My son is nearly 2 years old and a bit hyper. Sometimes he is openly defiant and when we correct him he sometimes hits.
I have been reading that with timeout you want it to be 1 minute for each year of the child and that they have to sit still and be calm before you start the countdown.
This is impossible for my child. He just won't sit still and will escape the dark quiet room. If you lock him in or restrain him to your lap then he violently explodes in a vicious 10 level tantrum every time. I try to wait him out and after over a half hour of screaming he becomes hoarse and gets so upset that he starts to vomit. That or in his thrashing he bangs his head on something really hard and becomes a danger to himself.
I can't put him through that anymore. Is timeout not effective for every child? If so then what am I doing wrong? If not then what is another effective way to correct bad behavior like hitting?
Note, I am not going to spank my child. I will only swat his hand if he is doing something dangerous and I want him to associate pain and danger with something.