Posted on: 10/12/2024

General Pregnancy Babies

What it means and how we can support you

What does this mean?

Parent-infant relationships refer to the quality of the relationship between a baby and their parent or carer. A good parent-infant relationship nurtures 'secure attachments', which is most important for your infant’s mental health and promoting healthy social, emotional and cognitive development.

Thinking about your relationship with your baby

Every relationship between a parent and baby is different: there can be parts of the relationship that are going well and other parts that are more challenging.

Some parents and carers might not have spent much time thinking about their relationship with their baby yet, but the information on this page is a good opportunity to start, and this can always be supported more in a Family Hub.

Here are a few useful questions to ask yourself when thinking about your relationship with your baby.

• What 3 words would I use to describe my relationship with my baby?
• What brings me the most joy about my relationship with my baby?
• What are my biggest fears about my relationship with my baby?
• If my baby could talk, what would they say about their relationship with me?

If you find answering these questions difficult, or that they make you feel worried or concerned about your relationship with your baby, you can get support through your local Family Hub, they can help you explore these questions in more detail and offer some advice and guidance around activities you can do to build a strong and healthy relationship with your baby. If you are a dad reading this or you feel your partner may be struggling click here to view our dedicated DadPad that can support Dads emotional wellbeing.

Click here to use our session finder to find free parent and baby sessions near you

Please visit the following links to learn more about parent infant relationships and parent infant emotional wellbeing.

https://www.brazelton.co.uk/parents/your-babys-language/

https://www.annafreud.org/resources/under-fives-wellbeing/common-difficulties/

https://www.nhs.uk/start-for-life/baby/baby-basics/bonding-with-your-baby/