Hot Topic: Can you spoil your newborn?

Short answer: No, so don't worry.

Longer answer: It is critical to respond to your newborn's needs, since babies can't do anything for themselves. Quickly responding to your baby's signals builds a sense of security and love. Your baby learns that if there is anything that he needs, you will be there to give it to him. When a young baby cries or roots or yawns, he is expressing a genuine need -- early on, there is no distinguishing between wants and needs.

There are things you can do that affect how your baby expresses those needs. This is where conditioning comes in. By rewarding your baby when she does things that you like, she will do those things most often.

If you want to increase your baby's ability to communicate without crying, don't wait for your baby to cry before attending him. Try your best to anticipate basic needs, like changing, and watch to see what your baby does to show you that need before she cries. If she waves her arms around like mad when she needs a fresh diaper, and you consistently change her then, she will connect arm-waving to getting a clean diaper. This will help her learn to use that signal to communicate with you rather than crying. This is not to say that your baby will never cry, but he should cry less often if other, less exhausting signals work.

As baby grows older, his needs will grow more complex, and he will start to develop wants as well. You should always try to meet your child's needs - that creates a strong bond of security. It is how you respond to "wants" that will tell whether your baby will be "spoiled".