What is the rule of thumb for time-out?
Lavonne Larkin
2025-07-14 23:10:40
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Most experts agree that getting one minute in time-out for every year of your child's age is a good rule of thumb. Use an old-fashioned kitchen timer to track the minutes your child spends in time-out. If you leave your preschooler in time-out longer than that, she's likely to shift her focus from calming down to being angry and resentful, which counteracts the goal of a time-out. Other experts suggest making a time-out last only until your child calms down – that way she learns self-regulation. So a 4-year-old would spend four minutes in time-out.
Chaya Moen
2025-07-14 22:51:33
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Time Out doesn’t begin until your child is relatively settled. He doesn’t have to be absolutely silent, but no yelling or hurling pillows against walls. The rule is this: Time Out starts when you are quiet. There are various rubrics for figuring out how long to keep children in Time Out – 1 minute per year of age; your child’s age +2; 5 minutes regardless of age. In truth, the amount of time doesn’t matter – children don’t have a finely tuned internal clock so a minute here or there isn’t going to register. Set the precedent early on that you will inform your child when Time Out is over, or set a timer to do so. If your child chooses to stay in her room longer, that’s fine. Parents are in charge of sending children to Time Out, and parents should be in charge of ending it.
Lempi Cartwright
2025-07-14 19:07:09
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Time-out usually lasts between two and five minutes for toddlers and preschoolers. A good rule is to give one minute of time-out for every year of the child's age. This means that a 2-year-old would sit in time-out for two minutes, and a 3-year-old would have a three-minute time-out. Your child should be quiet before they leave the time-out space. Listen for about five seconds of silence toward the end of time-out. When your child is quiet for five seconds at the end of time-out, tell them they can get up.