What to Expect from Your Child: Age-Appropriate Discipline:
“Time-Out. Many parents use time-out for all behaviors all the time. However, for time-out to work, it should be used as one tool in an arsenal of other discipline techniques for ages 2 to 8. Some basic guidelines for time-out include: Make it short — 1 minute for each year of your child’s age.Eliminate reinforcers. Your child should not be able to play, watch television, etc. Use a timer. Restart the time if your child leaves time-out.Use other discipline techniques if time-out does not work. Removal of privileges. Taking away toys, activities or outings can be an effective way to manage inappropriate behavior for children ages 18 months and older. To make sure this technique works for you: Choose a meaningful privilege that your child will greatly miss.Follow through on warnings to remove privileges. Remove the item for a short amount of time (differs by age — several hours for a 2-year-old but several days for a 12-year-old).”
