Time Out?

MellyMelB

How does this work with a kid around 18 months old? Any tips? Sophia has had her share of "pow-pow" but I am not sure its working and want to try something else. I worry that she will not "get" time out, though but also wonder if the part of time out that removes her from the situation is the part that may help when she gets into these moods.

Any advice?

MrsLeanna

I am not speaking from experience b/c Alexis is still too young.  But I have heard that at that age - you need to restrain them in time out.  So, sit on a chair with Sophia on your lap and you hold her and restrain her.  I think it's the only way to get them to actually have a time out without leaving.  I can't remember where I read or saw that but it made sense at the time. 

Let me know what you find that works for you. 

CesEve99

i saved this hint from one of my monthly parents magazines:

one minute of time out for every age that the child has....for ex: if the child is 2 yrs old, 2 minutes top of time out.

sophie is only 18 months, 1 minute of time out should be suffice. she may not get it at first but i suggest you station a little area of time out. for example a chair or something she can sit on and not move from there for 1 minute. in most cases some parents use a rug and they can not leave that rug for the remainder of the time out.

im curious to know how she does with time out at that age - gl!

CesEve99

i also cant spk from experience since madelyn is still too young for time out and honestly i wont implement time out until shes much older (2 yrs maybe)...?? can't say really

karenlisa714

I never really understood time out when I was a kid, even when I was old enough, like 5 or so. My mom NEVER put me in time out (though I was told to "go to your room!!" a few times, does that count?) and I was only grounded once for riding my bike across the street without permission when I was really little (people used to drive super fast down our street so my mom wouldn't let me go myself). I am going to have to ask my mom if she did this before I was old enough to remember or what. I had not even considered using time out for my own child.  Sorry I have no advice... I am just rambling.

FSUSammy

Mikey had his first time out this past weekend. It was only for a minute. The key is to take them out of the situation they are in. I stood there watching him but he ended up getting up from where I put him. I refuse to put him in his crib for time-out because I do not want his crib or his room associated as the place he goes when he's done something bad. I tried everything I could before we ended up with the time-out though.

I had actually asked this same question on the toddler board AFTER I had attempted our first time-out and someone gave me this response that they found on babycenter.com

 ""traditional time-outs won't really work until sometime between your toddler's second and third birthdays. Watch for signs that he understands what's acceptable and what's not. One clue is if he reminds you of the rules when you break them, too. For example, if he catches you doing something you normally wouldn't allow him to do ? say, eating a snack on the sofa ? he may say, "You're not supposed to do that, Mommy." Until your toddler shows this kind of appreciation of the need to follow rules, hold off on time-outs. Otherwise, he won't understand why he's being corrected, and you may get frustrated and abandon the strategy prematurely.

Meanwhile, try to distinguish between your toddler's natural inquisitiveness and willful disobedience. Childproof your home to reduce the opportunities for mischief, and use distraction to redirect your child to more suitable activities. When your young toddler is doing something he knows is wrong and just won't stop, you can modify time-outs to work as described below. "

Also, my main issue with Mikey was that he would not stop screaming for absolutely no reason. I know at this age they get frustrated when they can't communicate exactly what they want and I tried asking him nicely to tell me but nothing I did would work. Someone recommended that next time I just ignore him because by giving him what he wanted (attention) he was learning that if he yells he'll eventually get me to give him what he wants.

MRS.IHEARTMIKE

Ditto everyone.

 (Super Nanny anyone?) LOL! What I learned from watching Super Nanny:

Depending on their age = length of minutes for time out

Assign a corner/table/chair to be associated with the "time out" spot. Take her away from the toys/t.v so she can see that time out is not fun and there is a problem. She won't get it at first but eventually she will. I think 1 minute it good enough for her.

Also, be consistent so she "gets" it. If she misbehaves 5 minutes later but her again in time out so she sees the pattern.

YapYap0813

Ditto everything Sam said. Luckily I didn't have to use time out too much with Kaitlyn at that age, but I'm already starting to get a run for my money with Hannah so I'll be testing it out soon! GL!

Erin

love4ever2006

Time outs work great for us. I started at 18 months.?

This is what I do.

I remove him form the situation and sit him in the same corner all the time. At the?beginning?he would not stay sitting down but I sat with him...kind of holding him on place. he cried and I talked to him explaining that he should not do whatever he was doing and to stop crying if he wanted to go back to play. I never timed myself. I don't know how it worked so well for us but he got it right away and he now stops the wining right away (only one time he got so out of control that I had to tell him that I was going to put him to sleep and I did)?

I then kiss him, hug him and tell him to be a good boy and not do it again. ( I do a lot of talking ).

?Right now, most of the time, all I have to do is ask him if he wants time out...lol. Of course not and of course sometimes he is too cabezon and gets time out anyway. ( and I feel horrible..lol)?

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