I have had two cockers, both of them for a total of about 14yrs, I have recently lost my girl at age 11, but they were both great dogs. Very loving, great with other dogs, cats, even ferret's. Both of mine have been wonderful with children, they grew up with my nephew and various other children and never once nipped or even acted like they were going to be anything but good to them. They both actually really loved kids and my male Mousse use to let us know when a baby was over was crying or needed changed or anything, he was there guard dog. They are very loyal, when I met my husband, I had Mousse for 8 yrs already, he never completely let Jeff in, he was completely and totally loyal to me, however Ginger let him in completely and was a true daddy's girl. they both did the "cocker puddle" as there vet called it when they would get overly excited about something, but as they got older it happened rarely! To me they are one of the best dog's to have. I have had a rottweiler as well that was just as loving and wonderful. Cockers are prone to ear infections, besides the cleaning, I also found when they got groomed to keep the inside portion of there ears shaved and it helped cut down on alot of the ear infections.
Good Luck with your choice.