How do time outs work with 16 month olds?

How often do you do timeouts for a 16-month-old? She’s in a hitting phase, so she gets told once not to hit. If she does it a second time, she’s put down if being held or we move away from her, the third time she’s put in time out. This is if it all happens one right after another, like if she hits us and we say no, then hits us again, then hits again; not like she hits us at 9:00 AM then hits us again at 9:20 or something. However, if she hits us with a toy, that’s immediately a time out. SHe’s only in timeout for 1 minute.

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I havent even done timeouts with my daughter. She is 14 months and when she hit me I hold her arms to her side and tell her not to hit because its “not good. Ow. That hurt.” Its been a while since she has hit me since I’ve started that.

time outs do not work for babies–read some child development books or websites

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She is literally a baby still. Time outs wont do u any good. Tell her it hurts, not nice and we have to be nice. Keep repeating it and redirecting her.

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Um at that age it may not really register what time out even is. Best thing is to get on their level, hold arms down and say “ow that hurt, not nice. No hitting” then redirect.

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She’s…16 months old. Try reading up on child brain development and learn to communicate with children.

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I was told by a professional to put them in their crib

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Wow time out for a 1 year old. They do not comprehend what you’re doing to them. When my daughter hits I hold her hand shes 2 I do not squeeze or hurt her I just hold her nicely and tell her to be gentle

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Def tell her no in a firm voice but likely its too early for timeout

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Just say in a firm voice OUCH NO THAT HURTS MUMMY

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Too early for time outs but if you get frustrated just put her in her crib for a bit and take a breather.explain hitting hurts and it’s not nice.

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Just say NO THANK YOU we dont hit and walk away … losing your attention will be more of a shock then getting extra attention(time out) because of what they did

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I’d pretend to cry so she knew it hurt and say ow and just set her down. Time out isn’t effective until 3 years old. You can google reasonable expectations of behavior by age and appropriate discipline online.

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Try redirecting instead. You will have much better luck. When you see her getting ready to hit move in and giver a high five instead.

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Say Gentle touch - take your hand and gently touch or rub her hands or face. Repeat as often as needed - she will learn. Goggle child behavior.

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I feel for you and understand my girls started early with Tantrums just say no and walk away and keep doing it

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From what I have read 16 months olds can sometimes point out specific features, eyes ears etc . We taught my son “oh no “, when he throws, drops , hits . Sitting them down to tell them it’s not ok is better then “timeouts”. At this point . And we taught him look at my eyes. this is how to properly communicate your expectations. The tricky thing is teaching children these things long before there able to register why your doing it. But luckily with kids if you do it consistently they pick up quickly . My guy is 14 months

I think that is too young for timeouts. I would say ouch, that hurts mommy and show them your sad…teach and use their hands to be gentle. Gentlely run their fingers around your face and speak softly. They can’t understand what what a timeout is…this is a young stage and they are reacting to emotions. You just have to guide them. Wish you the best! :heart:

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A child before 2-3 years old can’t be put in timeout. Their brain isn’t even developed enough to understand what time out is. When they hit tell them why they can’t do it or say “owww, you hurt me” and give a sad face. They understand more through facial expressions and simple words at this time. Also, hitting, biting, and not sharing is super common for this age group. Timeout doesn’t help them understand why they shouldn’t do it. Look up how to communicate with 1.5-2 year olds when they’re wrong and look up brain and language development for that age group. You have to get on their level.

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Would hold off until at least 2 with the time outs

I don’t do time outs with my 18 month old. They don’t have an understanding yet as to what that means so seems pointless. My daughter has hit before and if we can stop her before she hits we do that and just say “ouch that hurts no hitting. Not nice” and go on. My daughter doesn’t have a problem understanding no so that works. I also go on to direct her to a toy or something positive to get her focus

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No time outs for a baby, they don’t really understand. It’s better to teach empathy, like others have suggested. So say something like, “ouch, that hurts!” Or “oh no I don’t like that, no hitting mommy” and really emphasize facial expressions.

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She’s too little to even understand timeout. Try redirecting or helping her understand you’re hurt . Just stay consistent

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Uh shes 16 months. So timeouts are pointless. You need to explain and correct the behavior not shove her in a corner…

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I’ve never done time out.
I just told him no and moved away from him. I would tell him ow and hold his hands. Took a long time but he did stop.
He would have never understood time outs nor stayed.

EVERY child goes through a hitting phase. Some short while others longer. It’s normal as they test boundaries.

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Take her hand and gently touch your arm and say “nice touches” or “gentle” and then reward her for when she is.

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I feel like this is amazing and the fact your consistent is even better. Keep it up mama!!

