Question
Our main discipline tool for our sensitive 2.5 year old son is time out. When he disobeys after a count of 3 or says “no” to us, he goes in our bedroom or his bedroom for a 2 minute time out. I set the timer in his room and tell him I’m doing so so that he’ll know I’m not leaving him in there forever. He proceeds to scream and tantrum. The problem is when the timer goes off, I tell him “ok your time out is over, you can come out and play now,” but he’s already become inconsolable- he screams, cries, his hands shake and he sucks on his fingers (which he only does when he’s scared or insecure usually) and the fit goes on for 45 minutes no matter what I do. We don’t want to spank so time out feels like our only tool but this is so disruptive to our day (not to mention impossible when outside our home) that we feel stuck and discouraged. Any advice? Is time out too traumatic for him? What other options do we have?
