News
Time’s up for troublesome tots!
June 07
The time-out or naughty step technique is a trusted method for parents trying to encourage better behaviour from their tiny tearaways, but it’s not always plain sailing. What if your child constantly gets off the step? How do you keep track of time with all the distractions of a busy home? Parents Rob & Ouvrielle Holmes, creators of the award-winning grobag® baby sleeping bag, have launched the Time Out Pad™, a portable time-out mat with a built-in timer to help parents ensure consistent and effective time-outs.
The Time Out Pad™ was developed through Rob & Ouvrielle’s own personal experience with their second youngest son during his time-out periods. He would continually run away from the naughty step and they struggled to track the time using an egg timer, resulting in variable time-out sessions and frustration for all.
They developed the Time Out Pad™, with a simple traffic light timer system and pressure sensitive mat which automatically pauses the timer and beeps a warning to parents if the child leaves the pad. As long as the child stays seated, the countdown will run. An amber light comes on one minute before the end of the time-out period to let the child know that they are nearly through and when they have completed their time-out successfully, the green light will appear and a finish tune plays. There is also a re-set function which is useful if your child repeatedly runs off and you decide they should restart their time out.
The Time Out Pad™ fits on any flat surface such as the bottom step of the stair or the floor and can be popped into your bag or the car for use anywhere that you need to bring inappropriate behaviour into line. It is fully child ‘tamper- proof’ and has a variable timer which can be set between one and five minutes, dependent on the child’s age (childcare experts recommend one minute per year of a child’s age).
The Time Out Pad™ is most effective for children from ages two to five years old and should be used in conjunction with the ‘Five steps to a successful time-out’, which are fully explained in the accompanying instruction booklet, along with additional helpful parenting tips from Rob & Ouvrielle.
If used properly, the Time Out Pad™ provides both you and your child time to calm down and will result in a happier environment for everybody!