Ok, WTF do I even do about this? Re: Time-outs...

asianbymarriage

This is my time-out situation as it has been the past few months:

DD will occasionally hit (very lightly, but she knows what she's doing) or throw things out of frustration. My parenting book said 2-3 minutes is a good time-out time for DD's age, since that's like a lifetime for them. So when she does the bad behavior, first I give her a warning ("We don't hit/throw. That hurts me - ouch!/could break the toy.") Then I say, "Do you want a time-out?" and when she says no or starts making a sad face, I say "Can you say 'sorry'?" She gets this, so sometimes she's say, "Sowwy, Mama." and give me a hug (awww!). And sometimes she's still mad and does it again. If that happens, I say, "Ok, you have to have a time-out. We don't hit/throw." I pick her up, carry her upstairs, and put her in her crib. I say again, "You're getting a time-out for hitting/throwing. We don't do that because it hurts - ouch!/could break something. Two (or three) minutes." Then I leave, set a timer, and come back in 2 (3) minutes. She usually cries the whole time, but when I come get her, she smiles. I say, "Are you ready to come out?" She says yes, and I say, "Can you say 'sorry'?" She says it, we go back downstairs, and she's happy as a clam. No more bad behavior for a while.

But lately... she's been ASKING me for a time out, even when she hasn't done anything. And when I say, "You don't need a time-out - you didn't do anything wrong," She starts whimpering and dragging me by the hand to the stairs saying, "Time-out! Time-out!" WTF?!?! So I bring her upstairs thinking maybe she wants something in her room. She wants me to put her in the crib. I do, and then she smiles and says, "Sowwy Mama. Hug?" So I take her out, hug her, bring her downstairs. It's like a game to her!!

I am baffled as to what to make outta this. I have never heard of this kind of thing happening before. So, advice please? WDID now??? Maybe I need to try a different disciplinary method...?

isabella22

LOL, DD is very similar (except TO is on a rug in the kitchen by the wall).

She doesn't get a TO very often, but after the first couple times, the next time I said 'do you want a time out?' and she said yes and headed over to the rug.  LOL.

She doesn't do that anymore.

As long as the TO is still effective when she is 'bad' than I would keep doing it.

I think they are trying to figure things out right now.

DandelionMom

I think it is normal for them to reenact discipline situations.? It helps them figure out how things work. We rarely need TO but DD threw a toy at the dog so was put in TO and shortly after that she put her doll in TO.

asianbymarriage

Lol at both of your DCs! Ok, so that's more normal than I thought, then... Good to know.