Parents,what is the best way to put a 3 year old in time out and how long should he sit there?

Question

Because I really dont like the idea of him standing/sitting in the corner.What works in your household?

Answer 1

Hi There,

A three year old should go in time out for about 3 minutes. It usually goes by their age for little ones. They are fiddigy and cant stay still for long.

But also, Consistancy is the key. This wont work unless you stick to time out every time and when he gets used to this, you will start to see a change in him. Thanks

Answer 2

Pick a location, and they usuall say to start off the time based on the age of the child, for a 3 year old, 3 minutes. However, don't talk to the child while in time out and don't pay attention to them. If they get up, put them back in the chair without saying anything and add an extra say 30 seconds to the time that they sit.
When the time is up, ask them why they were in time out.
Then explain to them that had to sit extra longer because they got out of the chair.

Answer 3

When my almost three year old acts up, I tell her "You must be tired and need a nap since you are acting that way!" and that almost always stops her!

If she does something again and again and I have given her a warning, I pick her up and put her in her room. Even though there are toys in there, she does not play with them bc she is upset. I don't leave her in there very long, maybe 3-5 minutes at most and when I go back, she wants to cuddle usually and we talk about what she did wrong.

If I can, I stop whatever I am doing and we just talk it out. I ask her is she feels sad or mad or whatever and I tell her how I want her to be happy, but she cannot have everything she wants. I know that sounds silly, but it works for us!

For throwing, I take the item away and put it out of sight.

Answer 4

I work as a nanny and What works for me is after she does something wrong I put her on the bottom step of the stairs. Away from toy's, TV, and her siblings. I set the timer for 2 minutes (seeing how she is not 3 yet) If she get's up I put her right back. The longr she screams the longer she will sit there. It took a while but now when ever she does something wrong she put's herself in time out.


Now her mom is a bit diffrent. What works for her is putting her on the bench in the hallway. but she doesn't stay there. So her mom will give her a spanking (a light tap) then put her right back on the bench.

Answer 5

One minute for each year of age, find a permanent spot in your house and stick with it, it does not have to be a corner. Do not stare at the child or talk to the child during timeout. This is a punishment for bad behavior and should be seen that way by both the parent and the child. Do not give in, if you do , you might as well tell the child it was ok to make a bad choice.Don't say you are bad, say you made a bad choice.

Answer 6

Well if you "don't like the idea" then it will never work because you will not be consistent with it. It is usually one minute per year of age in your child's case that would be 3 minutes. We had a small chair in the hallway where I would set my daughter for her time outs. Or if she was just plain out of control I would put her in her room, we had a child gate in the doorway and when she had a really good trantrum going I would place her in her room where I could "ignore" the tantrum but not the child and where she could calm down. My daughter was very good at her tantrums. She tried banging her head on any solid service she could find. When that didn't work she tried throwing her entire body to the ground so hard she would bound...when that didn't work she tried biting herself until she left bruises and welts...when that didn't work she attempted holding her breath to the point of just about passing out but not quite. After that, time outs were few andf ar between. She threw one as a teen and it resulted in her having to spend the night in hospital because she put her hand through a window and basically severed her radial artery on both sides of her wrist. Doctor said if she had been trying to committ suicide she would have succeeded. It was her first surgery and she didn't like the feeling of coming out of the anesthtic, not to mention seeing the puddle of her own life force lying on the ground at her feet in the emergency room. I figured her expierence with that one was enough of a "time out"

Answer 7

try the super nanny method of a minute per every year the child is old. since yours is 3, 3 minutes. In our house we have a bench in our hallway between the entryway and kitchen. When he sits there, he's staring at the stairs so it's not a fun place to be (thats the point) it's tough love, but you're raising them well.

Answer 8

Pick a spot...usually the kitchen and put the child there. If they keep getting out keep putting the child back. However old the child is; is how long the child sits there. 3 yrs old = 3 mins

sitting is good.

Answer 9

In my house timeout is for big offenses, not little ones, so my daughter is sent to her room to sit on her bed and cry her eyes out til she's ready to come and apologize to me. This gives us both a chance to calm down after whatever misbehavior there was. She usually comes out after 10 minutes and apologizes, then we carry on with the day and I don't nag her over what she's done. She's three, but I find she needs more than 3 minutes to calm down. Occasionally she'll stay in her room and fall asleep.

Answer 10

My three-year-old sits on the stairs for three minutes. When he's four, he'll get four minutes. It's away from other people and fun stuff and allows him to think that time out is a good thing to stay out of.