does the naughty step lose its effect with age?

[booyhoo]

ds is almost 4 and for about 5/6 months now, the naughy step just doesnt seem to have the same effect it used to. he still cries when put on it but within seconds is singing and talking to himself and then sits calling me sayig im ready to say sorry now. but his behavour continues once he's off it again. it used to work when he was smaller but im a bit stuck for what to do now. i do try and reason with him and dont get me wrong, there is no major issue, he is generally a good pleasant child but when he does misbehave, i dont know how to nip it in the bud as i used to wit the naughty step. can anyone help with this?

my mum used to stick me and my sisters on the front door step! dont suppose you can do that now, children are so clever nowadays hed prob just run off or play happily in the street.

She used to also say shed take us to the childrens home.

(looking back on it, my mum was pretty mean lol, but it never hurt us and I still love her)

I personally wished she would have been stronger and just said No, it aint hapenning.
Have you tried the reward system? Now hes getting older he can understand ways in which to earn respect etc...

Or a toy away every time hes 'naughty'.
And DONT give it back/give in to him screaming.

Maybe he needs more to do? Children tend to act up when they are bored.

We never did the naughty step, we did/do talking and reasoning. We also pick battles and are fairly laid back, for example things my sister might put her dd on the "thinking step" (her version of naughty step) we wouldn't bat an eyelid at. I guess it comes down to what you class as "naughty" behaviour.

I also suspect that up to now we have been fairly lucky with ds, his behaviour has never been extreme. Now he has turned 7 he is getting a more physical and much cheekier so I will watch this thread with interest.

We bought a Time Out Pad from Bump to 3 because we were at our wit's end. It seemed like a bit of a gimic, but it has been absolutely FANTASTIC! We don't use it much now - simply becuase all we have to do is to show it to our 4 year old and he starts behaving! It goes everywhere with us, and our lives are all much calmer now!

i think stick with it and dont just threaten and do it and it stays pretty good even as they get older..my 8 year old goes on it sometimes..although its called the
'chill out stair' for her!

No..i don't think it does..i just think they respond differently to it as they get older
ds was still told to go and sit on it last year sometimes (at about 10)
dd last sat on it about 6 months ago (she's 6) and just sat quietly on it and then came in and behaved fine. She was embarrassed to be on it i think.

thanks for responses. it just seems to me that even though he knows he's going on it for bad behaviour that it doesnt bother him, there is hardly a day that goes by when he hasnt been on it at least once, ive been using it since he was about twoish and thought that the point would have stuck by now. it was OH who mentioned first that it didnt seem to be working and i didnt reallt try anything different but my mum said the same the other night and i realised that they both are right. i remember being put in the front hall as a child and i was older than him so it must have worked for my mum. i just cant understand why he isnt responding to it. will definitely try the reward chart though as an alternative.