approach just move your child to the next room.
Imagine your child is hitting the window with a toy. Say, “No! No!
Windows are not for hitting. Give me the toy.” If he refuses, count:
“One … two … three …”
If he still refuses, quietly take his hand and
lead him to another room. Then say, “No hitting windows!”
and walk
away—with the door wide open.
Don’t worry about making him stay put. You just want him to see that
ignoring you will lead to a moment of isolation for him.
However, if he goes right back to banging the window,
calmly count
to three and do a regular time-out.
Pick Your Time-Out Place Ahead of Time.
A chair or bottom
step may work with some tots. But young ones, and feisty toddlers of all
ages, usually need to be confined—in a playpen
if they are under age
two, or gated into their bedroom if they are over age two (see
Time-Outs
Don’t Work Without
Time-Ins
).
Of course, you must make sure there are no breakables,
hard surfaces,
or sharp corners in the time-out place.
(Some parents choose to sit their toddlers on their laps and hold them
firmly as a type of restrictive punishment. That’s fine
if it works for you.
But I find that for most toddlers,
especially spirited ones, this can turn
the time-out into a power struggle.)
Buy a Timer with a Loud Ring.
Timers are great to let both you
and your child know when the time-out is over. Keep it where you can
get to it quickly. Introduce the timer to your tot as Mr.
Dinger and let
him hear what it sounds like. Explain that Mommy will let him out of his
room when Mr. Dinger goes “ring-ring.”
Make the Time-Out Last One Minute per Year of Age.
A
time-out for your one-year-old would be one minute,
two minutes for
your two-year-old,
etc. I recommend that you always use the timer. It
allows your child to hear when the time-out is over and it also gives you
a good answer when he begs to come out. (“It’s not up to me, it’s up to
