Breaking baby's --and parents'--bad habits.

• Position: Infant Behavior

It is easy to dote on your little bundle of joy, and many times parents end up unintentionally spoiling their children. After all, who can say "no" to that cute face? However, according to specialists at the Texas A&M University Health Sciences Center, College Station, by putting on your sheriff's hat, it is possible to encourage good behavior and break bad habits:

* Babies do not come into the world expecting silence; they actually are predisposed to noisy settings. If you start getting your child used to a quiet environment, you will struggle to maintain it. So, do your daily chores around the house, even when your infant is in bed. If your baby is tired, drifting off to sleep will not be a problem even if you are making a racket.

* It is common to want to put babies down with a soothing bottle in hopes that this will keep them calm through the night, but it could create problems down the road. A bottle in bed might interfere with baby's natural body rhythms--causing your infant to wake from hunger. Also, letting your baby drink in the crib can be a choking hazard, as well as increasing the odds of an ear infection or tooth decay. If you want to feed your baby before bed, make sure the child is sitting upright and that you clean his or her mouth afterwards to limit the risk of dental problems.

* It is hard to leave your child alone at night, especially during the first few weeks as a parent. While sleeping next to your baby can seem like a convenient way to respond to their midnight cries, babies will not learn to soothe themselves to sleep if they only are used to sleeping beside mom or dad. Pillows and blankets also can be hazardous to infants...