What Age Do You Start Punishing a Toddler?

Appropriate Age

• Between the ages of 1 year and 18 months, your child will begin to understand that certain behaviors carry consequences. In many cases, your child isn't setting out to be naughty, but is exploring the world around her, which involves testing the limits to see what will happen. Before this age, your child doesn't grasp the concept of cause and effect, so trying to punish her for undesirable behaviors has little effect on her behavior, according to the PsychCentral website. By your toddler's second birthday, you should have consistent discipline in place that includes consequences if she breaks the rules.

Considerations

• If your child has developmental delays, he might not be ready for discipline that includes punishments that are suitable for other children his age. Consider your child's needs and what he's able to do when choosing how and when to discipline him, HealthyChildren.org recommends. Remember, too, that your toddler doesn't have the language or vocabulary to always express his frustrations or needs, and that can result in poor behavior such as temper tantrums and whining. Assessing your child's developmental progress allows you to determine whether it's time to use punishments as part of your discipline. If your 1-year-old doesn't seem to understand the effects of his behavior, for example, wait a few months and then try using consequences again.

Appropriate Punishments

• The word punishments sounds negative, but convincing your child to behave by using consistent consequences doesn't have to be a bad thing. Toddlers younger than 2 years of age respond best to redirection, according to the AskDrSears website. If your toddler tends to get into trouble at certain times, such as bedtime, distract her with stories, songs or a stuffed animal to help prevent a meltdown. Once your toddler reaches her second birthday, time-outs are an effective punishment for poor behavior, according to HealthyChildren.org. When your toddler breaks one of your rules, place her in a time-out spot. Tell her what she did to earn a time-out and then have her sit for one minute for every year of her age. When her time-out is over, help her find something more appropriate to do.

Additional Tips

• Create boundaries in your household. Tell your toddler what the rules are, but don't have so many he can't remember what he's supposed to be doing. Focus on a few essential rules such as not hitting and listening the first time he's told something so he's not so overwhelmed that he simply gives up on behaving. Be consistent, too. Don't give into your toddler's temper tantrums or begging. It might stop the whining, but all it's really doing is sending the message that when your toddler resorts to a temper tantrum, he's eventually going to get what he wants. Skip spankings and other physical forms of punishment, as well, HealthyChildren.org recommends.