Booby Traps of Babyhood

Even before the first bulges of the pregnant belly show people feel the impulse to give advise, warn against bad things and the ever present, inevitable sentence that every mother or father to be expects and almost always gets...
It starts with, "Don't do..."
Bringing a new person into the world is hard. Once they arrive, it's even harder to keep that little person fed, dry, clean, energized, entertained, rested, dressed - the list goes on. However, after so many sleepless nights, new parents tend to make short cuts.
One of these short cuts is co-sleeping. Especially for breastfeeding mothers, it is far easier to just keep the baby in the bed where it can nurse whenever it wants than to get up several times a night to nurse and then put the baby back in the crib and hope they fall asleep again fast.
It's true that it is easier, but once that baby is older, it will be hard to get them out of the bed. A family bed never hurt anyone, but once that baby gets bigger, its hard to fit everyone. Also, it can cut down on intimacy between partners, among other things.
Another one of these pitfalls is the fast response to fussing. When babies are first born, everything is new and scary. Eating, sleeping, getting dressed, going poop are all foreign things that need to be learned. Once they are older though, (usually around 6 months) baby learns that if they fuss they get attention from mom and dad.
After concentrating on the little person's every need, doctors say to stop honoring their every whim and start denying them. There are few things that are harder than denying a crying baby. Still, as parents we need to toughen up and let them fuss it out. More often than not, they'll stop.
Of course, when parents respond quickly to a baby's cry they build trust with their little one. That trust teaches them to be independent and confident in their surroundings. Still, if parents overreact to every fuss and cry it may hinder the baby's development when it comes to millstones.
For example, if a baby is always being picked up when they fuss, they may not have as strong of a desire as other babies to become mobile and eventually walk on their own.
With breastfeeding mothers, its easy to nurse their baby to sleep. It's fast and effective and most of the time, they stay asleep for long periods of time. However, once baby gets older, they may not be able to fall asleep on their own and stay asleep on their own if they can't self-soothe. As baby grows into a toddler, it will be hard to transition them into a toddler bed if they can't go to sleep without sucking on something. Binkys are the same idea. Ultimately, you want your baby to fall asleep and stay asleep without the help of the nipple.
Parenting is hard. There is no right or wrong with raising a baby. Slowly, new parents learn what methods work best for them and their family. If any or all of these things work for your family, by all means, keep them up. With that said, it is up to the parents to teach the babies about the world. It's up to the parents to teach babies what to eat and when, where to sleep and for how long and what's dangerous and what is safe.

If we don't, how will they learn?