Time Outs Don't Work

"Jonathan Wolgamuth" wrote in message
. 1...
Well, I knew this day would come. ;-)

We're trying to get our kids to listen to us when it comes to yanking on
electrical cords, running with scissors (kidding), and the like.

Seriously, when we *do* find the need to say no to our 15-month old twins
(Henry and Ella), we've been trying a 1-minute timeout in their pack and
play in an unoccupied (and boring?) room.

They don't ever seem to mind their timeouts, and they look at us and laugh
when we tell them "NO" very sternly. Ella even has taken to shaking her
finger at us and saying "No no no". (I'm assuming she learned this at
daycare, since we don't finger wag. ;-)

Any advice on something that would be effective to get the "No" into their
little heads?? I'd love to go to a timeout method if we could find a way
to make it something meaningful to them. Right now, it is just a
different
place to play. When they're out of the timeout, it doesn't take long and
they're right back in trouble again.

Our kids are so good most of the time, great dispositions, and they *do*
listen to us quite a bit--it's just that they don't seem to get "No."

--

Just going to take persistence.

Every time they go for a cord tel them no, remove them from the immediate
area and give them something else to play with.


Little Abby and Jon don't touch power cords or even go near outlets anymore.




Jonathan Wolgamuth jonwolgamuth at emailaccount dot com

this space left intentionally blank

Jack

"m.ackerman" wrote in message
news:imSVc.207037$eM2.189303@attbi_s51...
Sorry but we found removal of the twins from the place of harm was much
more
effective and giving them something that they really were interested in.

I agree with Shirley. Creating an environment where the children can play
without dangerous items near them is the best way we dealt with the
situation when the kids were as young as 15 months. Kids that age don't
understand cause and effect very well, and they certainly don't grasp how
dangerous a "dangerous thing" can be (i.e., there's no coming back from
being electrocuted!).

I remember one winter going to my MIL's place in the Poconos; the twins must
have been about 1 1/2, 2 years old. We spent an entire night childproofing
her cabin with wood paneling, blankets, and LOTS of duct tape, lol! :-)

It's hard when you have older kids around leaving little pieces out, but
even then there can be specific areas for the youngest kids where they can
explore without risk to their health.

Jennifer

Jonathan Wolgamuth wrote in
. 1:

Well, I knew this day would come. ;-)

We're trying to get our kids to listen to us when it comes to yanking
on electrical cords, running with scissors (kidding), and the like.

With us, it's them climbing on the armchair or the back of the sofa, to sit
on the window sill which is 30 feet above ground. That window is locked
and taped over to prevent inadvertent opening which would be disastrous.

And like you, we say NO, GET DOWN, grab them and put them on the floor, all
of which they find terribly amusing. I actually try to tire them out this
way and sometimes they get distracted and do something else, other times
they just yell and get mad.

According to their nanny, they won't be doing it until we get home, at
which point they start up. Honestly I think they realize they get
attention for doing it and want some interaction with mommy and daddy who
after a day at work just want to relax a bit (too bad for us). I've
started chasing them around the room playfully at this time as an
alternative.

Electrical cords - we have gone out of our way not to have any exposed.
Consequently all floor lamps are in storage!

One of the first words they seemed to respond to was CAREFUL. I think we
will try using better explanations and consistency.

One a more positive note, Reed seems to have lost some of his drive to
constantly pull Martin's hair. That was sort of interesting, as each of
them, once they discovered they HAD hair, would pull their own until they
yelled! They are starting to learn body parts and definitely like nose
(mine is rather large) and knees and FEET. So funny!

Gary
daddy to
Reed and Martin
5/6/2003

On Fri, 03 Sep 2004 05:03:58 GMT, Digital Larry
wrote:

With us, it's them climbing on the armchair or the back of the sofa, to sit
on the window sill which is 30 feet above ground. That window is locked
and taped over to prevent inadvertent opening which would be disastrous.

And like you, we say NO, GET DOWN, grab them and put them on the floor, all
of which they find terribly amusing. I actually try to tire them out this
way and sometimes they get distracted and do something else, other times
they just yell and get mad.

We had this problem in our old house. We afraid they'd fall through
the window if they leaned against it. We decided it was too risky to
rely on "no" and "get down", so our solution was to move the sofa in a
couple of feet so it wasn't right up against the wall.
--
-Seth Jackson, proud father of Derek and Mariel(10/1/99). Pictures at:
http://hitmeister.home.mindspring.co...ypictures.html

Music links: www.mp3.com/SethJackson
www.mp3.com/loudspeaker
www.SethJackson.net

Sorry to interrupt, I usually lurk since my boys are older now. (BTW my frat
boys are now 8 1/2!) Anyway, I still remember those days and you'd be SO
SURPRISED at how much they actually comprend and remember at this age and
beyond. DD, now 4, still remembers the double rainbow outside the theater on
the day we saw Wiggles when she was only barely 2, that's only 24 months.
Anyway, speak to them often, use LOTS of simple words and simple, short
explanations. Maybe "hurt" or "careful" doesn't register yet, but they do
understand what they know in their world. If they understand the word
"Owie", then say "You'll get a big owie and I don't want that to happen."
One warning though (tongue in cheek!), we talked ALOT to them, now they talk
A LOT to back us!! Constant chatter and negotiation, and we've got the teens
still to come. Anyway, communicate, communicate, communicate. Also, I read
somewhere that time-outs don't really work well at this age. I believe it's
more about explanation and redirection and setting down clear, consistent
boundaries. Now, back to your regularly scheduled posters. Bye 4 now.
Lorraine