Timeout FAIL, now what?

shellylovelee

My 28 mos son has been sitting in 1-2 min of timeout for the last few months. He usually sits down for hitting his baby sister or something like that. It is having zero effect on his behavior. Meaning, he doesn't like to sit down but it is not a deterrent. I don't expect a perfectly behaved toddler, what I am looking for are other disciple ideas that might have a greater impact on his decisions. Ideas?

ncbelle

I like to remember that discipline actually means to lead and not to punish - so we focus on redirection and positive reinforcement of appropriate behaviors with logical consequences when needed.  Has worked really well for us!

This website is pretty in line with how I do things:  https://www.ahaparenting.com/ages-stages/toddlers

shellylovelee

Thanks for the link!

kgs0505

Consistency, consistency, consistency.  Don't be under the impression that a couple (hundred) timeouts are going to change the behavior.  It's doing it over and over and over and a million times over again that will change his behavior.  It does get really old, but it's what works... eventually.  My son is really good, but he'll have days where I think he spends more time in timeout than out of it.  But the few times I've been too tired to be consistent, he's totally back-tracked.  And that's my fault.  2 yo's just want to be in control of themselves, so following direction or being told to do something that don't want to do, especially if it isn't as fun as what they are doing, is always going to be tough. 

We do similarly to the pp poster in that if it involves hitting or throwing, he has to apologize to the person he hurt, or the thrown toy gets taken away. We always try to explain things, but being a toddler, he may or may not take it in.

bumpuser9524622

Like some of the other PPs, we use positive discipline. I recommend the books by Jane Nelson. It's been very effective for us.