[gumby]

> The purpose of a timeout for toddlers / small children is to have a negative (but not harmful) consequence they understand...

Looks like we disagree.

In general I am opposed to punishment (obviously one cannot be absolute on such a matter) but in particular: the younger the child the less agency and less ability to connect cause and effect, so I consider punishment pretty much ineffective for toddler ages.

But society is a huge parallel processing system so my opinion need not be universal.

[totalrobe]

Check out this article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2018/11/30/when-use...

[burfog]

They can connect cause and effect if you are consistent and very fast.

Proposing some plausible numbers: raise 2 to the power of their age in years, and the result is how many seconds you have.

It may be a bit low, giving only 3 days at age 18, but you get the idea. Use e to give the 18-year-old a couple years.