New researchers suggest kids who are allowed to just "be kids" make better parents when they are older.

Researchers from Michigan State University found that mothers who took on burdensome caregiving roles as children -- and weren't allowed to just "be kids" -- tend to be less sensitive to their own children's needs.

"If your childhood was defined by parents expecting you to perform too much caregiving without giving you the chance to develop your own self-identity, that might lead to confusion about appropriate expectations for children and less accurate knowledge of their developmental limitations and needs as infants," Amy K. Nuttall, who lead the study, said in a statement.

For the study, researchers collected and analyzed data from nearly 400 pregnant women from low-income households in four U.S. cities. They were surveyed about their upbringing. After birth, the mothers' parenting techniques were observed several times during an 18-month period.

They found that mothers who engaged in excessive, adult-like caregiving as children were less likely to respond warmly and positively to their infant's needs and interests and to put their child's need for exploration and independence over their own agenda.

The findings suggest these parents do not understand appropriate child development and end up parenting in a similar harmful manner in which they were raised.

Nuttall said instruction about infant development might be best served in prenatal classes. Women are more likely to attend prenatal classes than parenting classes offered after birth.

"Prenatal parenting classes may be particularly useful for teaching accurate knowledge of child development and appropriate expectations about children's abilities even before mothers give birth and begin parenting," she said.

The findings are detailed in the Journal of Family Psychology.