Spoiling your baby

This must be one of the big fears that many parents have - Spoiling their baby. The seed for this fear probably gets planted during pregnancy when you go out to a mall and come across some little child throwing a tantrum. Its inevitable that you'll be thinking 'My child would never turn out like that'.

Then, when your baby is born, you're given 6 months grace. Supposedly, it is impossible to spoil a baby younger than 6 months as they do not know how to manipulate yet. So, you have a good excuse whenever anybody tries to tell you that you're digging your own grave.

The baby boomers would use this checklist : If a crying baby is not wet, hungry, sleepy or sick, then it is NAUGHTY. However, these days, the checklist is : If a crying baby is not wet, hungry, sleepy or sick, then perhaps it needs a CUDDLE.

So thats up until 6 months....what happens after that point?

I have no idea. After 6 months there isn't enough time to spend browsing the internet for some extensive idea on how to avoid spoiling the older baby.

Aaron hardly cries. He is loud, noisy and quick to let you know he doesn't like something...but he seldom cries. So, when he does genuinely cry, isn't that a signal that he NEEDS ME? That I should cuddle him? OR is it the start of the manipulation?