Others argue it is impossible to spoil a baby, at least while the baby is younger than 6 months.

Studies show babies who have their needs consistently met during the first months of life ultimately become more trusting, secure and self-reliant.

So who's right?

First, let's define the word "spoil."

One definition — among several — in Webster's New World Dictionary says "to overindulge so as to cause to demand or expect too much."

Claire Lerner defines it as "doing something for a child that he or she is able to do for themselves, either alone or with some help."

Lerner is director of parent education with Zero to Three, a nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C., considered to be a leading resource for knowledge and expertise on children's development.

'In at least the first three months, parents should nurture, hold and respond to the baby's basic needs because they can't do it by themselves," Lerner says.

"You are not spoiling," she says. "In fact, you are helping them learn to take care of themselves. Research shows that kids whose basic needs are met promptly in the first six months actually cry less in the next six months."

ReJonna Blackmon, 33 of Melbourne, Fla., isn't so sure. She knows she's a good parent, but she also is convinced her youngest son, ReJonn, 8 months, was becoming spoiled.

Blackmon and her husband, Rick, rented a small, one-bedroom apartment in California during ReJonn's first few months.

As a result, ReJonn usually had his parents in sight. Now in a larger home, 'He would scream if I walked out of the room,' Blackmon says. 'That wouldn't allow me to get cleaning done, cooking done or other household chores done."

It also didn't help when relatives passed ReJonn around. So Blackwell limited the attention by allowing the boy to cry some before picking him up.

"You draw the line, depending on the cry," Blackmon says. "As a parent, you know which cry says 'I'm afraid,' 'hungry,' 'wet' or 'I just want to have attention.' "

"At any age, spoiling a baby is likely a possibility," says pediatrician Dr. Mahesh Soni. "You should let them cry for a few minutes, and if they don't stop, then pick them up.'

Spoiling can occur as early as four to five days, but particularly when children reach toddler age, Soni says. If, for example, a parent responds to a child's temper tantrum, that's spoiling.

"If you respond to the negative behavior, they will do it more often," Soni says.

But spoiling a 2-month-old?

"You are teaching him that something has to be done right away and that reinforces his crying," says Soni. "At 2 months, the baby can be bored but most learn to be on their own for a few minutes."

For the record, no one is talking child abuse or neglect. Those who favor letting a child cry emphasize it's only after basic needs have been met and parents are assured there is nothing seriously wrong.

At most, maybe two minutes should pass before a parent picks up the crying baby, Soni says.

Breastfeeding mothers who spend hours cuddling and holding their babies often ask whether it's possible to spoil them, says Mary Lofton, a spokeswoman for La Leche League International, based in Schaumburg, Ill.

"We say that the question of spoiling is not an issue, because this is a baby's nutrition," Lofton says.

Another point: When a baby is nursed, this allows him to develop trust at a very early age.

"He comes into this world totally helpless and begins to know and understand at a deep level that he is going to be taken care of," Lofton says.

Like children, parents also have different personalities. A parent who is naturally nurturing and affectionate may not feel their actions will spoil a baby.

"All over the world, babies have been carried on backs and brought into the fields where mothers worked," Lofton says.

"We value independence so greatly that we are terrified that our children might be dependent on us and it's totally opposite," Lofton says. "The more a baby is allowed to be a baby, the more he will be independent, self-assured and confident later in life."

Ultimately, parents just have to use good old common sense.