At whits END!

I have a son who is 3 (Brady).  My niece has a son who is also 3 (Kevin).  Everytime we go over to my mother in laws house (every Sunday) my niece's son hits my son.  Kevin hits him with objects (plastic golf clubs, plastic bats) and he leaves bruises on him.  About 3 weeks ago, kevin hit him with a plastic bat (at our house) and left a bruise on his shoulder.  Yesterday he hit Brady with a plastic golf club in the ribs and there is a bruise about the size of a half dollar.  My neice has put kevin in time out (she doesn't believe in spanking) but he smiles about it.  She says that he ONLY hits Brady and none of his other friends but he has also hit my 6 year old.  I don't know what to do!  I can't allow for my son to be abused by his cousin.  Any adivce??

[megochick101]

I would talk to your niece about how this behavior really upsets you(and it should!!) It is never ok for a child to hit another child, and at 3 kevin should know that hitting is a bad thing. What i think you should also be worried about is that if this continues, your son may start to hit kevin also out of anger/hurt/whatever(or actually may start hitting anyone) and seeing as your niece doesn't seem to be taking the behavior seriously, brady may get the idea that it's ok since kevin is allowed to hit him.

I would really explain to your niece and tell her that kevin hitting brady is definitely not ok. You may need to just stop having play dates with him if this persists(at least temporarily) Maybe even explain to kevin that hitting brady is a bad thing to do, and that if he hits brady anymore, he won't be allowed to play with him.

I think if he likes playing with your son, kevin will get the hint if he can't play with him because of the hitting issue. But either you or your niece(should be your niece since she is the mom.lol) need to explain clearly to him that hitting will no longer be excepted. Also explain to brady(if playdates are stopped for awhile) that it's not brady's fault, that kevin just need a timeout from playing because kevin was hitting and that is a bad thing to do.(that way both of them understand why and brady doesn't get too upset..well hopefully not too upset lol)

If none of that works, then I really have no clue what else you can do.(sorry lol) Hope this helps and good luck! :)