My toddler is 2.5 years old. He doesn't speak at all yet. He is very into hurting me at the moment. When he is angry or I can't guess what he wants quickly enough or when he is bored, he hits me, bites me, kicks me, pulls my hair. It's pretty constant to be honest.

Here are some things I have tried.

-Gently explaining that "no, that hurts mummy." This was totally ineffective and no change in behavior.

• pretending to cry. This felt manipulative as hell and also my psycho child found this to be funny. The behavior increased in order to produce more of this response.

• screaming "NO THAT HURTS WHAT THE FUCK LEAVE ME ALONE!". I'm not proud of it and would obviously rather not repeat this. Being totally honest though, this is my first instinct because honestly it does hurt a lot. I'm determined not to be this kind of parent.

• leaving the room. When all else fails I just get up and leave the room and lock the baby gate behind me. I will go stand in the kitchen and calm down for 5 minutes and maybe ice a bruise occasionally. This doesn't feel like the correct approach because I don't want him to feel abandoned even for a few minutes.

Please help. Any advice welcome, I am here with a totally open mind. I am literally living in fear. I flinch when he comes near me a lot of the time. How can I help him understand?

TIA