What age did you start using the naughty step?

[Memoo]

We've just started using the naughty step with dd who is 2.7 We only use it when she has been deliberately naughty like biting her siblings or kickIng us.

The problem I have is getting her to stay there. Obviously it's only for 2 minutes but she won't sit there for even 10 seconds. I tend to make her say sorry and then leave it at that but I'm not sure if I'm doing the right thing.

Should I make her do the full 2 minutes and if so how do I get her to stay there?

Or is she too young for the naughty step?

We began to use naughty step just before DS turned 2 if i remember correctly. U have to be persistent with getting them to stay there, so be confident and show you mean it.
If your DD wont stay, leave her in say the hall with stair gate on and door closed to give you chance to calm down and for her to reflect on why everyone is ignoring her. You need to make it clear after the two minutes by asking her why she is on step
You should find that the ultimatum of naughty step after one warning should suffice in time HTH

my DS is 2 next month and i've not yet tried using naughty or corner/ chair or whatever but i would like to but i know for a fact DS would not stay. Our stairs are in our living room so we don't have a hall to put DS in. We have porch but it has meter cupboard in there and DS loves going in the porch to the extent we have a bolt across to stop him going in so not sure putting him in there would work. interested in hearing other ideas for getting them to stay

Getting on for 3 i think.

about 2 and a half.
Sometimes it takes a hour to get him to stay. But worth it. Just stick them back, and don't say anything. (it is putting them back rather than making them stay iyswim - they learn to stay)

Around the same here as well - when they understood the basic concept of nice/naughty. Two minutes is quite a long time though, I'm sure we did less at first but I could be wrong.
How about getting something visible like an egg timer to show her she can't come off until the sand has run down?
Our two absolutely hate it and not being part of what is going on so it was extremely effective and we now hardly have to resort to it.

I call it the calming down mat and sit down holding ds but ignoring him, starting a couple minutes again if he hits me.
But as far as I'm concerned its worked if he's calmed down and then does what I wanted in the first place, rather than forcing him to stay there as a punishment - he has insisted on staying on the mat in the past just to be annoying. He's 3.7 now.

Thanks all, excellent advice. I'm going to start being insistent that she stays on the step from now on. She is so strong willed though so I suspect I'll be back and to for hours.
Dd is my 3rd but my other two were much more placid. Dd has the devil in her!

Our routine that works for DS 22m:

• Give him a final warning and point to the naughty chair, saying "stop X or you'll sit on the chair" so he understands.
• If he persists, sit him on the chair saying "sit there for one minute" (two when he turns two).
• if he gets off, slides down to push our patience etc, silently pick him up and replace him.
• Repeat step 3 silently (no discussions, no arguments, no anger) until his brain realises he's not going anywhere until he does as he's told (I've seen another parents replace their child 64 times before they stayed for the minute!)
• At the end of the minute, say "you can come off now. Come and give me a kiss and say sorry" - cue DS coming up sniffing and whimpering, giving me a big snotty kiss and patting me on the back going "awhhhhh".

Subsequent times on the chair take less and less replacements. Now he very rarely moves, just sits and cries.

We started well before the age of 2 and still use it sometimes now at 8! Do persist as it really works. At 23 months while grandparents were babysitting DD put herself on it when she knew she had done something wrong!