Often an older relative or friend may tell you, "Don't be so attentive to your baby, let her fuss." But your intuition tells you to pick up your baby at his first cries. Your feelings are correct. Crying in the first six months is not manipulative. In fact, the more quickly you meet your baby's needs to be fed or changed or just held and talked to, the more secure and content your child will feel.

In the second six months and certainly as babies move towards toddlerhood around a year, you many need to set a few limits, such as putting your child donwn for bed awake or steering her clear of dangers. But you can feel comfortable knowing that your baby has a stong self-esteem in place from those first nurturing months.