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My 1.5 year old is going through that. He’s learning when its ok to play fight and when not to, especially with dad and his older brother. If he wants to play fight he will walk up with his fists covering his face like a boxer and will wait for the ok. If he hits with a toy, that toy is gone. Nerf guns, he knows to be back a bit before “pew pewing”. Exaggerated “Ow! That hurts!” with a sad face has helped him not hit so much outside of play fights.

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I mean when my 1 year old is touching something and I say no and he knows what no means and continues to touch it he gets popped. Not super hard but hard enough to hurt his feelings and guess what? He stops touching the thing he wasn’t supposed to touch.

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I didnt start timeouts until my kids were 2. At 16 months I firmly said no and would slap there hand not too hard but hard enough to get their attention. And I would also grab their hand and run us softly down my face saying soft soft. My son is now 3 and still says soft softly running his hand down my face

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I’ve done 30 seconds for the age starting at age 2… 2=30 seconds 3=1 minute 4 1 minute 30 seconds 5= 2 minutes.

Timeouts don’t work at that age because they don’t have the brain function to understand why and remember their action=timeout.

Move her attention to something else. Ignore the hitting. Do not give her attention for it. Walk away or turn away. She will eventually realize she isn’t getting the attention she wants from hitting.

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Uh im laughing so hard time out for 16 month

Around 2 /3 they start understanding what no even means

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A 16 month old will have no understanding of what a time out is. Her brain is not developed enough to even comprehend this. At 16 months old, you should use redirection when she’s hitting, and plenty of positive praise when she’s not. Also, make sure that the other people around her are role modeling appropriate management of their emotions around her. Kids are little sponges and pick up on everything around them!

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We played good cop crying parent who got hit…other parent exagerating to the point of a Grammy that they could die from the hit. I find they stop

I don’t really think time outs work for a child that young.

Grab her arm when she hits and tell her no very forcefully. If she does it again swat her behind and tell her no!

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I did this kida with my son i did it only for a little bit

That should be appropriate time

At that age time outs don’t really work because they don’t understand that yet. Try sign language.

A child wouldn’t hit unless she’s seen someone else do it. It’s just a phase and it should go within days if not weeks. Just keep telling her it’s not right thing to do.

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Isn’t she too small for that. My kids are 3 and 5. Never needed to put them time out. Just sit and talk. We reason why it’s not good and why we shouldn’t do it. It works.

People saying she doesn’t understand :joy: my first child at 7 months old knew what the word no meant. Not all children aren’t bright from an early age. People don’t give them enough credit.
I’d smack back :woman_shrugging:t4:

My daughters almost 3 and her “time out” is more quiet time on her bed than anything else… she still has her shows playing but she isn’t allowed her toys or snacks or anything… we talk to her and let her know she was “naughty” and why we dont like it or why she shouldn’t act like that. Hitting is a big issue with her right now but most of the time we just tell her she gave us an owie and that that’s not how good girls behave and she understands and responds with kissing the hurt and a cute “I sorry momma/daddy”…
Just try talking to your child and let them know what’s going on an that its hurting you or making you sad when they behave this way. Hitting back wont solve anything. It just teaches the child that if they want to hurt someone that’s how its done (just like biting)

I’ll behavior is a form of communication. Tell her to use her words. And then give her the words to use. If language is an issue because of age help teacher sign language.

We do it by age, my daughters 2 so we set a timer for 2 mins and she’s in the corner then we talk to her and let her know whatever she did isn’t okay.

If those don’t work we spank her once on the butt and sit her down.

Also making her pick up her toys and sit down and she doesn’t get to play till we say so.

Take a look at consciousdiscipline.com

I found ignoring mine worked better than timeouts. They want your attention so giving endless timeouts is doing that. Kneel down and explain people don’t like being hit as it hurts and makes them sad. Then say you don’t want to be with them right now…and walk (within safety) away. If they hit again, ignore. If they cry/beg say you’re sad and keep walking. If they say sorry, then give a big hug and do something together.

You have to use a firm voice with a child this age and time outs don’t work because a 16 month old does not understand. Try taking favorite toys,tv privilege, etc

Way too young for time out won’t understand just distract with a toy x

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Explain how hitting hurts and if she continues,hit back not in an abusive way but in a way that she gets the idea.

When my son was that age I was told one minute for how old he was. So like a year old, one minute, two years two minutes. And if he was crying or throwing a fit I’d tell him when you calm down then we will have a talk. Then when he was calm I’d explain to him why he was in a time out and explain he continues the bad behavior he would go right back into time out. Oh and another good tip is to always use the same spot for the time out. For example I have him stand or sit in the corner in the hallway so that way I can keep an eye on him from the kitchen.

Too young. Stern nos and holding her hand down.

My son is 16 months also. I never thought about timeouts for a baby. Redirection has worked for all 3 of my kids and for others.

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