Fear of strangers is very common. It happens as your baby develops a healthy attachment to familiar people – like you. Because babies prefer familiar adults, they might react to strangers by crying or fussing, going very quiet, looking fearful or hiding.
Babies and toddlers often get clingy and cry if you or their other carers leave them, even for a short time. Separation anxiety and fear of strangers is common in young children between the ages of 6 months and 3 years, but it's a normal part of your child's development and they usually grow out of it.
Sometimes babies cry when they see a certain person who is unfamiliar because their brains are beginning to understand stranger danger.
According to researchers at Yale University's Infant Cognition Center, also known as “The Baby Lab,” babies can actually tell good from evil, even as young as 3 months old.
There might come a time when your baby starts to behave a little differently. She might be a bit clingier, become fearful of people, or cry when she's left alone. This is known as separation anxiety, and it's a normal part of your infant's development.
This is a biological instinct that babies crave their mother's attention. When they see you, they expect you to immediately pay attention to them. Even if you're holding them and trying to comfort them, they may still cry.
While some children never experience this type of anxiety, it is a normal developmental phase for most. This type of anxiety occurs because a child forms an attachment to a caregiver, typically mom and/or dad, and at the same time she develops the ability the remember objects and people who are out of sight.
And research suggests that babies evaluate people in much the same way, preferring people who like the same foods, clothes, and toys that they like. This preference helps us to form social bonds, but it can also have a dark side.
Study Shows Babies Know When You're Angry and Want to Appease You. Research has found that babies don't easily forget seeing anger-prone behavior in adults, even if that behavior is directed at someone else. Medically reviewed by Janet Taylor, M.D.
And babies don't just detect our tension. They are negatively affected by it. It's one more reason to look after your own well-being, and calm down before interacting with your child.
Separation anxiety is a very real thing, noted Baby Center, and it usually peaks between 10 and 18 months, although it can start as early as 6 months. So if your baby falls within this age range, they might whimper or cry whenever your boyfriend tries to spend time with them alone.
When children like some people more than others, it's not really because those people are more trustworthy; it's because like everyone else, children gravitate towards people who are happy and confident. People who believe they are attractive are usually more happy and confident.
Babies are looking for one thing, to be comfortable. If baby spends the majority of time with Mom feeding, changing diapers and cuddling, they will get used to Moms way of comfort. Babies cry when they see Dad because they want that same comfort that they get from someone else.
If your baby doesn't seem to miss you or want you to hold them, you might feel they don't like you. In some cases, it could be an issue called Reactive Attachment Disorder. This condition occurs when a baby misses the critical early bonding time with their mother or caregivers.
Babies not only pick up on their mother's stress, but they also show corresponding physiological changes, according to a UC San Francisco-led study.
Your baby finds comfort in your arms
When an infant can be soothed by your voice or physical comfort, this is another way she shows she trusts you. Infants identify caretakers by sight, smell, and sound, and when any of these provide a level of comfort to a baby it is evidence of an established bond.
Yelling makes the baby afraid and nervous, wounds and inhibits his feelings, and, later on, his confidence. It can be very damaging, especially when parents begin shouting at the infant when he is little. On the other hand, parents yell at each other and do as much harm as yelling at the baby.
“For instance, a baby may not remember explicitly the time they were yelled at in the kitchen booster seat when they were 6 months old, but their body remembers the way it recoiled, the way it pumped blood to increase oxygen to the muscles in response to feeling unsafe,” Keith explains.
The infant's brain is very vulnerable to stress. High stress can impact the development of the emotional parts of the brain. A baby can detect anger in a voice as early as 5 months. Parental arguing causes stress in the baby, elevating their heart rate and increasing their blood pressure.
According to Psychology Today, there are certain actions that cause babies more distress than others, which could cause a child to dislike someone. Not holding them enough, leaving them alone for too long, and ignoring them, all are possible reasons a baby could decide they don't like someone.
Fear of strangers is very common. It happens as your baby develops a healthy attachment to familiar people – like you. Because babies prefer familiar adults, they might react to strangers by crying or fussing, going very quiet, looking fearful or hiding.
It just means he's just learning how to navigate the world safely and with a strong sense of what or whom he likes, as well as what or whom he doesn't, and he's not afraid to respond accordingly. We should all be as tuned-in to our inner needs — and as unafraid to express them.
If you hold them and they stop crying, the cause of their tears most likely has to do with separation anxiety. If they continue crying, even after you pick them up, something else might be going on.
To communicate basic needs, such as hunger and closeness (everyone knows this one!) To release stress (this is new to most people!). Babies cry beyond immediate needs because they need to get their feelings out. It's their natural healing mechanism when done in arms.
Babies express their needs to the mother (or caregiver) through crying. Letting babies "cry it out" is a form of need-neglect that leads to many long-term effects. Consequences of the "cry it out" method include: It releases stress hormones, impairs self-regulation, and undermines trust.