Not there yet, but does the 'naughty' step work ?

[Elmo311]

Hello,

My son is only 14 months so not thinking of it yet but I'm wondering who has used this method and if it works? I'm in two minds about it and I know In the future my OH thinks it's a good idea but I'm just not sure?

My son also threw a tantrum today so it got me thinking about the future!

If it's a NO why is that and what alternative did you do instead and did it work?

I've found 'toy jail' more effective. It's amazing how quickly putting a toy in a cupboard brings about a change in behaviour!

(ds is 3)

@LittleAndOften haha! Love that idea!
How long does the toy stay in the jail for?

Not that long! I found overnight is too long for him to process. About 20 mins or half an hour at most, but I'm anticipating this will extend as he gets older.

Actually, I don't need to go through with it right now, as the threat is sufficient

Doesn't for us. My sons tantrums usually stem from frustration and lack of communication. Getting him to just calm down and control his breathing is much more effective. He will then process what we are telling him and can get him to explain what's wrong.

Works on one of mine but not the other. Toy jail works better.

That's a good point @sammi0805 we only use toy jail for deliberate naughtiness. Frustration meltdowns because there are no clean red pants available etc () is different.

We never used it, but had kids who were biddable enough to be sat down and reasoned with.

Don't know if we would have used it if they had not been - the saddest thing I ever saw was their little friend drop a cup of water and automatically do a head down trudge to the bottom of the stairs.

It didn’t and I suspect doesn’t if you have more than one child. Maybe fine if there is a decent age gap.

Not relevant, but this triggered a memory - I used to get sent to the bottom of the stairs as a child, where I used to 'help' the peeling 70s wallpaper on its way.. ! I went so often, my parents had to buy a wall hanging

You’ll likely get quite opposing views on here. If you follow gentle parenting it’s an absolute no-no. Other people will swear by it. In reality it’s one of those tools that has a place but I find best if reserved for specific deliberate and dangerous behaviour. It works better for some children than others - not as effective for DC1, and wasn’t at all effective before about 3.5. Depending on the behaviour, time-in can be the more useful tool than time-out. But I do use it for aggression, deliberate naughtiness, and destructive or dangerous behaviour. Not emotional responses

@LittleAndOften It does sound good, thanks for that I wouldn't have thought of it :)