned about what your boyfriend’s family will think of your kid. Who cares what they think? He’s 18 months old!
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Gotta scare them a little. Tough love. Super quick and super loud mad reactikns followed by putting him away from you and telling him he did a bad thing, amd u want him to go play else where inless he can be nice and say sorry. You can only be nice for so long before u gotta pull out the big guns lol im a yeller…there are some who will not agree with me. And thats cool. But i yell at my kids and give them shit when they act like jerks. A frind of mine got tired of her kid smacking and biting that she did it back…one time…not hard of course, but the child never did it again. Fi d what works for you mama…your kid is not like anyone elses. They are all little spawns that we must train lol. Love my spawns more then anything 
Lol.
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Ignore him. Completely. Zero response. When he stops or does not do it after a while give a butt load of positive reinforcement, hugs and kisses. It is the best way to stop hitting that young.
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My 16 month old was going through the same thing…the only thing that worked for us was immediately stopping any and all attention. As soon as he hits you stop all speaking,attention, and eye contact. You tell him “no” calmly and walk away…or put him somewhere safe to walk away.
We had to institute a no popping policy in our house…I didn’t want to teach him that putting his hands on others was ok.
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My 2 year old does that and started biting. With the hitting, I held his hands in my own a little firmer and would tell him point blank, squatting to meet his eyes, and tell him we don’t hit. That worked for a while, so I started slapping his hand each time he hit. And now he doesn’t do it anymore, and with the biting, I made sure to hit his cheek a little, not to hurt but for him to let go, so he can understand that biting is not tolerated.
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Your priorities are pretty skewed here.
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My 18 month old was doing the same thing and we took his hand, rubbed our face and his own face saying, “gentle, be gentle”. And then we praised him and kept reinforcing it. He now comes up to us and pets our faces. Lol.
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At that he age, he’s not understanding a timeout or yelling as a consequence of hitting, IMO. And smacking him for smacking you (like some are suggesting) makes zero sense. 
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Smack back a little not hard just enough to net them know it doesn’t fell good and not funny believe me it works
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I’m personally pro spanking but not everyone is. I’m also more likely to flick the offending part. Hit me? Back of hand flicked, kicking gets your foot flicked and so on. However if you’re not down with spanking I’m also real fast with sitting them on their butt. Firmly. Immediate time out. They hate losing that control. With a firm “no, not ok” and putting them on their butt, worked like a charm with my boys for the most part. Not perfect. But nothing is. I had to teach my youngest that he doesnt get up til I say, so I had to stand near him and repeatedly put him on his butt until I said so (few seconds honestly) then reaffirm why I sat him down.
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Repetition. Stern voice.
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Im in the same boat. He throws things at me and hits and when he doesn’t get his way he throws his body backwards onto the ground. Last night he did it and hit his head and cut it and was bleeding alot. Its a nightmare. Hope it gets better for you
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It’s a phase. It is completely normal. He is barely 18 months. I can not believe people are suggesting you to hit a baby or anybody. You don’t solve problems with violence and it’s nonsense to tell don’t hit and then hit him.
I recommend you tell him no thank you I don’t like it when you use your hands for hurting others And move on. Don’t make a big deal about it because he’ll repeat the behavior to get a reaction from you. He is just learning. Be firm but use your words and teach with love and patience not fear and anger. Kiss his hands, hold them and tell them I like it better when you use them to give mommy some love and rubb them gently on your face. That worked well with my kids and they eventually just stopped.
There is this book called No-Drama Discipline. I truly recommend it.
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Are you trying to say you are afraid he will hit your s.o. family members or just hitting you in front of them? And when he hits u is it out of anger & frustration or is he having fun?
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Walk away say nothing go do.something else. Come back and start where you left off. If he does it again do the same thing. If he does not praise him for something positive what ever it is quick before he get a chance to continue with the inappropriate behavior. Continue to find things to praise him the whole time you are finishing your task
But if he goes into his act you going yours.
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Maybe he learning this behaviour?
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My 19 month old does this Multiple times a day…It’s perfectly normal. They just aren’t developed enough to deal with their emotions, and sometimes they’re just looking for a reaction…It will get better. I just hold onto his hands and explain calmly, that we do not hit people, it is not nice, and ask him why he’s upset?
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My daughter use to do this and I gave her a light tap on the bum and told her no she soon stopped
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As soon as he goes to do it, grab his hand to protect yourself, look him in the eye and firmly say “no hitting”. Then, I would put him down or walk away. Tell him you’ll be in the kitchen when he’s ready to be sweet again. If he continues in that moment, you might want to consider a timeout. It’s a little early but I base timeout on when a child starts deliberately defying me. Choosing to hit as you describe is a deliberate action and harming others is unacceptable! I’m not necessarily anti spank, but it’s ridiculous to hit a child and say “no hitting” and yelling only creates a chaotic environment so both are pointless in this scenario.
I wouldn’t worry about what others are thinking so much as parenting for the sake of raising decent, well adjusted children.
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When my son hits me and doesn’t listen to me when I say “no or gentle” I strap him right in his high chair for a time out. TV goes off he sits there until the timer goes off. It does not start until he is calm. So if he choses to take the fit route where he’s thrashing around or hitting he can’t hurt himself of others in there. He will be two in march and this is literally the only way to get him to stop. If we’re out say in the store I will leave my cart and take him right into the car for a time out in his carseat. He knows I will not budge
Grab his hand and put it gently on your cheek and repeat “nice” and show him how to touch nicely every time he does that and praise him for doing so. It sounds dumb but it’s worked wonders with my 3 kids and I’ll do the same when my 4th gets to that age! It works
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Slap the damn kid back, then ask him how does that feel. But than I’m from the old old school we did things differently back when.
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Children pick up these things. Parents teach them to do things because they think its “funny” and they keep doing it . But now its not cute anymore but its too late
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it’s a faze they go through persist with ignoring him he will stop
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So normal! Continue ignoring it and walking away from him!! It takes TIME but he just needs to see that behavior will not get recognition.
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Mine hit me for awhile too, and pulled my hair… Then just stopped… I just had to reeeeeally stick to not reacting to it.
18 months and you are trying to talk discipline??? Research milestones! Consider redirection.It is definately a phase. Discuss this with your pediatrician so they can give you healthy and age appropriate coping tools. You need to leave the room before you get too frustrated. These comments about “tough love” are what you say of your 22 year old kid who refuses to move out, not an 18 month old who is playing a game with their hands… Ps, who cares what your family thinks. Having patience for your baby should be seen as admirable.
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My older daughter smacked me in the face one time, I took her hand, smacked it, sat her down and walked away. And I wouldn’t walk back to her until she calmed down.
It’s normal my son did that at 18 months old , you have to remind yourself they are still learning and don’t try to impress ppl
It really scares me that nowadays with so many books and good info out there on the internet about child behavior there are still people who believes on spanking/Hitting back. Smh 
Please don’t follow those advices. Children are a mirror of their parents, whatever you do they will do too. For those saying “it worked my child when I hit them back”, ok of course it worked, they associate size with power, so they may hit you now because she/he knows they you lose the battle, but when they grow and are big than other kids they will the power of hitting to win! That’s why we have so many “grown up” people that are violent and abusive! Wake up people! Hitting/spanking a 18month old ? The kid can barely speak for God’s sake!! They can’t express their feelings on a proper way, that’s all they know what to do!
But mama (op), this is my advice for you: read these two books, one is called “the whole brain child” and the other is “how to speak so your kids will listen and how to listen so they’ll speak”, the second is for a later age. But read, get advice from books, not savages from facebook!