Time-Out

A little over a month ago, I decided it was time to start time-outs with LB. I know it seems early but he was ready. Trust me. When we are at home he is 90% of the time very sweet and just wants to play and explore. However, around his first birthday he started with some of the typical toddler behavior. It seemed a little early to me but he is clever so I shouldn't have been surprised. When he was a little younger he would do stuff like put the remote in his mouth and I would tell him no. Then he would look at me and start to do it again. He was beginning to test me. Usually though I could just take it away and that was that. Out of sight. Out of mind. Then he went through this little phase that when I told him no he would hit me. Oh my, I was not happy about that new development. I would tell him no and he would do it again. That was when I started the time-outs. My logic was that if he is smart enough to test me then he is smart enough to understand time-out. I always warn him that if the hitting or screaming or whatever happens again then it's a time-out. At first he definitely didn't understand what was happening but he caught on quickly. I am happy to say that the hitting rarely happens anymore. His biggest behavior issue now is the screaming. Yesterday morning he wanted to play with one of the cords behind the TV. I am a mean mom and don't let him do this. He screamed in protest and I told him no. When he did it again I told him that it would be a time-out if he screamed again. He stopped screaming. Yay! It has happened on several occasions now that after the warning he'll stop. It is glorious! Since he is still so young the time-out is usually only 30 seconds - 1 minute. I also have us kiss and hug after the time out and he seems okay. I really did not think I would be doing time-outs with LB before he started walking. We have entered the toddler phase without the toddling. (Although I think he will be walking soon.)

I am at a bit of a loss of what to do when he misbehaves and we are in public. I have to say that when we run errands together he does great. He likes riding in the shopping cart and so far I haven't had any trouble in that arena. Also, he does well with outdoor activities and tolerates his stroller for a long period of time. However, if we are at a loud and bustling restaurant or an indoor play space that is when we have more trouble. It seems to me that he gets overstimulated in those environments pretty quickly and that he is intimidated by bigger kids. Last week we were at the play cafe we go to a lot and he hit his buddy, T. I told him no and he screamed. I can't really do a time out in that environment. Or can I? LB understands a lot but I don't think I can say something like, "when we are home you will go straight to time-out" because that is too advanced. My gut reaction was to just walk outside with him, which I did. It didn't really help so in the end I decided we should just leave. It was a bummer.

I also have to say that I never thought I would be very good at discipline. My mom would joke that from observing us with our dog that it was pretty clear D would be the disciplinarian. D will yell at the dog for something and she usually comes running to me. It's kinda funny. I guess since I am home with LB all day it makes sense that I have to step up to that role. I'm patting myself on the back.

Okay, no more discipline talk. He is still a sweet, lovable boy!