This requires resoning from the child
I have a 6 week old bundle of joy at home. He can be quite unreasonable at times.

OK, all the time . . .
( Not Pineapple anymore, Mon 12 Jul 2010, 11:41, 2 replies)

exactly!
he's only 9 months old, so although sentient, not yet sapient!
( ascorbate, Mon 12 Jul 2010, 11:51, closed)

Babies learn even before birth
they also learn to get you to do what they want from the first moment they are born. The tricky bit is to learn how to differentiate between when they need something or just want something. I have seen both extremes often, parents who neglect a child that needs changing or is ill, and I have seen infants who command a slave. They are masters of manipulation, and should they succeed, their parents will be responsible for one more of those arrogant little shits on welfare (living off someone elses back), who believe that the world owes them a living and then some. Try to find the balance. It is difficult, more often than not you won't, but in the long run it will balance out, instead of being all one way.
(M61A1 CUPID- STUNTS, Tue 13 Jul 2010, 2:32, closed)

Or a reasonable parent
She lets the baby sleep in her bed all the time, and he's big enough to eat solids. He apparently lashes out in a textbook 'smothered child' fashion. She's given what's basically a drunk midget all the power in her life and of course he's acting accordingly.
(ElectricSexPants would like to be the Sultan of something, Mon 12 Jul 2010, 11:51, closed)

hah.
You wait, one day it'll happen to you . . .

I also have a 6 year old daughter. She can wrap me round her little finger.
( Not Pineapple anymore, Mon 12 Jul 2010, 11:56, closed)

My step-daughter...
...aged 16 or 17 at the time, was asked by her friends where her father was (we were in California, he was in upstate New York.) After only a moment's thought, she held up the pinky finger of her right hand, pointed at it with her left index finger, and said "right here!"

She's one of my favourite people on earth.
(IHaveComeAmongThee__Twice Tissues on the left. Self-esteem on the right., Tue 13 Jul 2010, 4:54, closed)

ha ha
he does eat solids, but also has feeds 3 or 4 times a day. like most nearly toddlers he grabs hold of things and gives them an exploratory tug, and he drops stuff off his highchair - it's fairly standard behaviour :-)
(oh, and he doesn't sleep in our bed all the time, but when he wakes in the night, we bring him in - whereupon he stretches out and we both shunt to the sides!)
he's currently merely textbook 'child' not smothered :-)
( ascorbate, Mon 12 Jul 2010, 13:02, closed)

We had ours in our bed until they were two.
More sleep for everyone and now they're some of the few kids their age we know who don't wake up in the night or have separation anxiety.
( Colonel Boris "...a desperate Buzzfeed imitation...", Mon 12 Jul 2010, 13:41, closed)

Come on people...
What works for one doesn't necessarily work for another. My son was in his own bed at 6 months, and has never had seperation anxiety or problems sleeping through the night. The next might be totally different. That baby isn't your baby, and your techniques might not work the same.

Fuck, that was serious. Just to get back to normal, anyone want to touch my monkey?
(Discocat is bringing sexy back, Mon 12 Jul 2010, 14:58, closed)

Serious but very, very wise.

I'm of the same opinion. Noone better knows the child, or cares more for it, than the parents[*] and their intuition counts for a lot. By all means take all opinions on board-if you asked for them (ignore the others), and then make your own mind up. Kid'll turn out alright in the end. Mostly. We're parents. We're going to fuck something up, for heaven's sake. It's the way of the world. I figure if I get mine to 18 and I'm still being talked to with some civility, I've done ok.

[*] I am not here referring to chav parents, or those for whom children are unappreciated because they impinge on the parent maintaining the previous, child-less lifestyle.
(IHaveComeAmongThee__Twice Tissues on the left. Self-esteem on the right., Tue 13 Jul 2010, 5:03, closed)