Short answer? No.

I've said it before here and I'll say it again...humans - all humans, including you and your baby, and Susan and her baby, and Bob and his baby - are carry mammals. We evolved to birth our young when they are very immature developmentally, and to keep them close, if not physically on us, at all times. 

Unlike other mammal groups, such as the follow mammals (cows, giraffe etc.) who are born able to walk almost straight away, or nest mammals, such as cats and dogs, who can be left for hours at a time before their parents return to feed them, we are designed to be needy. 

Humans are born 100% needy and unable to do anything for themselves. 

So now what? Well, the divide begins - do we make our babies wait and respond to them slowly, leaving them for periods, to try and encourage their independence to hurry along? Or do we respond to their needs readily?

Well, I heard a great analogy the other day which I wanted to share with you:

Love, closeness and responsiveness is like a tap. In the early days and weeks we go to it often, needing to constantly reassure ourselves that it's still producing water. Over time, we learn how reliable the tap is: assuming we learn that we can go to the tap whenever and it will produce the water that we need, we will feel increasingly more confident that we can move further away from the tap, for longer and longer periods of time, and always know the tap is there, freely-flowing, when we need it. In the event the tap appears to be unreliable, sometimes flowing, sometimes not, eventually we would probably decide that we're better off not trying that tap anymore, and we'll seek another tap out...a more reliable one. 

If our tap is reliable, we know that, even when we have the ability and confidence to distance ourselves from it, in the event that we need it more one day - perhaps we feel sad, or ill or scared...or particularly thirsty - we can go and be closer to the tap, visiting more often and reassuring ourselves. 

The tap doesn't begrudge us for needing it. It doesn't mind if we disappear for a while and then come back and spend all day grabbing drink after drink...it was literally designed to do exactly that. To be there when we need it.

You are your baby's tap. Free-flow in response to your baby so they can see that the world is reliable, dependable and safe, and so, when they're ready, they can be free to be independent.

Remember, being needed is not a bad thing and neither is needing others. That's also why I always say, let people be part of your village. We are not designed to raise our young alone. So you don't have to. Reach out. Ask for help. Be needy so that you, in turn, can enjoy being needed.