Everyone loves to hear a child laugh, but how far are we willing to go to get it? For most babies and toddlers, the surest path to laughter is a little tickle – under the arms, on the belly, the bottom of the feet. All parents know the location of their child's "tickle spot." But just because they know where it is doesn't mean that they should visit it too often.

"Tickling can turn from a fun activity into a very uncomfortable event for a child," says Vicki Panaccione, a child-clinical psychologist and founder of the Better Parenting Institute. Even the youngest pre-verbal child can get his point across when tickling becomes too much for him.

Panaccione advises parents to look out for some "acting out" behaviors, such as biting, kicking, screaming, crying, pulling away, hitting, shrieking and whining. This type of behavior can often mean that a child is being over-stimulated and needs relief.

"Unfortunately, their behavior is often not interpreted this way," Panaccione says. "Children are often reprimanded for it. Of course, this sends a message that it is not acceptable for the child to communicate his needs, and that trying to stop an uncomfortable situation can lead to punishment. Interestingly enough, these kinds of behaviors, even with the consequences, do have the desired effect – they stop the tickling. So the other message that the child may glean is that acting out results in the desired effect."

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