| In my experience at 17months old you can't use time outs. He is really too young to make the connection between his action and the consequence, which is what you are trying to instill in him. I would suggest that you just arrange your home so he cannot get into mischief. Distraction is the technique you should try at this age. Just give him something more interesting to do, and he won't do the things you don't want him to do. If he does do something you don't want him to do, and it is tricky to rearrange things, like going near the oven - perhaps you can just say a firm "no" and say "hot" and move his hand away. If he is whining, perhaps you could ask yourself why. Does he have enough sleep, mental stimulation, playtime, outside time, walk time. Once again, distraction - so he gets out of the habit of whining. Hope this helps, all the best with your little one. | 
