"Time Out" for 13 Month Old

Every child is different...I learned this the hard way. My oldest was so very obiedient - if I said no once - that was all it took. Redirection worked like a charm! My 20 month old - he is a whole different story! He doesn't care about telling him no, redirection is laughable and yes...we do put him in time out. It is truly for his own safety...he has no fear and he is into EVERYTHING! He learned to scale the bathroom counters when he was 15 months old - without using a stool or anythign to step on! He crawled out of his crib at 18 months - these are dangerous things! The only thing that gets through to my 20 month old is time out. I don't leave him in there long - 2 minutes at most, but it is effective. At least for him!

13 months is way too young for timeout in my opinion - maybe 18 months for a really precocious, energetic child. It's our job to keep our kids safe and provide a safe environment. If you need to, buy a few of the large baby play yards and confine the child to that, but please don't leave them in a playpen or crib for any extended period of time. They are way too young at this age to understand and again, as parents we should provide a safe environment.
Home should be a safe haven both physically and emotionally and isolating a child is not emotionally healthy IMHO. We had no problems with my older son, but my younger son would not leave anything alone. I literally had to clear out any articles that were within his reach - books, knick knacks, etc. - pad just about every surface, etc. -keeping rooms closed etc. and we bought several baby gates to close off areas and we just watch him closely and physically remove him from dangerous situations, but certainly didn't confine him. The only time we used a playpen was when he was napping somewhere.

I have a one quiet child and one firecracker - however, I would never do 'time out' until it actually meant something to a child - for my son it was 4 & for my daughter she's horrified by it at 3 1/2. I know my way might sound yackie but what I did was tickle them or find another way to make them laugh and I didn't stop until they had forgotten what they were doing or we had moved to another room and they had forgotten. D. you need to have a sense of humour about it all, they are so young and only there for a little time... you have done all the babyproofing.. so enjoy..

I would agree that 13 mos is a little young for time out or isolation. If redirecting doesn't work, you may have to temporarily change things. For instance, put gates up around the kitchen or put your breakables higher on a shelf. This phase won't last long and your child will still learn that he shouldn't touch certain things. He's still a little young - soon the "light" will come on and he'll really start understanding things. Right now, he's just excited about mobility and figuring out he can manipulate things (read: knocking them onto the floor). My humble opinion is that it's okay to temporarily change the way you do things when it's a constant battle. It's not about you vs. the baby - it's about letting them explore safely and not having to hear "no" all the time. Good luck!!

My pedi recommended time out when my son turned 12 months. I have tried it a few times and like someone else said, I just dont think he gets it. He is 16 months now and I STILL think he doesnt get it. You are supposed to leave them for 1 minute for every year of their age (I THINK). So, thats about 1 minute for your little one. I have resigned myself to walking ofer to him and if he doesnt listen to no the first time, I force him to get down, rinse and repeat. I think at this age, you just have to be consistent. I think time out for me isnt working either.

I put this same request in 2 months ago when my son was 13 months! Everyone told me that it does work, and it's still something I battle with. My son is very persistant and time outs don't phase him. He just goes back to what he was doing. I have even spanked him (after repeated and extreme offenses), and he doesn't really care. I just keep taking him away from what he's doing and firmly tell him no til I'm blue in the face. Stay consistant, and don't give up. I find that works better than anything else. He eventually gets tired of whatever he's doing that's driving me crazy, and moves on to something else. It's just the age of exploration. The recommended time out is 1 minute for each year of age, so 1 minute for your son.

I would think 13 months old might be too young for time out. I never had any luck with that until after 18 months at least. Also, I wouldn't use the playpen unless it's used for only isolation. Otherwise, even if you're using it for a minute to run to the bathroom or something, it'll have a negative connotation for the kid. Does that make sense?

When you do use time out, the rule of thumb is one minute for each age, so for a 13 mo. old, it'd be 1 minute.

D.,
Welcome to parenthood, they are just starting to be a little independent and explore. It can be very dangerous and you are doing a great job. Sometimes our tone of saying "No" is all they need. My husband can say "NO" and our son would listen, even my mom, but when I say no, they keep going. My son was about 1 1/2 yrs old and started to throw a fit, he was mad at something, well, he looked at a full glass of soda on the end table and knocked it over on purpose. I was at my end. I told him NO in a very strong tone, sat him on the chair (so I could clean it up) he sat there and didn't get up at all. He knew I was upset with him. He kept on crying and putting his arms out towards me, but I said NO, mommy is mad at the mess you just made. After I cleaned it up, I picked him up, he stopped crying too. Don't get me wrong he hasn't been perfect since then, but the tone does work.
Enjoy... I have a 13 year old now, and let me tell you, I wish she was still 1, the problems only get bigger with their age...

I have to agree with the women saying 13 months is too young for a time out. You still have a baby there. Make sure your house is safe and never leave the baby unattended. 13 month olds are supposed to explore. Just keep unsafe or breakables out of reach. Put a baby gate up to keep the baby in one room where you can keep an eye. There will be plenty of time for that 1,000 no's later on. Enjoy your baby and don't worry too much about discipline yet.

I would never put a baby that young in TO. I have a 15 month old myself and knows he doesn't have the self control to always do what I say. Just remove the dangerous object, put something in front of it if you can't move it, distract your child with something else, or let your child look at whatever he is so interested in with your supervision, if it isn't too dangerous. Sometimes if you just let them touch it or look at whatever they're interested in, then they are satisfied. I would only use TO's around the age of 2 and beyond and then it is one minute for each year(3yrs. = 3 min.). However, they need to understand why they are going to TO in the first place and a 13 month old can't understand that. Hope I haven't offended you. I just hate to think of a baby in TO and they have no idea what they did wrong.

I have found that the most effective technique at this age is to redirect. When your son starts to do something he should no, get his attetion focused on another task such as a toy on the other side of the room. I know the gennerally accepted "rule" is time out for one minute per year of child but I beleive each mother knows best. 3 minutes in his crib is not excessive and won't harm your son's physical or emotional development.

I have a very active 19 month old and we "baby proofed" our house to a degree, but we are still of the mind set that things will be left out that belong to us so that he understands these things are mommy and daddys and need to be left alone. When he gets told "no" repeatedly, we started doing time outs where he sits on a step for 1 minute. You give them a time out for 1 minute for every year that they are alive. And if they get up, which they will, then put them back and start the time over. They will get it. It might take a few times, but they will get it.

Hope that helps.

I think a 13 month old is too young for the time-out technique. At this age it is better to say "no" and "redirect" them to something safe/more interesting. This works if you are consistent. Children are wired to explore and learn and at this age, they have NO clue and can not reason. I can see the "isolation time" as a way of diverting their attention, but they are truly too young for "time out" and would better benefit from our direct supervision and redirection than from time alone/punishment.