There's a lot of focus on mental health these days isn't there, but it's for a really good reason. Infant mental health is basically your baby's social and emotional wellbeing and development, and it's really important in the first two years of their life because those little interactions that you have every day affect the way their brain is wired and how they respond to stress for the rest of their life (yes I know it sounds dramatic, but don't panic.)
The great news is that just by being a loving parent, you're already doing so much to help your baby's mental health.
So let's look at what contributes to good infant mental health:
1. Emotional warmth and stability. These are things like talking to your baby in a positive way, smiling, eye contact, gentle touch, knowing you're there for them when they need you, living in a safe and calm environment, introducing routines when relevant to help them to anticipate what to expect.
2. Meeting their basic needs such as feeding, sleep, warmth, cleanliness.
3. Guidance, boundaries and stimulation- helping them to explore their environment, helping them to learn about their world including what is safe and not safe for them to do.
So you see, you're probably already doing everything above and being amazing at supporting your baby's mental health.
Sometimes it just helps to know WHY it's important to do all those things.
If you're concerned about any of the above, definitely reach out to your Health Visitor, or reply to this email and we can chat!
Our monthly boxes are designed to support your baby's mental health too- the monthly guide helps you to feel prepared for the month ahead, and the pack of activities are specifically designed to encourage little positive interactions each day to build your bond together.
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