Startling to discipline at 10 months?

[Yesso]

DS has hit 10 months and has very suddenly stopped feeling like a baby. He’s on the move now, my husband and I are in disagreement about when to start ‘disciplining’ him.

For instance he kneels against a cabinet with glass doors and bangs on it, likewise with any mirrors in the house. I feel we should be moving him away and saying ‘no’ in a stern voice. My husband is happy to let him do it and stands behind him in case he falls.

Am I crazy to think eventually the penny will drop if I keep saying no and he will stop doing it? Husband thinks he is way too young, but if we don’t start now when do we start?

Why would a ten month old be holding a brick?

Don't your 10 month olds have wooden bricks? Or many other toys that could break your TV or were you being pedantic and asking me to specify a toy brick?

I honestly wouldn’t expect a ten month old to have a toy brick that could break a TV! Plastic ones maybe 😂

"Discipline" is a bizarre concept to be using in this context. You should definitely remove him from the danger. I would probably say something like "oops, no, not for playing". It's teaching, not 'disciplining".

This isn't about discipline, it's about safety so yes you have to remove him from the situation (and safe proof your house).

But "saying no" isn't discipline to me either. It's about setting boundaries and understanding that you can't always do what you want for various reasons. You will be in a world of trouble later if you don't start setting those boundaries now. Stay calm, no shouting or getting stressed/annoyed, firm "no, it's not safe", and create a distraction with another toy.

A 10 month old is very much a baby still! And obviously too young for "discipline".

Make the environment safe, move them away, distract them.

Wooden toys can break glass if thrown with enough force and/or they hit the glass with the wrong point of the toy e.g. a corner. A friend of mine's toddler broke a glass panel (single glazed, likely 1960s, not safety glass) in this way. Luckily nobody was near it at the time as he threw it from across the room!

We also had a glass panel door break, same type/era, when there were windows open on both sides of the house and a gust of wind went through and slammed the door. Again, luckily, nobody was hurt but this was a close shave as DH was actually standing near to the door at the time. DS2 was approximately 2 or so. I don't want to think what could have happened if he had been near the door when it happened. Huge, awful shards of glass got thrown across the room, luckily not too far as it just led into a doorway-width hallway. I had felt anxious about the door and wanted to move/replace it but we never got around to it.

OTOH we had a glass coffee table when DS1 was a toddler. It was perfectly fine, he bashed toys on it all the time, climbed on it, nothing ever happened. It was newer, so it was probably safety glass, but I never though to check this. Maybe we were lucky in that case.

Included a photo of the door. The middle part got completely blown out. The top half of it slid down in the frame to meet the bottom.

Discipline isn't telling off or punishing.
Discipline is guidance and instruction.
Personally I'd be using distractions and offering choices and from time to time no.
I'm not a big fan of baby proofing.
Child development is pseudo science.

10 months is old enough to begin to understand words like "no", "hot" or "sharp" before distracting them and moving on to something more interesting. DS1 would look at me and howl from 10m when I said "no" then headbutt the ground (later diagnosed with autism) so there were foundations of understanding that "no" meant he wasn't getting to do what he wanted unchallenged.

It's a long process with lots of repetition, but getting mobile is a good time to start.

Babyproofing where viable is helpful for everyone's sanity, but not a complete answer. Some hazards can't be removed. Some are harder to anticipate. Sometimes you're in different environments and have to rely on vigilence and modifying/ correcting behaviour at an early stage.

Letting a child bang a glass door is potentially dangerous. They grow stronger, may hit with an object, might encounter an old glass door not up to modern safety standards. Sometimes safety glass such as shower screens can randomly blow. An accident and injury could occur before they grow out of the behaviour.

It's easier to begin managing behaviour (age appropriately) from a young age than to find you've got issues with older children with no boundaries and are unused to managing themselves appropriately to their surroundings.

@Missamyp I'm not even going to engage with someone who thinks child development is 'pseudoscience'

I see teaching and discipline as the same thing. So when an older baby or young toddler pulls your hair or scratches you might say no and place them down. Maybe there is some misunderstanding over OPs choice of words.