Alright toddler attitude advice 😩

So I’m big on the whole gentle parenting thing and I try really hard to be the momma I want to be for her but damn this is hard!

Let’s set the scene- I’m 24 weeks pregnant and my 18 month old is about 27lbs of pure muscle.

* every time we go outside she wants to go on a walk which is fine we live in a quiet neighborhood anyway we’re walking and I hear the mail lady coming so I grab her hand to turn her around to walk a different direction she then flails her body in the road so I have to pick her up while she’s flailing her body around - she’s mad at this point and will grab my face or hit me in the face. (It actually hurts)*

Okay so my gentle parenting approach is obviously she’s upset she’s not getting what she wants to do and that makes her frustrated she doesn’t have the words to communicate those feelings so she hits/grabs me out of anger. I get that I really do. But saying things like “I understand you’re mad, it’s okay to feel mad but it’s not okay to hit” isn’t getting through to her it seems. And this was just a scenario today, it’s pretty much anytime she gets mad she attacks me out of anger.

I’m just frustrated, tired, and too pregnant. I need help because idk what I’m doing wrong. Is it just all consistency with the gentle parenting? Does it eventually get through to them? I feel like I’m getting run all over by her. 😩