Child Discipline – Do Time-Outs Really Work with Toddlers?
Giving your toddler a “time-out” for behaving badly seems easy enough. Remove your toddler from the situation where he is acting out, sit him in a chair or in another room, and tell him he is in “time-out” from the activity. Or, at least that’s the theory. But do child discipline time-outs actually work? It often depends on who you ask and how you apply the discipline. Time-out proponents Proponents of time-outs used for child discipline say that removing a misbehaving child from an activity and placing him in a pre-determined area or even a “time-out” or so-called “thinking” chair provides the toddler with a controlled way to calm down. Advocates say that properly behaving youngsters can continue their activity without further interruption from the misbehaving child, and a parent can use the end of the time-out to discuss with the tot what occurred, why it is not appropriate, and how the youngster should act in the future. Here are key tips to remember if using time-outs: • Frequently