The fears the baby feels

Fear or fear is a primary emotion that derives from natural aversion to risk and manifests itself in both animals and humans. Babies are also afraid, since they are born, although the nature of fears will vary throughout his life.

Although this feeling is natural and has a point of connection with the history of humanity and the need to preserve life, it is not pleasant, and we must be clear that we, their parents, can and should mitigate those fears .

If we take into account the state of extreme dependence in which a child is born, we will understand that babies are more fragile in the face of fear and susceptible to feeling it.

The bond with the mother who takes care of him and takes care of satisfying his needs, already begins to provide the baby with the opposite feeling of fear, confidence and security. The mother's attitude can convey that confidence or, on the contrary, to transfer an undefined state of tension.

Tension for unmet or resolved needs will have different somatic and / or emotional manifestations in the baby, including fear.

The first fear reactions of a baby they are an expression of the diffuse feeling of danger that a child experiences in the face of the loss of physical support, in the face of sudden changes in the environment (movements, light ...), in the face of loud or unexpected noises ... These feelings are expressed with shock, tremor, shouts and / or crying. They are frequently agitated as seeking protection.

Soon other manifestations of fear appear that, although they can be varied, have in common the fear of separating from the mother and / or protective figures. We are everything to him in these first months of life, and the time will come when he understands that if we disappear from his side we will not do it forever and are not in danger.

By the eighth month of life, reactions of strangeness and fear appear to the stranger. It is the anguish of separation, which indicates the increasing capacity of the child's mind to distinguish between the near and reassuring and the unknown and distressing.

The anxiety of separation is easy to understand, since for the baby and young child their parents are the protective figures on which it depends for their survival and safety.

At first, children believe they can lose parents. Later, the fear is modified and happens to be afraid to anger or lose the love of mom and dad. To this type of emotions correspond very frequent fears in childhood such as the fear of being alone, of darkness, of getting lost, to unknown places and people.

They are useful fears to prevent hazards and function as a signal that alerts children to ask for help. Many authors point out that fears tend to increase from birth and reach their highest point between 4 and 7 years old, when they usually begin to decrease, although they may reappear in adolescence.

As we see, fear in babies is an adaptive reaction, as it helps you survive what they perceive as possible dangers. The presence, attention and company of the parents, minimizing the fears of the baby, will always be comforting and avoid suffering.

Video: TWIN FEARS, Feeling My Uterus + Appt Anxiety. 9 Weeks Pregnant While Nursing. Baby Bear #3 (March 2024).