My DS has fairly recently (last month or two I think) started having these mini-tanties - spacc-attacks I call them! - where he'll be eating a meal or sitting in his carseat or even just being held when we're out or something and he'll suddenly shriek and whack himself in the mouth or hit himself on the head, or slap the person holding him. It's only the once and it's very brief and short-lived but can happen a few times one day or over a few days then not for a while... It's really really frustrating - especially the slapping us part! It doesn't seem to have any cause that we can see. Doesn't seem to happen when he's playing or directly interacting with someone. Could it be attention seeking? We've never rewarded shrieking with attention - always deliberately ignored it and him when he does it.

We usually tell him firmly 'No hitting' then ask him to touch us gently which he always does but it hasn't stopped the initial behavior. If we're at home when he does it we instantly put him on the floor when he does it, after saying 'no hitting'. But it's having no effect and the behavior seems to be getting more frequent not less...

Any ideas?