Joanna Fortune: My baby keeps pulling other people's hair

The hair-pulling behaviour is a good example of a young child starting to explore and experiment with cause-and-effect thinking. Picture:  iStock 

My 15-month-old has started pulling other people’s hair and scratching them. When she does it at home, we pull her hands down and say, ‘No, we use kind, gentle hands.’ However, I don’t know how to react when she hurts other children. She is a happy little girl and I know it’s a phase but I’d appreciate your advice on how to best deal with her behaviour.

Young children do not have the vocabulary or emotional fluency to express their feelings verbally. This is why they rely on behaviour to express emotions they do not yet understand and cannot regulate. For example, feeling frustrated, tired, overwhelmed, or excited may all be expressed in what many might interpret as negative or challenging behaviours. However, a small child never seeks to be difficult but tries to convey a feeling they are struggling with.