Question
My 20 month old son is doing typical 2 year old behaviors testing limits. More and more often he completely ignores my instructions. The past few days I have put him in his tantrum spot, his old crib, as a consequence even though he is not tantruming. This often induces a tantrum. For example, this morning he kicked me on purpose while I was feeding his little sister. He giggled and watched for a response. I said "no kicking" and carried him to his tantrum spot. On the way he was giggling and snuggling me. When I put him in the crib he melted down and I left him for a few minutes. Once he was done i came back and he said sorry for kicking and was better behaved for the morning. I have also done this for when he ignores more serious instructions such as "no climbing on the outside of the stairs" or "no, do not put that toast in the blue ray player."
I have read that this age is too young for consequences and time out. To say a firm "no" then redirecting is best. Using the crib seems to be working but I don't want to crush his little spirit too much. Am I being too harsh with the using the tantrum spot as a punishment?
