'Often, time-outs lead to more power struggles and fractured parent-child relationships,' says Patel. Tejal Patel, a mindfulness and meditation expert for kids and parents, is a mom of three who says time-outs can impact kids' mental health, leaving young children feeling scared and alone. Some experts even feel that time-outs may damage the relationship between child and parent. Story continues Time-out and the parent-child relationship Gentle parenting focuses closely on child development and uses positive reinforcement to tackle problem behaviors through calm and respectful discipline, which would not include things like the use of a time-out chair. The idea of acknowledging kids' feelings and helping them cope with those emotions rather than disciplining them for perceived bad behaviors is strongly tied to gentle parenting - a parenting style many moms and dads are choosing in recent years over discipline strategies that focus on punishment. They aren't giving us a hard time, they're having a hard time.' 'We know children require co-regulation (a calming presence to help them settle down when upset,) behavior modeling, emotional coaching and discipline when they're struggling. 'There's been much research done which tells us children lack the ability to pause to consider their actions and cannot regulate their emotions on their own,' Howe tells Yahoo Life. 'Time-outs are an outdated idea left over from previous generations that lacked an understanding of impulse control, emotional regulation and child brain development,' says the San Diego, Calif.

Time out chair