Infant Mental Health

All babies are different. Some are active and some are shy or slow to warm-up. Some are easy going and some are difficult and cry a lot.

Parents also have different styles. It's all right to seek help in trying to understand your baby. It's part of being a good parent.

Behaving predictably
Creating a stable environment
Being sensitive to your baby's signals and behaviors

Through healthy relationships, babies learn what people expect of them and what they can expect of others. It is important to know what your baby can and cannot do at a certain age.
Through nurturing, protective, stable and consistent relationships, babies learn they are worthy of good care. They learn that caregivers will help them when they are upset. Then they learn to manage (regulate) feelings on their own.
Through parents' emotional health, because babies are affected by how you feel about yourself. How a parent feels and reacts affects the quality of the infant/caregiver relationship.

In the first few years of life, babies grow and change very quickly. As they grow, their feelings and relationships become more complex. Babies need parents and other important people in their lives to help them manage their feelings. For example, a baby who is scared, angry, or hurt needs help from an adult to understand, calm down, and be comforted. Parents naturally help their infants to relax by holding them, speaking softly, reassuring them, or gently rocking them. When families create safe and loving homes, their children have an easier time learning to manage their feelings.

Adults' emotional health, level of stress, and life circumstances can affect their relationships with babies. If you are dealing with a great deal of stress - or know a parent in such circumstances - it can be extremely helpful to seek help, often from a mental health professional.

Babies are like little explorers. They are born with a desire to explore, understand, and "master" their surroundings. Of course, they learn more easily with the help and encouragement of their parents or caregivers. Your baby probably explores new objects and surroundings every chance he or she gets. When parents encourage their babies to explore, while also making sure they don't get hurt, babies learn to feel good about learning and enjoy new surroundings.

Although all babies go through a stage where they are frightened of strangers and unfamiliar places, babies who learn how to manage feelings from their parents, are better able to overcome fears, and enjoy new things as they grow older.