May I add another help with timeouts? I also have my children tell me at the very end why they think they were in timeout. I correct them if needed. Then have them tell me what they could have done to avoid being in the timeout chair.

EXCELLENT advice. I especially like the part about bending/squatting down to get on an eye-to-eye level with your child.

Here's one for helping infants learn to sleep through the night:

- hold your baby/cuddle with them until you see them starting to get drowsy

- gently lay them down in their crib

- gently touch them somehow prior to leaving: a gentle kiss, a gentle rub on their stomach or back, etc (make it brief)

- quietly and quickly leave the room

- if your baby wakes up and starts to cry, let them cry for a few minutes. If they continue to cry after a few minutes, enter the room, do NOT pick them up out of the crib, physically touch them somehow (a gentle kiss, rubbing their back, etc) to let them know you are aware of their distress/aware of their need and then leave. It is important to leave EVEN IF they are still crying. If they are still crying in a little while, repeat the process ensuring you do NOT pick them up out of the crib.

The older the infant, the longer you should go in between comforting the child.

They'll learn.

Having survived the mommy/discipline wars i think you had sound advice the best was that it wasnt a negotiation. But a word to the wise, one technique doesnt fit all. Wether your a hinnie hitter or a time out guru you have to be cosistant. I dont really care how a parent does the deed as long as they are trying and not abusing their kids. The worst thing you can do is ignore the problem. Nice article. I will say though that its best to imagine your kids being a teen hating you and see if what you are doing now will work later as well cause toddlerhood is just a tempest in teapot teenage years are the flipping American revolution against Britain and you arent always the winning side.

Your kiddos may be a bit young for this, but it helps tremendously for the kids to tell YOU what they are going to do differently in the future, rather than the parent telling them why they're in timeout. My kiddos sat in timeout until they could tell me what they were going to do different in the future, be it 3 seconds or 3 minutes. That way the children learn to police their own behavior. We had very little problems with the kids as teens as a result of raising them this way.