When do babies get scared of strangers

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. Fear of strangers usually becomes more intense at around months of age. It can last a few months or continue for much longer. It usually passes somewhere between 18 months and 2 years.

Although fear of strangers is part of normal development for babies and young children, there are things you can do to help your child feel less upset. If your child feels more independent, he might also feel more confident around strangers. Extreme fear of strangers might lead to social anxiety when your child is older. You know your child best. Skip to content Skip to navigation. Fear of strangers: the basics Fear of strangers is very common.

Both Luu and McKitrick say that a fear of strangers shows that the baby has a healthy attachment to their parents and shows they may have a strong bond. Kelly Luu, M. Ann McKitrick, M. November See All Trying Birth After. Raising Kids. When you leave her with someone else, she may scream as though her heart will break. How long should you expect this separation anxiety to last? It usually peaks between ten and eighteen months and then fades during the last half of the second year.

After all, her desire to be with you is a sign of her attachment to her first and greatest love—namely you. The intensity of her feeling as she hurtles into your arms is irresistible, especially when you realize that no one—including your child herself—will ever again think you are quite as perfect as she does at this age.

On the other hand, you may feel suffocated by her constant clinging, while experiencing guilt whenever you leave her crying for you. Fortunately, this emotional roller coaster eventually will subside along with her separation anxiety. But in the meantime, try to downplay your leave-taking as much as possible. Here are some suggestions that may help. Instead of resenting her possessiveness during these months, maintain as much warmth and good humor as you can.

She, however, has had only a dim notion of herself as a person separate from you. Now her sense of identity is coming into bloom. One of the clearest signs of her own self-awareness is the way your baby watches herself in the mirror at this age. Up to about eight months, she treated the mirror as just another fascinating object.

Perhaps, she thought, the reflection was another baby, or maybe it was a magical surface of lights and shadows. But now her responses will change, indicating she understands that one of the images belongs to her.

While watching the mirror, for example, she may touch a smudge on her own nose or pull on a stray lock of her hair. You can reinforce her sense of identity by playing mirror games. Or make faces and verbally label the emotions you are conveying.

Before, you could count on her to be relatively compliant as long as she was comfortable. But even after she understands the word, she may touch anyway. Just wait—this is only a forerunner of power struggles to come.