Hello!

I have to girls (age 3 & 10). I’m finding that I just seem to put them both in the corner when they misbehave or are fighting. Because there is an age gap, should the method of “naughty corner” change as they are older? I do find the ‘corner’ does work but thinking I may have to change it up soon.


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  • We did time-out on the stairs till pre-school age. Then writing lines (or write down what happened and what they did and what’s wrong with that) as soon as the hit kindy/primary school age. Now I’ve 2 kids at high school I don’t feel that is totally appropriate anymore and I send them in their bedroom without phone or tablets. After a while I go up and talk about it with them. On some occasions they lose their reward (which we do weekly on positive behaviour).


  • This is a really good question, I guess you would have to tailor thins a little differently for the older child!


  • If it’s still working then stick with it, I can’t imagine it will work for too much longer though! Good luck!


  • maybe a timeout chair for both for the 3yr sit her there for 3 mins and the 10 yrs sit her there for 10 mins


  • there are some good comments here


  • a naughty chart and something gets taken away


  • Try reading a book called 1,2,3 magic. It will give you some different techniques based on age.


  • I feel that if this stops working then keep trying different things until you find something that does. There will come a point when this no longer works for the older child. Things such as taking away electronics, no tv, no phone etc tend to work well with the older ones


  • try a rewards chart. if their naught take a star off.


  • I use marble jars for my two boys, they can both gain and lose marbles. When their jar is full they can choose what to do, i.e. go to the beach, zoo, movies etc.

    My eldest also earns trust dollars (paper money) and earns rewards that we negotiate together. $10 trip to park, $20 trip to pools etc, whatever they want that you are happy with and negotiate the amount that needs to be earned. He loses all his trust dollars for lying – lying breaks trust. But mostly is a reward thing.


  • If you feel that its working for you then thats great.
    I would feel that a 10 year old is going to need something other then the naughty corner but while you feel its working for you then perhaps keep using it until you feel it is no longer working.
    I guess it would depend what sort of things the 10 year old is doing that is naughty.
    I found taking things off the child that they enjoyed or not allowing them to watch the tv show they wanted to see, etc… it all depends on the crime


  • I had all mine sent to their bedrooms and they must sit on their beds. (They must not get off the bed, that’s the rule.) I would ask that they think about what they have just done to receive that punishment and after 10 minutes I would walk in and talk to them about it. They would say sorry, we would hug and kiss and that’s that!


  • Perhaps going to their rooms, (without electronic gadgets) might be more appropriate, especially for your eldest girl. Find out what her teacher does at school and adapt it to the home, good luck!


  • When we were kids we were smacked if we weren’t behaving. :(


  • I could never tell another mother how to discipline her children (especially as the naughty corner seems to be working!), but if it were me, I would definitely be thinking of changing the elder child’s punishment soon. Especially as she is nearing puberty. Perhaps you could negotiate with her for suitable punishments for unwanted behaviour beforehand. Write it down (such as less tv or internet time for fighting with my sister) etc with the idea that as she had a say in defining the discipline, she won’t feel as resentful (?). As I said though, every family is different and I’m sure you’ll find what works best for you.


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