I would like to give a alternate view. My oldest child was a very spoiled baby. I could not put him down for a second. When I went to the c=doctor with him and the doctor say how my son was manipulating me at such a young age (he was a 18 months old by the time I got advice) he told me to put him in his crib and let him cry himself to sleep. When I described to him how he would stand up and throw himself down to deliberately try to hurt his self, that I had to pick him up so he wouldn't hurt himself the doctor was even more adamant! He said beak him of it now or I would have big problems with him when he got older. It was a rough couple of months but after he realized that he was not going to get his way any more he settled down and life became much more pleasant. that is not to say I did not still hold him a lot but not all of the time like before. Just my own experience.