Sunday, January 11, 2015

Time-Out Guidelines

When your child needs a consequence for misbehavior a time-out is a good choice for both of you to be able to calm down without raising your voice.  A time-out involves removing your child from the things he/she enjoys and having the opportunity to re-group.  The time-out area should be a location that is convenient for you.  For example, using a downstairs chair would be inconvenient when the issue happened upstairs.  Ensure that while your child is in time-out they don't have the opportunity to engage in conversation with others or watch a sibling who is playing a game or watching TV.

Time-out should be one quiet minute for every year of your child's life.  Remember the time-out doesn't begin until your child is quiet and calm.  This will be a process and it may take some time to get to those minutes of quiet and calm.  Be patient and calm yourself so as to model for your child the appropriate behavior.  Once the quiet time has begun you may want to use a timer to help yourself remember when the time-out is over and so your child will know to listen for the timer, instead of constantly asking when they can get out.

If your child leaves the time-out area, say nothing and calmly return them to their spot.  This rule also applies if your child misbehaves when in time-out.  Remember your child is looking for a reaction, any reaction from you, so don't give them one!

When your child's time is up, ask them if they feel ready to get up.  If the answer is yes then have your them apologize if necessary and resume their play.  If your child doesn't answer, is rude/yells, or acts angry then start the timer again.

When starting time-outs with your child expalin the process to them, be consistent, do not engage in a conversation with them and ensure that your child is calm before they leave the time-out space.  It will take time to extinguish the problem areas that you are targeting but it is time well spent.




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