The concept of time-out was invented, named, and used by Arthur Staats in his extended work with his daughter (and later son), and was part of a long-term program of behavioral analysis beginning in 1958 that treated various aspects of child development.
Staats described the discipline of his 2-year-old daughter in 1962: "I would put her in her crib and indicate that she had to stay there until she stopped crying.