How strict are you with Time Outs?

My son is almost two and he is really misbehaving lately. I use time outs to teach him better behavior but lately it has been hard keeping in the 'time out corner." Its in the corner of our kitchen and there is a table nearby (like about 2ft or so) and sometimes he crawls underneath it. I just don't know if that amount of distance is cause for restarting time out and putting him back in the corner. What would you all do? How strict are you with him moving from the spot where you put him in time out?

Work From Home
www.momtomombiz.com

posted November 16, 2007 - 2:39am

Comments

pattireis00 wrote 1 year 2 weeks ago

It depends. Is he crawling under the table knowing that's not where he's supposed to be? In other words, is he testing you? If so, I'd make him go back to his spot and sort of "start the clock" again. I've had to be somewhat creative with my daughter to get her to stay in time outs. She rarely sits still anyway, she is just always moving (and when I say always I am not exaggerating). So I finally decided to have her count to 30 so she'd know how long she has to stay. Being the little smartie-pants that she is, she tried counting really fast, but I nipped that in the bud right away! You just have to experiment until you find what works. If your son doesn't usually crawl under the table to play, maybe you could make that his time out place. Or perhaps just try another place? I'd be very interested in hearing what ends up working for you.

Patti
SAHM in SoCal and administrator of the Sleep Forum group, http://www.mothersclick.com/group/sl...

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tarahrys wrote 1 year 2 weeks ago

OK for some reason my 3 year will sit in time out the whole time and I think it is because I went to a near by teacher store and bought this stop light counter and set it for 2 min (when he was 2 ) it is great because I would set the green to have 1:15 and then I had it make a ticking sound and it went to yellow for 30 sec made another sound and then was red for 15 sec and then it said 'times up!' my son will sit and watch it go from color to color and it makes him sit there but yes if he moves at all I will start him over he knows not to move at all. get a circle of some kind from the store too and have him sit on it just be firm but not hovering him! I will say that again b/c that is waht has worked for me be very firm but don't stand over him the whole time he is in time out move away to where he can not see you and you can see him when he moves walk back and say 'stay in time out; and put him back! This worked for me but you have to do it the same way everytime consistancy is the golden rule good luck!

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Pnutt115 wrote 1 year 2 weeks ago

I think he crawls under the table because he is just so squirmy and he can't stay still. I think in 30 seconds he forgets that he is in trouble. He knows he is supposed to stay in the corner because if he strays to far and he sees me coming to but him back he runs and sits back in the corner.

Jessica McCurdy
Proud Member of The M.O.M Team
www.momtomombiz.com

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pattireis00 wrote 1 year 2 weeks ago

If he's forgetting he's in trouble he just may not have the attention span to sit through that long of a time out. It's nothing bad, some kids are just too busy and too interested in the world around them to sit still that long! That's why I have my daughter count to 30, actually. It keeps her focused and sitting for a few seconds, and when she's done counting I have a chat with her to remind her why she was in trouble, and have her repeat it back to me, and also tell me what will happen if she does it again (another time out). That seems to work with her, because she rarely gets in trouble for the same thing more than twice!

Patti
SAHM in SoCal and administrator of the Sleep Forum group, http://www.mothersclick.com/group/sl...

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