hitting others? How to stop it?

[Guest guest]

Anyone have ideas on how to stop your child (mine is 3yo) from hitting people?

Basically, my son would sometimes try to hit others (very weak hit and it

doesn't hurt at all). I began to notice that he tries to hit when

1) when we ask him to kiss or hug the person (family and friends that he sees

rarely and who he is not familiar with)

2) sometimes, when he doesn't get what he wants from the person

What should I say to him or teach him? I already tell him, not to hit or you're

not supposed to hit, but I need to do something else or approach in another way,

to prevent him from hitting in the future.

I was thinking that I should stop asking him to hug/kiss people he's not as

familiar with and that's one way of avoiding the situation.

Maybe this may work.. If anyone else have feedback, I'd appreciate it greatly.

Thanks,