Good morning all! I am the proud mother of a beautiful, healthy 10-month-old boy. He is the joy of my life. I’m writing today because he is one of the roughest little babies I’ve ever met! What I mean by that, is that his way of showing affection is slapping pinching all while smiling and laughing. I know he’s not doing it to be mean or trying to hurt, but I would just really appreciate some tips on how to teach him to be gentler. We take his hand and say “gentle” or “soft”, but it’s still not clicking. We’ve tried showing him a sad face after he hurts us accidentally, but he still thinks we’re playing. Again, he’s only 10 months old and I understand that there is a long way to go developmentally, but any advice would help. He doesn’t go to daycare, stays home all day with his dad, but he does interact with kids and people at the park in the library, although limitedly. Recently, he met one of his little cousins and happily and excitedly slapped the heck out of him! We had to physically get him off! He was excited and happy the whole time, again no meanness or malice, but boy do we have our work cut out for us. I know he’ll grow out of the stage, but again, any tips from parents would really make me feel better. Have a great day all, thank you for answering!