Am I spoiling my baby?

I would spoil the hell out of Tin but I really want a child who is socially adjusted and learns independence from me, not dependence. So I’ve been asking around and so far I have one parent of two who said she had six binkys in the bed because her kids loved binkys. Then a father of almost three who said you can’t spoil a child before six months but after you have to read the child’s needs and assess. Then a mother of one who says she always consoles her daughter because she wants her to know that her mother is there for her.

Today a psychologist visiting us weighed in and said you can’t spoil your child. She recommended a book by Penelope Leach on understanding what your baby is thinking and where they are at emotionally, I came across this article which also quotes Leach. Similar to the information I gathered – before six months old it is impossible to spoil a child, but afterwards you do have to assess the situation – like can they sleep by themselves or is your rocking them to sleep keeping them from learning a valuable lesson.

Today we learned to put a board book in the crib because even if Tin is not going down for his nap, a book will keep him occupied during his downtime. I’m watching him right now on the monitor with his book.

But we also learned from the same psychologist that children who are not cuddled and coddled often times have problems with attachment in later life. Another important reason to go ahead and spoil your baby.

BTW – he just put the book down and laid down himself.

another beautiful photograph taken by Marc Pagani