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Infant Mental Health? Babies have mental health Issues?-๐Ÿ’œ

Adrian Emerick • October 2, 2025

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Infant Mental Health


By Adrian Emerick LPC, CAADC, IECMH-E


Have you ever heard someone say Infant Mental Health and first thought, "how can babies have mental health issues?" You are not alone if you have. Infant Mental Health is a type of mental health work that started in 1977 and had a focus on social, emotional, and cognitive well-being of infants, toddlers, and their families or caregivers. It is a specialized profession that combines parts of mental health, child welfare, and early education that leads to optimal mental and behavioral health of the infant, toddler, caregiver, and family. 

Smiling baby in polka dot outfit, yellow headband, on a white bed.

Although infants don’t have mental health issues, Infant Mental Health has a vision of being proactive, breaking mental health cycles by working with families and caregivers to establish and build upon relationships to make them stronger and more nurturing. The crucial mission of Infant Mental Health is to make the relationship or "the space between" child and caregiver the number one priority to ensure needs are met and healthy development of both baby and caregiver is achieved.


Infant Mental Health workers do this through a variety of methods that include breaking down barriers related to inequity, diversity and inclusion; deepening awareness on what Infant Mental Health is and increasing the availability of services that meet these needs; as well as advocating for and educating parents on milestones for their children; helping build a support network; and normalizing how hard parenting is. 


Because babies are so special to us and are our future, every October is deemed “Celebrate Babies.” This year, Celebrate Babies week has been designated October 20-24, 2025. We hope you can help us spread the word about how great, wonderful, special and amazing babies are. 


How can I do this? So many ways! You can help by gathering friends and reflecting on your own early experiences as a child or talk about your favorite childhood memories. How did your early years affect the person you are today? Find and gather colleagues to talk about accomplishments from the past year and what goals you have for the upcoming year. Ask an Infant Mental Health professional to do a brown bag lunch to further educate on this critically important pillar. But most of all, love the babies in your life, celebrate their milestones, praise their accomplishments, and admire those parents and caregivers who celebrate their babies.

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