抱起哭泣的宝宝，不是在“惯坏”他You are not Spoiling Your Kids by Picking Them up.

“他才这么小，真的知道大人在不在意吗？” 一项发表于2026年9月10日的新研究，给了一个很温柔的线索。 研究者让6个月、9个月和12个月的婴儿观看两段视频：一个宝宝哭了以后，照护者要么走过去安慰，要么继续做家务、没有回应。三个年龄段的婴儿都更久地注视“没有回应”的画面——在婴儿研究中，较长的注视通常被理解为：眼前发生的事与预期不一样。 也就是说，还不会说话的宝宝，可能已经形成了一个初步期待：有人哭时，照护者通常会靠近。 这并不等于每次哭都必须立刻让宝宝停止，也不代表偶尔没能及时回应就会造成伤害。真实的养育一定有忙不过来的时候。更重要的或许是，宝宝反复经历到：我发出信号，大多数时候会有人尝试理解；暂时离开以后，大人还会回来。 回应不是完美到场，而是一次次重新连接。 事实核查说明 - 研究对象为75名以上婴儿，并在6、9、12个月三个时间点使用“违背预期”注视范式。 - 结果显示婴儿平均更久注视照护者忽略哭声的情境；这支持“期待安慰”的解释，但注视时长不是对婴儿内心想法的直接读取。 - 研究也发现母亲报告的抑郁症状与婴儿较低的安慰预期相关，但属于关联，不能证明母亲抑郁症状直接造成该结果，更不能用于评价某位母亲。 - 来源日期：2026年9月10日（在最近30天内）。 - 来源：[伊利诺伊大学研究发布](https://aces.illinois.edu/news/do-infants-expect-caregivers-comfort-crying-babies)；[Developmental Psychology 论文 DOI](https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0002209)

"Will he/she understand what we are doing here?" In the 1920's, John B. Watson argued that parents can simply ignore children's crying and avoid emotional support to prevent "spoiling," and he still receives a large audience base in the 21st century. A new study published on September 10, 2026 suggests otherwise. The researchers conduct the experiments on 3 age groups: 3-month, 6-month, and 12-month. They show video clips of the caregiver's different responses after the infant crying. In the controlled group, the caregiver does not respond to the baby's crying and in the experimental group, the caregiver picks up the baby and provides emotional support. The study found that as early as age 3-months, a baby can tell that "no response" is abnormal and therefore spends more time staring at such a strange behavior. They know and they expect. Of course it does not mean that a tardy response will harm the children in any way, but it, among all those studies out there, demonstrates how a baby expects certain behaviors from caregivers and as a way of communication. Parents have their own circumstances and many times are unable to respond immediately. However, the importance here is that the caregivers always “communicate” and reassure the babies emotional support so that babies will have a sense of security while around caregivers. Methodology and Sources Study Cohort & Methodology: The study evaluated over 75 infants using the "violation of expectation" looking-time paradigm across three time points (6, 9, and 12 months). Key Findings: Results showed that infants, on average, looked longer at scenarios where caregivers ignored crying. This supports the interpretation of an "expectation of comfort," though looking time is not a direct reading of an infant's inner thoughts. Correlational Findings: The study also noted an association between mother-reported depressive symptoms and lower infant expectations of comfort. However, this is a correlation—it does not prove that maternal depression directly causes this outcome, nor should it be used to judge any individual mother. Source Date: September 10, 2026 (within the past 30 days). Sources: University of Illinois Research News; Developmental Psychology Paper DOI.