I don't speak Whine.

This is one thing I've learned over the years; treat whining like a foreign language. Right from the early 2's, I would tell my son, "When you talk like that I can't understand what you are saying. "
So whining was nipped in the bud because it was totally ineffectual for him.
I would continue to say gently, "What? I can't understand? Take a breath and tell me again. "
There are still times when he's tired or hungry and I hear a whine. I might ignore it and give him what he needs, or I might say, "I hear that whining and I'm guessing your tired. Lets go take a rest. ". He might be resistant and shout " No, I'm not tired!" But if I sit down with a book of his, he comes to rest.