Theories of Childhood, Second Edition (Carol Garhart Mooney) / quote 31 of 70
The myth of spoiling babies
In every child development course I’ve ever taught, someone has asked about “spoiling” children by responding to them when they cry. Once an infant teacher rolled her eyes at me as she walked with a screaming baby and said, “This child is just too attached to her parents! I’m trying to teach her that we can’t just come running every time she cries!” If teachers provide care based on Erikson’s theories, they accept that babies have few coping skills and that it is therefore up to adults to keep them comfortable. Programs whose staff understand infant development have policies of quickly responding to babies’ tears. In the United States, though, the notion persists that adults “spoil” babies by giving them the attention they cry for.