Too early for punishment?

I punished Chloe this morning. She refused to finish her milk so I sat her in her highchair and confined her in it without toys while we got ready for work.

Lately she hasn’t been drinking all her milk. She would gobble up all her solid meals but would always leave an ounce or two in the bottle. I grew up with a mother who made me eat all my food before I was allowed to leave the dinner table and attended an elementary school whose cafeteria staff didn’t allow any student out to the yard to play until they finished their lunch. Not finishing your food was a big no no in my childhood. And don’t forget the cliché “with so many people starving in this world, it is a sin to waste food”. All this shaped me into a parent who will make sure her kid finishes her meals.

During her 10+ minutes of confinement, she never cried but she did moan and groan to be let out. She raised her arms and pleaded for freedom each time Randy or I walked passed but ignored her. When I finally freed her, I picked her up and told her in a warm voice, “Mommy had to punish you for not eating all your milk. You need to be a good girl and finish your milk okay?” She babbled her usual “dah dah wah wah” in response.

That led me to wonder…does she understand punishment at this age? Are my efforts to impose a punishment and follow with a verbal explanation still too advanced for a 10-month-old infant without language capabilities? Is it cruel to punish a 10-month-old who doesn’t know right from wrong? Does she know right from wrong?