The fake hitting thing- you down?

[slipperylobster]

This one is easy, as your kid is tough.

Just teach him to hit back.....work on his reflexes. Whenever he feels threatened, he should go for the adams apple with a swift, chopping movement from the thickest part of the side of his hand.

That should stop the annoying....playfulness.

[Niranut]

We encountered this all the time with our kids. It starts when they are very young, usually around the 6 month mark, give or take, when they start doing (age appropriate) things like throwing things, chewing on everything, etc. We never hit so my babies never had any idea what it meant. It was happening enough that we started played high-5 with them a lot so when anyone did the fake hit, my kids smile and try to give them a high-5 I also remind the offender that we don't hit or joke about hitting and ask them for the umpteenth time to not do it again...

We lived in Northern and Central Thailand, as well as Bangkok, when our kids were at this point (babies-early elementary) and found it everywhere. At a certain point, the kids get old enough to respectfully tell the fake hitter that we don't hit and if they could please not do it, that would be great.

When confronted with a high-5 or a little kid telling them it's not nice to hit, they are always met with smiles and the occasional hug/hom.