Thinking of starting Time outs
hopeful34
member
DS is a nightmare at times. I will start out by saying his speech is delayed and i know it's frustrating to him. But when we say no he automatically flips out and starts hitting, kicking, headbanging and scratching us. When we tell him he can't go outside until he is dressed he bangs his head off the glass door. At times it's so hard we think he is going to knock himself out. We have early intervention and nothing they tell us to do is working!!!!
Any ideas as to what to do? We are going to try time outs and see if it makes a difference. He has a twin sister and she is usually the target for his tantrums. He'll just start going after her. I've never been a big fan of the time outs.
When is is being good he is the best child in the world. I'd say it's 50/50 during the day. I just hope his bad temper isn't his real personality and that his speech delay is making his temper worse. I know kids can't be great all the time.
Thank you from a very frustrated mom...
Re: Thinking of starting Time outs
1. We used baby sign. That helped until speech developed. I would say, "I know you are feeling _____, but we don't ________. It's a bad choice. If you choose it again, you will be in time out." That has worked well for us. Now we don't even give him a warning because hitting=time out and we have made that clear many times.
2. Pick a strategy if you don't got with time out and follow through. You have to be perfect with consistency. Don't mix time outs with another one.
3. Don't count on the behavior getting better if you let it slide. That reinforces that it is ok.
4. Pick battles. Who cares if ds plays in the backyard in his undies or Jammies? My ds does. Ds also gets choices with other things so he feels in control. It is not like I can which shirt he wears or which shoes.
1. We taught DS sign language, it helped a lot that he could communicate he wants and it decreased his frustration.
2. We tried not to say "no" unless it was a safety issue, like a hot stove. If he wanted to go outside, we would say something like "yes, we can go outside,what fun, let's get dressed so we can go". We tried to keep things as popositive as possible.