"Take out time out" portable disciplinary mat

[Amila]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Take-Out-Time-Ou...3A1%7C294%3A50

A women at my playdate had this...she said it really works... thoughts?

[sapphire_chan]

My first few thoughts are UAVs so I won't go there.

Does remind me of the mats my inlaws use for their dogs. The dogs have been trained to lay on mats at home so when they travel they just bring the mats with them and they work just as well as kennels for giving the dogs a clear place that's "theirs".

Edited versions of my first few thoughts:
So the kid has to *stand* for a time out?
And you pull this mat out right in front of everyone?
And...okay, I'd better stop, I'm going UAV again.

[lumom]

I wonder how one would get their child to stay in that one spot? I have concerns about time outs themselves, so my thoughts about that mat are not positive.

[Daphneduck]

I imagine that it would be pretty humiliating for a child to have to sit/stand on that thing, especially in front of their peers. That mother might as well carry around a dunce cap for her child, IMO.

[Freefromitall]

I'm confused as to why, if you do timeouts, you'd need a portable mat. My mom did timeouts, without a special rug. Maybe she was just lucky that she could consistently find buildings with walls and corners and such?

[Amila]

Yea she said what makes it work is that everyone around them stares at her kid (20 months?) and thats what makes him listen. She uses it at the grocery store etc. I guess its the embarassment that does the trick

We do time outs, but not in public, and if we are at a friends house, its just sitting on a chair away from the kids playing...

HA, my kid would NEVER stay in one spot even if I glued her bum to the floor. She can acrobat her way out of things with straps, let alone things without them.

[betsyj]

I don't like timeouts either but if I did I tihnk I could probably manage to do one without spending 10 bucks on a mat.

Where did this obssession with buying our way to good kids come from??

[transformed]

I like it. And I think time out is very gd if it is used properly.

When a child is acting out, like violently or something, a time out gives them a minute to compose themself and I personally belive in removing the child from the situation.

I use time outs occasionaly but overuse makes them not work at all. If my kid is hitting or something, I dont care if they are embarrased or not! LOL. seriously?

eta: I use time out with my 3 yr old and 6 yr old.

[transformed]

I would never use it on a 20 mo old. i dont know if a 20 mo old knows about embbarrasment. they dont care what others think yet.

[Storm Bride]

It creeps me out. I wonder if it would bother me so much if it didn't look like a bleeping target...

[sapphire_chan]

Originally Posted by Amila

Yea she said what makes it work is that everyone around them stares at her kid (20 months?) and thats what makes him listen. She uses it at the grocery store etc. I guess its the embarassment that does the trick

We do time outs, but not in public, and if we are at a friends house, its just sitting on a chair away from the kids playing...

HA, my kid would NEVER stay in one spot even if I glued her bum to the floor. She can acrobat her way out of things with straps, let alone things without them.

She uses it at the grocery store? Instead of just making her kid sit in the cart? Does she *like* taking forever shopping? Does she have a stupid idea here or am I just too lazy? Because that doesn't sound appealing at all--even allowing for not liking timeouts.

Hey, kid, you're acting out, so I'm going to drag out this shopping trip by pulling out a mat and making you stand on it for x minutes.

Maybe the kid's embarrassed, but I'd bet people are actually staring at the MOM.

I thought it was bad enough as something for at a play group. But during a shopping trip? How is she not burning up with embarrassment every time she pulls it out?

[sapphire_chan]

Originally Posted by transformed

I like it. And I think time out is very gd if it is used properly.

When a child is acting out, like violently or something, a time out gives them a minute to compose themself and I personally belive in removing the child from the situation.

I use time outs occasionaly but overuse makes them not work at all. If my kid is hitting or something, I dont care if they are embarrased or not! LOL. seriously?

eta: I use time out with my 3 yr old and 6 yr old.

How does the mat help with removing them from the situation?

[WhaleinGaloshes]

Originally Posted by Amila

Yea she said what makes it work is that everyone around them stares at her kid (20 months?) and thats what makes him listen. She uses it at the grocery store etc. I guess its the embarassment that does the trick

She puts her one year old on a big portable bullseye, in the grocery store? I can't imagine. Up front, I'm anti-timeout (the punitive, isolating kind), but still -- a bullseye?

I think, beyond the calling attention to it factor, part of it's utility is that it's the same mat every time. I imagine just the sight of the mat is enough to be threatening after a while. Two mothers I know who swear by the wooden spoon method of discipline kind of say the same thing, the consistency of the spoon is 'helpful'. Blech.

No thanks.

[Just My Opinion]

The bottom line, for me, is that there is something keeping the child on the mat. I highly douubt it is insightful and sincere remorse and empathy with the desire to want to help right a "wrong" they may have created or contributed to. Those emotions are the residual 'goal', if you will, of gentle discipline. Anything else is just punishment to inflict embarrassment, humiliation, or isolation in order to appease a parents' (or onlookers) need to feel in control. I am extremely uncomfortable with time-outs of this vein

I am not above taking a screaming, tantruming child out of a store to cool off, or temporarily removing a child who may be hitting (as an example), but this mat would not serve any purpose in a volitle situation like that. A child out of control of their emotions is, in no way, going to stand on a small circle whilst being gawked at by peers and adults alike, without an underlying (or not so underlying) threat of something worse if the child dissents.



Just my opinion.

[veganone]

I'm not anti time-out in all cases, but discipline through humiliation is awful. That makes me so sad for her LO.

[mamarootoo]

Originally Posted by Daphneduck

I imagine that it would be pretty humiliating for a child to have to sit/stand on that thing, especially in front of their peers. That mother might as well carry around a dunce cap for her child, IMO.

:

[AFWife]

Originally Posted by Just My Opinion

I am not above taking a screaming, tantruming child out of a store to cool off, or temporarily removing a child who may be hitting (as an example), but this mat would not serve any purpose in a volitle situation like that. A child out of control of their emotions is, in no way, going to stand on a small circle whilst being gawked at by peers and adults alike, without an underlying (or not so underlying) threat of something worse if the child dissents.

Exactly

[annettemarie]

I'm not against time-outs per se (well, I'm more of a "time-in" kind of gal), but this seems demeaning and humiliating.

ETA: But hey, it's waterproof. Think of the poolside possibilities.

[butterfly_mommy]

I saw this thing at the Chapters a few months ago and I felt nauseated and disgusted by it. I was also very vocal about how disgusting of a product it was and how this item should not be for sale and how any child placed on this bulls eye would feel humiliated. I was with my sister so I was talking loudly to her, just in case someone else near by was listening

[umsami]

I've used time-outs with DS1 occasionally... but I could never see using this. Usually, if we're in a store, and one of the kids is acting out, we leave. That's enough "discipline."

If I really need to continue shopping and DS is still acting out (and we've addressed the not hungry, tired, need to go potty, etc. issues)... I'll just pull over the shopping cart and we'll sort of stand in the aisle towards a shelf. No big deal, but effective.

Not only would DS be mortified if I pulled out that contraption, so would I.

I can't see putting a 20 month old on time-out anyway? : DD is 19 months old, and if one of her brothers goes on time-out, she always follows them to keep them company. She has no clue that they're in trouble.