Time out baby

We recently began doing time-outs with Aaron. I had read somewhere that kids can understand the concept around 18 months. I had put him in his play pen for time outs a couple of times before 18 months when he had hit me, but hadn't used it on a regular basis.

We decided to use the rug by the back door for time-outs. One morning, Aaron threw a Duplo. I told him "no throwing" and he went to pick it up, and then threw it again. So I put him in time-out. I also read somewhere that time-outs should last about 1 minute per year of age, so I started with 1 minute. He doesn't stay put, so I have to keep putting him back in place until his time is up.

Later that day, or maybe the next day, Thom was with him in the dining room and he threw a Duplo. Thom didn't react, but Aaron crawled over and put himself in time-out.

Since then, he has put himself in time-out on several occasions. So he understands that time-out is where you go after doing something you aren't supposed to do. But so far, time-out doesn't seem to be a deterrent.

Time-outs aren't the only form of discipline we use. We have logical consequences for some activities. If he crashes his wagon into the wall, it gets put away. Throwing books gets them taken away. Spraying food from his mouth ends a meal. But for things that don't have easy, swift consequences we can impose, he goes to time-out. I hope it is effective. Kim claims it is. But I'm worried he already thinks it is OK to misbehave if he goes and puts himself in time-out afterwards.