At what age can a baby/toddler actually be spoiled?

Question

I know that a very young baby cannot reason, like "if I cry then..." - but when exactly does it start doing it?

Answer 1

When you start giving in to all his or her crying and start , well " babying" the child. It starts very young. Remember , dont always give in, when at night, make sure diaper is changed, fed dinner, lay the child down, if cry during the night check upon him, if no problem go to bed. Some times a child must cry th emselves to bed. if you keep giving in, then the child will start to accept this and cry all the more. dont give in all the time.

Answer 2

Babies cannot be spoiled. Even young toddlers should be given attention when they cry. Toddlers start to be spoiled when instead of basic needs they're crying for (food, discomfort, or yes, even love and attention) if you give in to their cries or tantrums for other things- being allowed to do something that you previously said no to, candy, new toys at the store, etc.

With babies, the fact is you never can know if all their needs are met. You can tell they're not hungry if they won't eat, you can tell if their diaper is clean, but honestly you can't know if they just need attention and love and cuddles, and those are needs, too, both in the daytime and in the nighttime. You don't get to stop being a parent when the sun goes down, either. If your child needs attention in the middle of the night, give it to her.

As long as the only way the child has to get your attention is crying, give them attention when they cry. Once they learn to talk (even just to say "up" if they want to be picked up) or have other ways of getting attention, then you can ask them to use words instead. However, bear in mind that if a toddler says up to you fifteen times and is ignored or you don't pick him up, then starts to cry and you pick him up, he doesn't really have another method that you will repond to. The child has to have another method of communicating that actually gets your attention. An older baby (say nine months) still can't talk. He can put his arms up in the air and if you're watching and pick him up then that's great, but you're in the other room or not paying attention then crying is the only way to get attention.

Basically as far as I can tell (and I have a lot of experience observing) kids don't become spoiled until after 2 years.

Babies (under a year) will almost always cry to get their wants and needs met and that's okay. If you respond to their cries, they cry less as toddlers. (seriously, this is proven). If you ignore their cries then they cry more as toddlers. If you have been responding to your baby's cries, he or she should cry less and less as time goes on, but toddlers still cry when they get hurt, frustrated, hungry, tired, etc. Once they can talk, they cry a lot less.

Answer 3

For the first two months all they have to communicate is crying, so for everything they cry. The first two months the baby is getting used to the world, and eating, sleeping, the environment etc.. after two months of age you will start to notice they just won't be cries, it will be short sounds like uhh, and ahh. She will be communicating that she is not happy like that now. Then she is starting to understand that her sounds gets your reaction, and if the little sounds don't get her what she wants then she'll start crying. Then once you pick her up and she stops crying then you know she finally knows what to do to get you. But here is what you do once she finds that out. When she fusses or cries just for attention go over to her and get down to her eye level and talk to her, but don't pick her up. Let her know that you are still there and that you know she is there to, it might help if your doing something move her to where she can still see you and hear you. continue to do that over and over and she'll see that she doesn't always get what she wants, then your in control and not her. And you will be surprised how early babies know the tone of your voice, I have a 3month old, and when she was about 2 months she tried the crying just to be picked up, I started deeping my voice and say no, and she reacts to that, it gets her attention and makes her see that I won't let her get away with it. Now don't get me wrong, I love to spoil my baby and hold her as much as I can, but there is times I've got to cook, or clean the house, pay bills etc... so I can't always be holding her or playing with her. And when you start helping them be independent for short periods of time, this will help with a lot of things, and they will be more eager to learn new things and figure things out. Hope this helps and god bless you

Answer 4

Research in early childhood development suggests babies start understanding that when they cry they get attention around 6 months of age. My pediatrician advised me not to let my son cry going to bed at night until he was this age because babies aren't making a "game" out of bedtime and you going in and out until this age. I read a lot of books on this subject and they all have stated around 6 mths in when they really clue in to this. Before that they only know they are uncomfortable and want something changed, no games about it! :)

Answer 5

it probably differs between kids but, if you are to quick give in to a baby's tantrums and give them too much attention when there is nothing wrong with them they will learn that if they cry long enough you'll give them wat they want and carry that idea into their childhood.