How to Better Use Timeouts

For the 4th time today, your child is spiraling into a full-out meltdown. Except unlike of the other 3 times, this one shows no signs of stopping. It’s important to give your child the time and space to calm down and regain emotional control—enter the “timeout”. However, timeouts have been at the center of a debate—are they effective in teaching emotional regulation or are they too isolating? Here to discuss with us the pros and cons of timeouts and how to use them more effectively is Dr. Lucy McGoron, parenting-strategies researcher and Assistant Professor at the Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute.